Material takeoffs and quantity reconciliation · Lesson 1 of 4

Material takeoffs and quantity reconciliation: principles and terminology

What a takeoff is and is not, the vocabulary of runs, pieces, girth, strips and sheets, the five quantities that are never mixed, how a schedule is read, and who uses the numbers.

You will be able to: Define takeoff, run, piece, girth, strip, sheet, net and gross; say what a takeoff contains and does not contain; and trace one number from a drawing schedule to the shop.

10 min · 10 slides · 7 questions

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Slide 1 of 10

What a takeoff is

A takeoff measures a drawing set and its schedule and counts the material and accessories the work needs.

McCormick Systems, an estimating-software maker, describes it as "extracting measurements and calculating material quantities from blueprints".

AFS's own takeoff tool reports quantities and weights, never prices, and a dollar figure appears only on a formal AFS quote.

Sources

Construction Takeoff: What It Is, Why It Matters and How It Works (2025) - McCormick Systems, LLC
AFS Design Center: Material Takeoff and Nesting method (quantities and weights, never prices) - Architectural Flashing Supply

Glossary

Takeoff: The step that measures a drawing set and its schedule and counts the material and accessories the work needs. At AFS it reports quantities and weights, never prices.
Run: The total length of one tagged flashing item on the building, in linear feet. A run is cut into pieces.
Piece: One fabricated length cut from a run. The takeoff states how many pieces a run becomes and which piece length it used.
Girth: The flat width of a profile before it is bent, found by adding its leg lengths. A strip of that width is cut from the 48 in sheet.
Strip: One piece's flat blank, cut along the 10 ft length of a sheet, so its width comes out of the 48 in dimension.
Net and gross: Net is the material in the finished pieces; gross is the sheets or coil ordered to make them. The difference is offcut plus any stated allowance.