Plan set best practices for accurate takeoffs
A short guide for the people who draw the plans. Nothing here is required; each habit moves a quantity up a confidence level.
A few drafting habits make every quantity StakeTally reads more accurate, and they make the plans easier for crews, reviewers and contractors too. None of them are required; each one moves a quantity up a confidence level or removes a question from the proposal. Most firms already do most of them.
What each habit buys you
| Habit | What it improves | Without it |
|---|---|---|
| Number every structure and appurtenance (CB-3, MH-7, FH-2, GV-4, CO-12, FES-1, HW-2) | Each one is counted once across the whole set: plan, profile, matchlines, schedules | Unnumbered items are counted on the busiest sheet only, marked Low |
| Name pipes (P-12, STM-3, SS-4) next to their callouts | Two pipes with the same size and length both count; the same pipe on plan and profile counts once | Identical callouts merge into one, marked Low |
| Include an overall plan (Overall Site, Overall Utility, Overall Grading) | The default read counts from it, so matchlines never double count | Counts come from the busiest split sheet |
| Schedules as real text (structure, pipe, lot and curve tables) | Read directly; the surest source of counts and lengths | Counts come from labels in the drawing |
| Export a vector PDF, not a flattened or scanned one | Text and labels are readable; sheet titles and scale bars are found | Nothing can be read without the vision reader |
| Send the LandXML with the set | Alignments, parcels, unique lot corners, pipe networks and lengths come from the model at High confidence | Lengths are estimated from callouts |
| Say what the sheet is in the title block (Utility Plan, Storm Profile, Plat) | Utility counts come from utility sheets, profiles are not mistaken for plans | Every sheet is treated the same |
| Keep one label per feature (not "CB-3" on the plan and "CB 3" on the profile) | The two spellings still match; a third spelling may not | A feature can count twice |
For Civil 3D users
- Structures and pipes carry their names into LandXML, schedules and labels. Naming them once in the model (VDC Custom CAD Tools has VDCPIPENAMES for this) puts the same name on every sheet.
- A LandXML export from the drawing is the most accurate input StakeTally reads. Send it with the PDF.
- The Civil 3D takeoff export (VDC Custom CAD Tools, coming) hands StakeTally everything the model knows.
For surveyors sending point files
- Keep the field-stake grammar:
cl/A-3,15os/A-3,3' os tbc,sws,sss. StakeTally groups points by the code and maps them onto the catalog. - One description per point; extra words after the code are fine.
How StakeTally tells you what it found
Every quantity carries its source and a confidence. The evidence column says which sheets it counted on and why it is confident or not: "numbered hydrants across the set", "unnumbered callouts on the busiest sheet", "pipes are not named". Anything a reader could not resolve prints on the proposal under Items to confirm until you clear it. The grid is where you confirm; nothing goes to the client unseen.