PreConstruct AITakeoff software lists are long, and most were written for general contractors in the United States. A drywall, concrete or framing sub bidding work in Ontario has different questions. These are the ones worth asking of any tool — ours included — before you commit.
1. Run it on a job you have already bid
A demo shows the tool on a set chosen to look good. Upload a set you estimated last month, do the takeoff, and put the quantities beside your own. Where they differ, find out why: a missed wall, a height, a waste factor, an opening. If the tool cannot show you how it reached a number, you cannot answer that question on a bid either.
2. Metric, imperial — and Canadian sizes
- Can it show quantities in both, and does it round the way suppliers here sell — ready-mix to the half yard or cubic metre, board by the sheet, rebar by the kilogram?
- Does it know CSA bar sizes (10M to 55M) as well as #3 to #11?
- Can it read metric schedule sizes like 1200 × 1200 × 300 as millimetres?
3. Assemblies, not just lines and areas
Measuring a length is the easy part. The time goes into turning a length into studs, track, board, screws, tape, compound and paint — or a footing into concrete, forms, bars and keyway. Look for trade assemblies you set up once (a wall type, a concrete type) and apply to every measurement, with your own waste and rates.
4. How pricing is counted
| Model | Fits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Per seat, per year | Several estimators bidding all year | Paying for seats in a slow season |
| Per job or per bid | A small team with a variable bid count | What counts as one job, and addenda |
| Free or entry tier | Trying it out | Limits on sheets, exports or projects |
| Takeoff services | No estimator in-house | Turnaround and who checks the result |
Check the currency. Many tools price in US dollars, which moves with the exchange rate.
5. What the AI actually does
“AI takeoff” covers very different things: reading text on the drawings, suggesting walls or rooms, counting symbols. Ask which it is, what it misses, and how you confirm each result before it reaches a bid. A tool that promises every item found, with nothing to check, is making a promise no drawing set lets anybody keep.
6. Outputs you can use
- An export your supplier or your spreadsheet can take — Excel or CSV.
- A proposal or quote you can send, split by trade if you bid more than one.
- A record of where each quantity came from, for when a GC or an owner asks.
Where PreConstruct AI fits
PreConstruct AI is built for drywall, concrete and wood framing subs in Canada: imperial, metric or both, CSA and ASTM bar sizes, wall, concrete and framing types you set up once, and the arithmetic printed beside every quantity. It reads text on the drawings — schedules, callouts and notes — for you to check; it does not count symbols, and wall suggestions are a beta you confirm one by one. Your first bid is free, and plans are priced in US dollars on the pricing page. Run it on a job you have already bid.