Visual takeoff on the actual plans
Open any sheet from the plan set, set scale once, and start drawing. Lines, polygons, counts, and areas — all measured against the calibrated scale of the drawing.
Takeoff Studio
Turn verified plan markups into real construction outputs.
Measure it once. Verify it visually. Use it everywhere. Takeoff Studio is the visual takeoff and markup tool inside Foreman AI — designed so every line, symbol, and area you draw becomes structured data the AI can build with: materials, budgets, scopes, RFIs, and bid packages.
What it does
A real takeoff workspace that lives next to the AI. Draw on the plans, classify by trade, and the AI sees what you see — verified, structured, and ready to turn into outputs.
Trade-aware classification
Every markup gets a trade and a build detail. Foreman knows that a 200-foot polyline on the electrical sheet at 12 AWG is conduit run, not a wall, and prices it accordingly.
Send to Foreman AI
One click sends your markups, quantities, and notes into chat as structured context. The AI uses them to write scopes, build budgets, generate RFIs, and assemble bid packages.
Why it exists
AI is great at producing words. It is bad at guessing dimensions. The fastest, most accurate way to make AI useful on a real bid is to let the human draw the truth — then let the AI build everything downstream from it.
Verification before generation
You measure. The AI builds. No more hallucinated takeoffs, no more "best guess" linear footage, no more rebuilding numbers because the model misread a sheet.
Structured context, not screenshots
Markups carry trade, type, length, area, count, and build detail. The AI gets numbers and meaning — not pixels — so its outputs reflect the plan, not its imagination.
One source of truth
Your takeoff is the budget is the scope is the bid package. Change a markup and every downstream output updates from the same verified data.
Built for real estimators
Designed by people who actually take off plans. Keyboard-driven, snappy, scale-locked, with the controls in the right places. Not a research demo.
The core workflow
Four steps. Same flow on every project, every trade.
1
Measure
Calibrate scale on a known dimension, then draw lines, polygons, counts, and areas right on the sheet. Quantities calculate live as you draw.
2
Classify
Tag each markup with a trade and a smart line type — Low Voltage CAT6, 4-inch PVC, 2x6 framing wall, 6-inch concrete slab. Build details ride along automatically.
3
Review
The Issues panel flags anything that looks off — uncalibrated sheets, untagged markups, mismatched trades, suspicious quantities. Fix it before it ships downstream.
4
Send to Foreman AI
Push verified markups into chat. Ask for a scope, a budget, an RFI register, a sub bid package — the AI works from your numbers, not its own.
AI-aware markups
Every line you draw carries meaning. The AI reads your markup the way another estimator would.
Trade context
A line tagged Electrical is wire or conduit. Tagged Civil it is curb, drain, or pipe. Tagged Framing it is a wall, beam, or header. The same geometry means different things by trade — Foreman knows the difference.
Build detail attached
Every type carries the spec it implies — gauge, diameter, schedule, stud size, slab thickness, R-value. When the AI prices it, it prices the right thing.
Structured for downstream use
Markups serialize cleanly into budget line items, RFI rows, scope bullets, and bid package tables. No re-entry. No reconciliation.
Smart line types, by trade
Pick the trade. Get the right line types and build details, automatically.
Low Voltage
CAT6, CAT6A, fiber, coax, speaker wire, security loops. Carries cable type, jacket rating, and run termination so the AI can build a structured cabling scope.
Electrical
Branch circuits, feeders, conduit, EMT, PVC. Tracks AWG, conductor count, conduit diameter, and circuit destination for a real electrical takeoff.
HVAC
Supply, return, exhaust ducts, refrigerant lines, condensate. Carries duct size, gauge, insulation, and pipe diameter for mechanical pricing.
Civil
Storm, sanitary, water main, curb, gutter, sidewalk, paving edges. Tracks pipe diameter, material, slope, and depth where the sheet provides it.
Framing
Stud walls, plates, headers, beams, joists. Carries stud size, spacing, plate count, and wall height so wood and steel framing price correctly.
Site & Earthwork
Cut/fill polygons, hardscape areas, erosion control, demo zones. Areas and perimeters drive grading, paving, and sitework quantities.
Trade-based symbol library
Counts done right. Drop the symbol on the sheet, the AI knows what it is.
Devices and fixtures
Outlets, switches, data drops, cameras, access points, light fixtures, panels, disconnects. Each symbol carries its device class and circuit context.
Mechanical and plumbing
Diffusers, registers, VAVs, RTUs, fixtures, valves, cleanouts. Counts feed straight into mechanical and plumbing scope.
