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Divisions 22 / 21 · P + FP sheets

Plumbing & Fire Protection takeoff,
the way estimators do it.

Fixtures and heads anchor the bid; pipe is traced by system, size, material, and above/below grade. Exactly what gets measured, how it gets priced, and how the number is proven.

Plumbing & Fire Protection

Divisions 22 / 21 · P + FP sheets

Fixtures and heads anchor the bid; pipe is traced by system, size, material, and above/below grade.

Illustrative Plumbing & Fire Protection methodology: how Estimaite takes off the plumbing & fire system
Illustrative takeoff
What Estimaite measures
Fixtures (WC, UR, LAV, SK, SH)CountEA
Sprinkler heads by typeCountEA
Domestic + waste + vent pipeLinearLF
Sprinkler mains + branch linesLinearLF
Valves, carriers, cleanouts, drainsCountEA
Pipe insulationLinearLF
How it's priced
  • Domestic water: copper Type L (ASTM B88), sweat or press; joint method named in the layer.
  • Sanitary/vent above grade: hubless cast iron (ASTM A888); below grade: service-weight CI or Sch 40 PVC.
  • Sprinkler branch lines: Sch 40 black steel threaded; mains 2½"+ Sch 10 roll-grooved.
  • Head spacing sanity: Light ≈ 1/200 SF · Ordinary ≈ 1/130 SF · Extra ≈ 1/90 SF.
Derived + allowances
  • Rough-in priced per fixture: CW/HW branch + waste + vent.
  • Carriers for every wall-hung fixture; water-hammer arrestors at flush-valve batteries.
  • Armovers/drops ≈ 3-5 LF per sprinkler head; riser trim per system (alarm/flow/tamper).
Live sample estimate
CW 2" Cu-L320 LF$17,280.00
SAN 4" CI no-hub240 LF$17,626.00
FP branch 1¼" Sch40 thd410 LF$15,941.00
Fixtures (WC / LAV / SK)22 EA$13,310.00
Pendent sprinkler heads86 EA$4,644.00
Material$21,307.00
Labor$43,235.00
Markup 15%$9,681.00
Grand total$74,223.00
Markup15%
Illustrative unit costs, priced live through Estimaite's real estimating engine. Your catalog uses your own costs.
How Estimaite proves it
Fixture count by type matches the schedule AND the architectural count; discrepancies reported.
Every fixture has CW (+HW), waste, and vent reachable in the takeoff.
Head count ÷ floor area lands inside the hazard coverage range, or heads were missed.
The method

Every trade runs the same disciplined takeoff.

Not a black box. The same six steps a careful estimator follows, enforced on every sheet.

  1. 01
    Set the scale
    Calibrate on a known dimension or the title-block scale before measuring anything. Sanity-check against a door or a parking stall.
  2. 02
    Read every schedule
    Equipment and fixture schedules anchor the estimate. Count the tagged things first, then reconcile against the plan symbols.
  3. 03
    Count the tagged units
    One count layer per schedule type. Density is never an excuse to skip, a crowded sheet means trace finer, not less.
  4. 04
    Trace by system, size, material
    One layer per system + size + construction class ("CHWS 6" Sch40 grv"). Size alone is not a takeoff line, material and system price it.
  5. 05
    Verify in overlay
    Re-view each region in overlay mode. Every line must sit on a real drawn run; anything floating over nothing is deleted.
  6. 06
    Final full-sheet pass
    Re-tile the entire area of every in-scope sheet. Not done until zero dark runs sit unmeasured and zero lines sit on nothing.
Complete, never sampled
Every system, run, and tagged unit on every in-scope sheet. A "representative" or "main systems only" takeoff is a failed one, not a smaller one.
Only what is drawn
Every line and point sits on a real drawn element. Hallucinated geometry is worse than a gap, so unverified marks get deleted.
Mismatches are findings
When the schedule says 12 and the plan shows 10, that is reported, not silently reconciled. The number stays honest.

Takeoff by trade

Every trade gets its own page: what gets measured, how it is priced, and how the number is proven.

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