For civil estimators
Tender Portal
The checks an experienced estimator runs — applied to every reach, on every job, under every deadline.
What gets checked on every reach
Services
Every crossing in the trench flagged twice: the precaution for that service — for high voltage, dial before you dig, potholing and a supply-authority permit — and what it does to the dig, from “well below main-line production” on electrical and gas to “slightly below” on irrigation. Overhead lines and services running along the pipe are told apart where the label says so, and flagged once, for what they are; a service marked to be removed says it is a crossing only if it is still there when you dig. On one real set, 78 crossings (22 of them high voltage) became 52 in the trench — none of them high voltage — and 16 overhead lines reported apart. The takeoff applies no production factor; your pricing applies your own.
Laterals and stubs
Flagged as separate setups that run below main-line production, rather than lost in the length of the main.
Splays
Picked up on the reach they sit on, with CHECK ANGLE raised where no angle is drawn.
Single or multi-cell
Pipe or box, how many barrels, and the width to carry where the drawing leaves it unstated.
Size, class and type
Pipe size and supplier outside diameter, class, joint and bedding, read from the general notes with where each came from.
The specification that governs
Pay width and measurement basis as the specification you choose sets them, what it leaves unstated, and how far we have verified it.
Bracketed second levels
Where a reach carries two levels, the deeper barrel is the one that digs the trench.
Plan sheets are not long sections
A datum check refuses a plan sheet read as a long section — on one real set it removed six phantom reaches.
A workbook that must agree
The quantities workbook recalculates with live formulas, and is refused if it disagrees with the takeoff.
More than 50 kinds of flag a reach can raise Plus pit and whole-job checks. Most apply only where the drawing calls for them. The full list, as at September 2026: Show every check Hide
Every pipe reach
- Validity: missing chainage, reversed chainages, missing levels, invert above the surface, a trench shallower than the pavement, no or unknown pipe size, existing pipe excluded.
- Grade and levels: uphill fall, below the drawn minimum, below self-cleansing, below the council minimum, drawn grade disagreeing with the levels, grade, length and drop that do not reconcile, drop through a pit.
- Length: longer than the pit-to-pit gap, a gap too wide to be a pit, disagreeing with the sheet scale, far longer than the sheet’s typical reach.
- Depth and cover: cover at the shallow end, not at outlets; shoring or benching depth; a pipe and surround that do not fit the trench as drawn.
- Pipe and supplier: on the averaged-supplier option, outside diameters that differ by 30 mm or more between suppliers; flexible-range sizes; barrel count assumed single.
- Scope and site: temporary, provisional, by-others, future-stage and other scope marks; stubs and laterals; splays; superseded and amended designs; multi-cell width not stated.
- Services: eight kinds, each read as overhead or buried, and as new, kept, to be removed or to be relocated, where the label says so or the sheet keys its services by colour. A crossing in the trench, an overhead line and a service running along the pipe are each flagged for what they are.
Box culverts
- What set the box basis, zone compaction, units from the supplier drawings, base slab and sub-base from the structural drawings, varying or unstated slab thickness, assumed wall thickness, a structure and surround that do not fit the trench as drawn, grade below self-cleansing.
Pits
- No depth, deeper than 3.5 m, wall mesh over 1.5 m, step irons over 0.6 m, type not stated or not in the series, base assumed or not dimensioned, out of scope — and every pit listed with its type, size, depth band and the reaches it joins, its foundation bedding, and — where the set identifies a pit series the engine holds — its own excavation, concrete and step irons; its size marked as from the schedule, measured, assumed or non-standard.
- Pits drawn on the set but not taken off, named with what the pit schedule says about each; GPTs, headwalls and basin structures named with their kind.
The whole job
- Surface not established, pit series not identified, pit sizes assumed, specification read but not applied, a measurement basis not fully verified, a completeness audit of every sheet, and a workbook that is recalculated and withheld if it disagrees with the takeoff, in total or on any one pit.
What the takeoff does
- Reads and sorts the set, and says up front whether it can be measured.
- Builds the pipe network reach by reach off the long sections.
- Trench quantities by depth band, bedding to backfill, pavement deductions and pay length.
- Every pit with its type, size, depth band and foundation bedding; box culverts; headwalls.
- Lists runs drawn only on plans and keeps them out of the totals.
- Checks the pit schedule against the long sections, and audits every sheet for completeness.
What the pricing does
- Groups the quantities into pay items: pipe by diameter and depth band, pits by type and depth.
- Prices a crew day from your rate book — labour, plant and fuel, on day or night shift.
- Slows each flagged reach by the allowances you set, and shows what they add.
