Fair questions. Straight answers.
How accurate are the quantities, really?
Where drawings carry written dimensions and schedules, our quantities are exact. We also re-measure the figures printed on the drawings rather than trusting them. Every measured quantity is cross-checked by a second, independent method — a hand take-off in Bluebeam against geometry read straight out of the drawing file — and the results are logged in an accuracy register. The two methods agree to within 0.02% on floor plates and to the millimetre on wall runs, and every difference is traced and explained before anything is issued. Allowances are always flagged as allowances, never dressed up as measurements.
What software do you use?
Bluebeam Revu for take-off and mark-up, which is the standard the industry already works in, alongside our own geometry extraction that reads quantities directly out of the drawing file rather than off a screen, and automated cross-checking that reconciles the architectural, structural, hydraulic and energy documents against each other. You do not buy the licence and you do not learn the software — that is the point.
What is the difference between a take-off, a bill of quantities and an estimate?
A take-off is the measuring: how much of each material and how many of each item. A bill of quantities writes that take-off out line by line, with units, so it can be priced and compared. An estimate is the bill of quantities with rates applied and preliminaries, margin and contingency added. You get all three, and the bill of quantities is built so you can substitute your own rates without touching our quantities.
Do you price the job or just measure it?
Both, but the quantities are the product. Rates are included as clearly labelled indicative market rates so the bill is useful on day one, and every rate carries a grade so you can see how well evidenced it is. Where the drawings do not yet carry enough detail to price something properly, that line becomes a provisional sum and says so, rather than a number pretending to be a measurement. The Excel is built for you to drop your own rates in, and every total updates live.
We have our own estimator. Why use you?
Overflow. When your estimator is flat out and a tender closes Friday, we are the extra set of hands that gets the take-off done without hiring anyone. Plenty of builders also use us as an independent second check on the jobs they cannot afford to get wrong — which is a different thing from a second opinion on price. We are checking the quantities, not your rates.
What happens to our drawings?
They are used for your take-off and nothing else. We do not share drawings, tender information or pricing with anyone. We work for builders who compete with each other, so keeping each client's information sealed off is a condition of the whole business working. The sample drawings shown on this site are published with permission and with all identifying and supplier contact details removed.
How fast is it, really?
Standard turnaround is 72 hours, counted in business days, from the moment we accept your job, guaranteed. If a tender is closing we offer 48-hour priority for an extra $50, and same day turnaround is possible on request, priced per job.
Why is the first one free?
Because a take-off is only worth something if the quantities are right, and you cannot know that until you have checked one against a job you know. So take the first set free, mark it against your own numbers, and only come back if it stands up.
What do you need from us?
The drawing PDF set, ideally exported from CAD rather than scanned, your timeframe, and a minute on our scope checklist: kitchen in the contract or owner supplied, landscaping extent, provisional sums you want carried. Send the structural, hydraulic and BASIX documents too if you have them — they carry quantities the architectural set does not, and they are how we cross-check. If you have your own rates, send those as well and we will build the bill around your numbers from day one.
Is this a formal quotation?
No. Every document is an estimate for budgeting and tendering, clearly marked non-binding, with assumptions and exclusions in writing. Red Dot Estimating does not hold professional indemnity insurance, and you stay responsible for verifying quantities and rates before you rely on them commercially. You stay in control of what you actually tender.