How to do a roller shade takeoff from the window schedule

A roller shade takeoff turns a bid set into a list of every shade you have to price: one line per opening, with the room, the window tag, the shade type, the width and height, and where each size came from. The window schedule gives you the window types and usually their sizes; the floor plans and exterior elevations tell you where each type appears and how many there are; the Division 12 spec tells you what kind of shade goes in each. The method is the same on a 10-window clinic and a 400-window school: gather the right sheets, check the scale, read the schedule and its types, find every tag, size each shade from the best source, list what has to be field verified, count everything a second way, and send the gaps to the GC as questions.

Step 1: Gather every sheet that touches a shade

A shade takeoff done from the floor plans alone misses things. Before counting, pull these from the bid set:

• Floor plans for every level, including the general notes and keynotes.
• Exterior elevations, which show every glazed opening per floor.
• The window, storefront and curtain wall schedule and the window type elevations, often on an A-500 or A-600 sheet.
• Wall sections and head, jamb and sill details, which show jamb depth and the head condition.
• Reflected ceiling plans, which show ceiling heights at the glass and any shade pockets.
• Interior elevations and the finish schedule, where fabric tags and interior glass often show up.
• Electrical sheets, for boxes or power at shade heads if any shade is motorized.
• The Division 12 spec section (usually 12 24 13 Roller Window Shades) and Division 01 for allowances, alternates and substitutions.
• Every addendum issued so far. Log each one and what it changed.

Read the spec before you count. It tells you whether shades go at all exterior windows or only where tagged, how sizes are measured and whether spare shades are part of the scope.

Step 2: Check the scale before you measure anything

If you will take any size off the drawings, confirm the scale on that sheet first. Find a written dimension, such as a column grid, an overall building dimension or a door width, and measure it with the sheet's stated scale. If 100'-0" between grid lines measures 100 feet, the scale holds. If it measures 50 feet, the sheet was printed at half size or the title block is wrong, and every size you scale from it will be off by the same factor.

Do this on each sheet you measure from, not once per set. Plans, elevations and enlarged details are often drawn at different scales, and a reduced print can make a correct title block wrong. Our sample takeoff shows the check written out: a 100'-0" dimension measuring 100 feet at 1/8".

Step 3: Read the window schedule and the window types

The window schedule lists window types (A, B, C, or W1, W2 and so on), usually with a width and height for each type and sometimes a count. The type elevations next to it show how each type is divided: one lite, a fixed lite over an operable sash, a three-bay storefront.

For each type, write down:

• The size the schedule gives and what it means (rough opening, frame size or glass size; the schedule's notes or legend usually say).
• How many lites or bays it has, and the mullion spacing. A three-bay storefront can be one coupled shade with three bands, or three separate shades.
• Whether any part is operable, because crank and lever handles need clearance.
• The sill and head heights, if shown.

Do not subtract anything yet. A manufacturer's order form may ask for the opening size on an inside mount and take its own deductions, while a spec may give its own finished-size rule; the New York OGS master spec, for example, sizes inside-mount shades at jamb to jamb "less 1/4 inch per side." Record the opening size in the takeoff and note the spec's rule separately, so whoever writes the order applies one deduction, once.

Step 4: Find every tag on the plans and elevations

Now go sheet by sheet and room by room. Every window tag on the floor plan is a candidate shade. Mark each one on the drawing as you count it, with a line number that will match your schedule.

As you go, read the notes that add or remove openings:

• "Not in contract" (N.I.C.) or "by owner" notes, which often take storefront or entrance glass out of scope.
• A legend or keynote that puts shades on interior glass, sidelites or clerestories even when the general note says "exterior windows."
• Spandrel glass, which looks like a window on an elevation but needs no shade.
• Doors with glass, which are usually out unless something says otherwise.

When a tag and a note disagree, write down both and turn it into a question. In our fictional Cypress Point sample, window 10 in the conference room is tagged as a manual solar shade, but a general note makes every shade in that room a motorized dual shade. The takeoff prices it per the note, says so in the clarifications, and asks the GC to confirm, because the answer can move one shade from manual to up to two motors.