- Turns every finding into a decision and writes the qualifications.
What stays with you
- Saying what sits above each trench — road, footpath, verge or open ground. It is pre-filled where the pit types settle it.
- Choosing the measurement basis and the contract type.
- Your rates, crews and production norms, and the judgement on every finding.
- Confirming assumed pit sizes, and whether a service marked for removal will still be there when you dig.
- The items listed but not measured: reinforcement outside headwall tables, formwork, dewatering, traffic control and service protection.
The specification the contract is actually on
Two estimators measuring the same trench to different specifications can be 20% apart before either has made a mistake. There is no house rule here: you choose the basis, and the takeoff is measured to it.
State road authorities
- NSW — TfNSW R11, and the R11 measured pay width a Construct Only schedule pays on
- VIC — DTP Section 701, 300 mm each side or 600 mm with a mechanical compactor
- QLD — TMR SD1359 minimum trench under MRTS04
- WA — Main Roads 404 and SD0062, where the trench follows what is above it
- NT — DLI Roadworks, CS3101 margins, measured to invert
- ACT — TRITS 03 and the ACT-edited R11 pay width
- TAS — State Growth Section 701
Council and subdivision
- AUS-SPEC 1351 pay width — 1.4 × OD or OD + 300 mm each side, whichever is greater
- The drawing-note basis — “TRENCH WIDTH = O.D. + 300 MIN”, where the council drawing carries it
Special cases
- CLSM (flowable fill) — no compaction plant, so the trench narrows
- Manufacturer minimum — the narrowest the pipe can be laid in. A floor, not a working width
Each basis says how far we have verified it and what to check it against — that councils amend AUS-SPEC in brown text, or that the CLSM basis is unverified, in those words. South Australia is the one gap, and it is in build.
Speed
A takeoff in about a minute
The biggest sets we tested took under three, including triage. Page count alone does not decide how long a set takes.
Against a hand takeoff
4,079 m of pipe read, 4,082 m by hand
Excavation within 0.5% on that set; on another, every reach length within 50 mm. On the sets we tested — a small sample, and yours may differ.
No long sections? You still get a takeoff.
A set drawn on plans alone still produces a takeoff, measured off the plan scale. Without levels it carries no depth and is less accurate, and it says so with its own flags — but you are not left with nothing.
Scope today: stormwater drainage — pipes, pits, box culverts and headwalls. South Australia, and the takeoffs beyond drainage, are in build.
From tender set to quantities
From quantities to a priced tender
The takeoff hands straight to the bill: pay items by diameter and depth band, pits by type and depth, priced from your own rate book and crews — with everything the takeoff flagged in front of you as a decision.
- Stubs and temporary reaches on lines of their own, and back in one click.
- Pipe paid net of pits or centre to centre; excavation measured to the basis the contract pays on.
- Crews on day or night shift, fuel at your diesel price, and haulage worked from the run’s own volumes.
- A what-if panel: production 10% faster or slower, without the conditions, the other pay length, the excavation bases.
- Export to Excel with live formulas, and sheets for the build-ups, the reaches, the qualifications and every finding.
- Revisions by duplicate; an issued tender is frozen as it went out.
Your numbers
What a month of takeoffs is worth to you
Put in how you work today. The time you still spend checking each takeoff is taken off before anything counts as saved.
Add how long a takeoff takes you now, and how long you would spend checking one, to see the month.
- Hours back a month
- Labour back a month
- Tender plan and credits
- Net a month
Based on your numbers, not a promise. Each takeoff is counted at 3 minutes of waiting, more than the slowest set we tested took including triage; credits past the plan’s monthly allowance are priced at the smallest pack; excludes GST.
How credits work
A quote first
Every run is quoted in credits before you commit. A full takeoff is 25 credits.
25 to start
A one-off welcome bonus of 25 credits when your workspace first takes the Tender Portal.
Monthly credits
Each plan tops up its included credits every month; unused included credits reset. Credits you buy never expire.
Credits pay for takeoffs. Pricing a tender uses none.
Tender credit packs
- 25 credits $25
- 100 credits $89 -11%
- 250 credits $199 -20%
Pricing
Tender Portal plans
Monthly, in AUD, excluding GST. Compare every suite, add-on and credit pack
Tender Portal
Included from Small Crew up. On any other plan, add it for $10 a month. Takeoffs run on prepaid credits.
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Tender Portal
Tender folders, AI-assisted takeoffs, review and export. Takeoff credits are bought separately and never expire.
3 paid seats · extra seats $5 each · 10 Tender credits a month · 25 GB of drawings
$10 / month
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