Request a Sitework Takeoff Quote
Upload your drawing sets below. Our civil estimating department reviews drawing completeness, confirms requested scope divisions, and returns a detailed proposal with a guaranteed delivery timeframe.
Essential Civil Drawing Sheets for an Accurate Takeoff
To ensure our civil estimators capture every cubic yard of excavation, linear foot of utility piping, and square yard of paving, we recommend providing the following drawing sheets when submitting your quote request.
Cover & Demolition Plans
Civil Cover & General Notes: Establishes benchmark vertical datums (NAVD88 vs NGVD29), municipal standard details, and environmental constraints.
Site Demolition & Clearing: Details clearing and grubbing boundaries, tree removal schedules, pavement sawcutting, asphalt/concrete slab demolition, and existing pipe abandonment.
Grading & Drainage Plans
Topographical Contours: Legible existing ground contours (dashed lines) and proposed design contours (solid lines) with readable index elevation labels.
Spot Elevations: Finished floor elevations (FFE), building pad rough grades, top/bottom of curb, retaining wall elevations, and retention basin inverts.
Utility Plans & Profiles
Wet Utility Networks: Storm sewer, sanitary sewer, and domestic/fire water line layouts with pipe materials, diameters, and lengths.
Profile & Structure Tables: Rim elevations, invert elevations, manhole drop connections, and underground stormwater retention chamber details.
Paving & Structural Details
Typical Cross-Sections: Heavy-duty truck pavement vs standard parking asphalt thickness, aggregate base course depth, and concrete flatwork thickness.
Curb Profiles: Standard barrier curb, mountable roll curb, ribbon curb, and valley gutter cross-sections for concrete yield calculations.
Soil Boring Logs & Report
Subsurface Conditions: Subsurface boring logs indicating depth to auger refusal (rock excavation), seasonal high groundwater table, and organic topsoil depth.
Soil Parameters: Natural moisture content, plasticity index (PI), and recommended bank-to-compacted shrinkage or swell factors.
Project Manual & Addenda
CSI Divisions 31, 32 & 33: Technical specifications outlining earthwork testing frequency, pipe bedding payline widths, and aggregate compaction requirements.
Addenda Bulletins: Any architectural or civil revisions issued during active bidding that alter grading, pipe alignments, or scope limits.
Estimating Turnaround Windows by Project Scale
We pride ourselves on meeting rigorous contractor tender deadlines. Below are our standard deliverable timeframes based on project acreage and scope complexity.
Tier 1: Small Commercial Pad Sites (<3 Acres)
Fast food restaurants, retail bank branches, gas stations, and standalone convenience stores.
Tier 2: Medium Commercial & Industrial (3 to 20 Acres)
Shopping centers, distribution warehouses, medical office campuses, and multi-family residential complexes.
Tier 3: Master-Planned Subdivisions & Heavy Civil (20+ Acres)
Multi-phase residential subdivisions, business logistics parks, arterial roadways, and municipal utilities.
What You Receive in Your Final Takeoff Package
Every deliverable package is prepared to plug directly into your bid sheet on closing day with zero reformatting required:
- Unlocked Microsoft Excel Workbook: Complete CSI MasterFormat line items with open mathematical formulas for rapid unit cost adjustments.
- 3D Cut/Fill Color Heatmap PDF: Visual depth-shaded contours showing site superintendents exactly where cuts and fills occur.
- Vector Color-Coded Plan Markups: PDF drawings highlighting every measured line, area polygon, and utility structure callout.
- Written Scope Assumptions Narrative: Clear documentation of topsoil stripping depths, shrink/swell factors, subgrade deductions, and trench paylines.
- Optional 3D Machine Control Meshes: Watertight LandXML, Trimble (.ttm), or Topcon (.tn3) files formatted for GPS grading equipment.
What Happens After You Submit Your Plans?
Our transparent preconstruction workflow ensures you always know the exact status of your takeoff from initial upload through final bid day delivery.
The moment your plans are submitted, our system generates an automated intake confirmation. Your files are placed in an encrypted, access-restricted folder directory protected under our Competitive Bid Firewall Protocol.
A senior civil estimator reviews sheet counts, verifies contour readability, inspects geotechnical boring logs for shallow rock or groundwater, and notes any missing detail sheets or illegible invert tables.
Within 2 to 4 business hours, you receive a formal fixed-fee proposal detailing the exact CSI divisions covered, deliverable file types, and a firm delivery date and time guaranteed prior to your bid deadline.
Upon your authorization, our modeling engineers digitize the existing and proposed surfaces in Civil 3D / AGTEK, applying pavement subgrade offsets, building pad cuts, utility trench depth stratification, and soil shrink/swell adjustments.
An independent senior civil engineer audits the model for contour boundary anomalies, inverted pipe slopes, missing pavement layers, and formula links before authorizing deliverable release.
You receive unlocked Excel sheets, 3D color heatmaps, vector markups, and written qualifications. Our team remains available for phone consultation or rapid delta updates if project addenda are issued prior to bid closing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Submitting Plans
Common contractor questions regarding drawing file sizes, preliminary plans, and proposal commitments.
How quickly will I receive a quote after submitting my civil plans?
Our senior estimating team reviews drawing sets as they arrive. During normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM EST), you will receive a formal, itemized fixed-fee proposal within 2 to 4 hours. The proposal outlines the exact scope of services, sheet counts, deliverable files, and a guaranteed delivery date and time.
Can you provide a preliminary dirt balance takeoff from 60% or 90% design drawings?
Yes. General contractors and commercial developers frequently engage our desk during schematic and design development (DD) phases to determine whether a proposed site will balance, export, or require expensive import borrow. When revised 100% construction issue (IFC) drawings are finalized, we perform an overlay delta takeoff to update the quantities for binding subcontractor bidding.
What if our drawing files exceed standard email attachment limits?
Our upload form accepts files up to 25MB directly. For larger multi-page drawing sets or complete CAD project folders (often 100MB to 2GB+), simply paste a link to your cloud drive (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box) or contractor plan room (Procore, BuildingConnected, SmartBid) into the message box. Our estimators have access to all major construction plan room platforms.
Can I request a takeoff for only earthwork cut/fill, or only underground utilities?
Yes, absolutely. We tailor every proposal to your trade specialization. If you are an earthwork excavation subcontractor who does not install wet utilities, or an underground utility contractor who excludes paving and curbs, we quote only the specific CSI divisions and sheets you require, keeping your preconstruction costs minimal.