Step 5: Size each shade and record the source

Each line needs a width, a height and a basis. Use the best source available, in this order:

1. The window schedule, for the type that matches the tag.
2. A written dimension on a plan, elevation or detail.
3. A measurement scaled from the drawing, after the scale check, labelled as scaled.

Heights deserve extra care. Floor plans do not show them. Take heights only from the schedule, type elevations, exterior elevations or wall sections. If none of those gives a height, leave it blank and mark the line Field verify. A guessed height looks exactly like a real one on a spreadsheet, and nobody catches it until the shades arrive short.

Here is what a few lines of a finished shade schedule look like (a made-up example, not a real job):

Add columns your pricing needs: mount (inside, outside or pocket), number of bands and drives for coupled shades, motors, fabric, and control side.

Step 6: Build the field-verify list

A takeoff is for pricing. The order comes from a field measure, and the spec usually says so: the OGS master and the SWFcontract guide spec both require verifying dimensions "by field measurements before fabrication." Your field-verify list tells the installer what to look at when the openings exist:

• Width jamb to jamb at three heights and height at three points, for every opening.
• Jamb depth compared with the shade's minimum for an inside mount.
• The head condition (ceiling, soffit, pocket or header) and whether blocking is there.
• The sill or stool, for sill channels on blackout shades.
• Clearance for crank and lever handles on operable sashes.
• Box and keypad locations for motorized shades.
• Every line marked Field verify in the takeoff.

Step 7: Count it a second time, a different way

Count the shades again by a method that does not depend on the first count. Some options:

• Count every glazed opening on the exterior elevations, floor by floor, and match it to the plan count.
• Search the PDF text for each tag (for example "A," "B," "C" in the tag font) and compare the totals by type.
• Compare your counts by type with any quantity column in the window schedule.

The two counts should agree. When they do not, find out why before you move on; the usual causes are a missed floor, a tag hidden under another note, or an opening the notes removed. Every exterior window should end up as either a shade on your list or a line in an "out of scope" list with the reason (N.I.C., spandrel, by owner).

Step 8: Write the questions for the GC

Anything the documents leave open becomes a question, sent through the GC before the RFI deadline. The common ones:

1. Are shades required at all exterior windows, or only where tagged? Interior glass? Storefront?
2. Is window covering a cash allowance? Any alternates, such as motorizing certain rooms?
3. Is our manufacturer acceptable, or are substitutions not permitted?
4. Does the spare-stock minimum apply per size, per type or per job?
5. Inside mount, outside mount or pocket in each area, and who builds the pockets?
6. Who provides power, boxes, low-voltage wiring and the final connection for motors?
7. Which conflicts between tags and notes should we price, and which way?

Then turn the takeoff into a price: the steps are in how subcontractors price a commercial roller shade bid.

When to do it yourself and when to send it out

A small tenant improvement with a clean schedule is an afternoon's work once you have the habit. A multi-building set with a long spec, several addenda and a bid due Friday is where a second set of eyes pays for itself. If you want that, our shade takeoff service follows the steps above, counts every opening twice and returns the questions and the field-verify list with the schedule. How outside services compare in general is covered in window covering takeoff services: what you get and how they're priced.

Frequently asked questions

What is a roller shade takeoff?

It is a list of every roller shade in a bid set: room, window tag, shade type, width, height and the source of each size, plus the counts, the scope notes and the questions you need to price the job. It is built from the plans, the window schedule, the Division 12 spec and the addenda.

Should I use the rough opening size from the window schedule?

Record what the schedule gives and what it means, then order what your manufacturer's form asks for. The schedule may show rough opening or frame size, which is not the same as the finished opening. Note the basis on each line and confirm it in the field before ordering.

Can I order shades from the takeoff sizes?

No. Takeoff sizes come from drawings, and buildings are not built exactly to drawings. Specs commonly require field measurements before fabrication, so the takeoff sets your bid and the field measure sets your order.

What if the drawings don't show window heights?

Leave the height blank and mark the line Field verify, then ask the GC whether a section or elevation shows it. Never take a height from a floor plan or assume all windows of a type match.

How do I avoid missing windows?

Count twice by different methods, for example plan tags against exterior elevations floor by floor, and make every exterior opening either a shade on your list or an out-of-scope line with a reason.