Site features
Inlets, manholes, hydrants, signs, light poles, bollards. Site counts roll into civil quantities and exhibit lists.
Custom symbols
Add your own symbol with a trade, a label, and a build detail. The AI treats it like any built-in symbol.
Build details
A markup without a build detail is just geometry. With one, it is a scope line.
Pre-loaded by trade
Choose a smart line type and Foreman pre-fills the build detail — gauge, diameter, schedule, R-value, spacing, finish — using common construction defaults you can override.
Editable per markup
Override anything on a per-markup basis: a single home run gets 10 AWG instead of 12, this one wall is 2x8, that slab is 8 inches. The exception travels downstream automatically.
Reused across the project
Build details apply to every markup of the same type unless you override. Change the spec once, every line, count, and quantity updates.
The Issues panel
A live checklist of everything that could derail a takeoff. Catch it here, not in the proposal.
Scale not set
Flags any sheet you marked up before calibrating scale. Quantities on uncalibrated sheets are not trustworthy — the panel says so loudly.
Untagged markups
Lists markups without a trade or smart line type. Untagged geometry will not become a scope line until you tag it.
Suspicious quantities
Flags outliers — a 4,000-foot home run, a wall taller than the building, a duct longer than the slab. Usually a wrong scale or a misclassified line.
Trade mismatch
Catches a Civil line drawn on the Electrical sheet, a Framing wall on a site plan, a Low Voltage drop on a foundation sheet. Easy to fix, easy to miss.
Send to Foreman AI
Verified markups, in chat, as structured context. The AI does the rest.
Build a budget
Push your markups into chat and ask for a line-item budget. Foreman uses your quantities, your build details, and your training library pricing — not generic defaults.
Write a scope
Ask for a scope of work or sub bid package. Every line ties back to a measured, classified markup so subs see what they are pricing.
Generate RFIs
Where the plans do not give Foreman enough to classify, the Issues panel becomes RFIs — the right ones, with sheet references and exact locations.
Built for trust
Visual review is the whole point. Every quantity in your bid traces back to a markup you can see on the sheet.
Every number is traceable
Click a budget line, jump to the markup. Click a markup, see every output it feeds. No black boxes between the plans and the proposal.
Auditable downstream
Owners, partners, and reviewers can re-open the same workspace and verify the takeoff. The work is the artifact.
You stay in control
The AI never changes your markups. It reads them, asks about gaps, and proposes outputs. You verify, you approve, you ship.
Failure-safe
If the AI is unsure, the Issues panel says so. Better an open question than a confident wrong number.
What it looks like in real trades
Three quick examples.
Low-voltage cabling
Drop CAT6 drops on each desk, draw home runs back to the IDF, tag the line type. Foreman returns drop counts, total cable length, terminations, jack count, and a labor estimate that matches your training library.
Civil sitework
Polyline the storm main, polygon the asphalt area, count the inlets. Foreman returns linear feet by pipe size, tons of asphalt at the right depth, structure counts, and an excavation budget pulled from your unit costs.
Framing
Outline the exterior walls, polyline interior partitions, drop a beam symbol, set stud size and wall height in build details. Foreman returns lineal feet of wall, board feet of lumber, plate count, header schedule, and a framing scope.
Who it is for
Anyone who has to put a real number on a real plan.
Estimators
Replace the screenshot-and-eyeball workflow with a measured, classified, AI-ready takeoff that produces budgets and scopes in minutes.
GCs and project managers
Self-perform takeoffs across every trade you bid, push results into bid packages, and keep one verified set of quantities through the whole job.
Trade contractors
Smart line types and symbol libraries built for your trade. Skip generic takeoff tools that treat your work like everyone else's.
Owners and developers
Verify what is in a contractor's number. Re-open the takeoff, see the markups, ask Foreman the same question.
What makes it different
Other takeoff tools end at quantities. Takeoff Studio starts there.
Lives next to the AI
Not an export. Not an integration. The takeoff and the AI share the same workspace, the same plans, and the same project memory.
Trade-aware out of the box
Smart line types, build details, and symbols by trade are built in. No template setup, no library purchase, no plugin to maintain.
Outputs are first-class
Budgets, scopes, RFIs, bid packages, and proposals are generated from your verified markups in the same workspace, not in a separate tool.
Measure it once. Verify it visually. Use it everywhere.
Takeoff Studio is included with every Foreman AI Blueprints workspace. Open a job, calibrate a sheet, and start drawing.