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QTO — Quantity Takeoff

The QTO module turns drawings into priced BOQ lines, with AI-assisted symbol recognition and auto-scaling. It is built for the estimator and quantity surveyor who today does takeoff in Bluebeam or PlanSwift and wants the result piped into ORKSTRA's BOQ and Cost Estimation.

Overview​

Two phases:

  • Phase A — manual takeoff with AI assist: upload drawings, set scale, place counts, areas, lengths. Save into a takeoff sheet that maps to BOQ lines.
  • Phase B — AI auto-takeoff: symbol libraries plus a Claude-Vision-backed processor identify counts and dimensions on supported drawing types.
Screenshot: QTO drawing canvas with placed counts, area polygons, length lines

Key concepts​

Drawing set. A package of drawings for a project — architectural, structural, MEP. Each drawing has a discipline tag.

Sheet. A single drawing within a set.

Scale. Each sheet has a scale (1:50, 1:100). Can be set manually or auto-detected from the title block.

Takeoff sheet. A working document that captures counts (e.g., 142 light fittings), areas (m² of flooring), and lengths (linear meters of ducting), each tagged to a BOQ line.

Symbol library. A reusable catalog of stamped symbols — e.g., a switched-socket symbol. The AI uses the library to count matching symbols on a drawing.

Auto-scale. A computer-vision step that detects the title block and infers scale.

Processing job. Long-running auto-takeoff jobs run async; results appear in the takeoff sheet for QS validation.

Step-by-step: manual takeoff​

  1. Project → QTO → New takeoff.
  2. Upload the drawing PDF or DWG.
  3. Pick a sheet and confirm scale (auto-detected or manual two-point reference).
  4. Pick a tool: count, area, length.
  5. Click on the drawing to drop counts, draw polygons, or trace lines.
  6. Each measurement gets tagged to a BOQ line.
  7. Save the takeoff sheet — totals push to the BOQ.

Step-by-step: AI auto-takeoff​

  1. From the takeoff sheet, click AI takeoff.
  2. Pick the symbol library and the categories to auto-count.
  3. Submit — a processing job runs. Typical job time: 30 seconds to 5 minutes per sheet.
  4. When complete, AI-placed counts appear in orange (pending QS validation).
  5. The QS reviews — confirm, adjust, or reject each.
  6. Confirmed counts flip to green and feed the BOQ.

Step-by-step: build a symbol library​

  1. QTO → Libraries → New library.
  2. Upload reference symbol images (one image per symbol, ideally 200×200 px).
  3. Tag each with a name and an associated BOQ category.
  4. Save — the library is now available for AI auto-takeoff.

Common tasks​

  • Reuse a takeoff: clone an existing takeoff sheet to start a new one with the same structure.
  • Export to BOQ: the takeoff sheet has a one-click Push to BOQ that creates / updates BOQ lines.
  • Compare two revisions of a drawing: Drawing → Revisions → Compare highlights added / removed entities.
  • Bulk reassign BOQ tags: edit the takeoff sheet's tag column to bulk-retag.

Troubleshooting​

  • "AI placed counts on the wrong area." — Symbol confusion. Add more reference images to the library, then re-run.
  • "Auto-scale picked the wrong scale." — Title block OCR failed. Set manually with a known dimension reference.
  • "Push to BOQ creates duplicates." — Existing BOQ has lines with the same code but different units. Resolve in the BOQ first, then re-push.
  • "AI job stuck in pending for an hour." — Check QTO → Jobs for the error. Heavy drawings (>50 MB PDFs) sometimes time out — split the PDF and retry.

Limits​

  • Max drawing PDF size: 100 MB.
  • Max sheets per set: 500.
  • AI auto-takeoff: up to 100 sheets per processing job.

Permissions reference​

PermissionWho needs it
QTO_VIEWEstimators, QSes
QTO_EDITEstimators, QSes
QTO_AI_RUNSenior estimators
QTO_PUSH_TO_BOQSenior QSes
QTO_LIBRARY_MANAGESenior estimators

See also: BOQ, Cost Estimation, DMS.