Openings Estimating and Takeoff Services (Doors, Windows and Hardware)

We quantify CSI Division 08 from your drawings and schedules — every door, frame, window, storefront run and hardware set, reconciled against the opening schedule and delivered as an editable Excel workbook with a marked-up plan set. Flat-quoted from your plan set before we start.

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What We Take Off

Division 08 is one of the easiest scopes to get wrong, because the quantities live in three places at once — the floor plans, the door schedule and the hardware schedule — and they frequently disagree with each other.

Doorshollow metal, wood (solid core and hollow core), aluminum, FRP and specialty leaves, by type, size, thickness and rating; pairs identified separately from singles

Frameshollow metal knock-down vs. welded, wood, aluminum and borrowed lites, by profile, gauge, jamb depth and throat size, carried against wall condition

Door hardwarehinges, closers, locksets, exit devices, thresholds, weatherstrip, coordinators, flush bolts, stops and kick plates, quantified by hardware set

Hardware schedule reconciliationset-by-set against the door schedule, reporting every mismatch and unassigned set

Electrified hardwareelectric strikes, electrified locksets and hinges, mag locks, power transfers, power supplies and the access-control interface, counted separately from mechanical hardware

Windowsaluminum, vinyl, wood and wood-clad, by type, size and operation

Storefront and curtain walllinear feet of framing, square feet of infill, corner/end/head/sill conditions counted separately

Glazingglass type, thickness, IGU makeup, tempered/laminated/low-E/spandrel/fire-rated flags

Overhead, coiling and specialty doorssectional, rolling steel, coiling counter shutters, sliding/folding/revolving with controls

Access doors and panelswall and ceiling, by size and rating

Louvers and ventswall, door and undercuts

Fire ratings and labelscarried through door, frame and hardware, checked against the life-safety plan

Sealants and perimeter treatmentLF of joint at frame perimeters, with backer rod, flashing and sill pan conditions where the details show them

Installation interfaceanchor type by wall condition, grouted versus ungrouted frames, and the blocking or backing required at wood and metal-framed openings

How Openings Quantities Are Measured

Every quantity below is reported in the unit the scope is actually bought and bid in — not converted into a single convenient unit that hides where the cost sits.

DoorsEA by typeBy schedule type mark, with pairs counted as two leaves and one opening so both the buy and the opening count stay correct.

FramesEA by typeSeparately from doors, since frame material, gauge and knock-down versus welded construction are independent of the leaf.

HardwareSets EABy hardware set, not by door. Sets are not evenly distributed across openings, so a per-door average misprices the whole package.

WindowsEA by type and sizeAgainst the window schedule, with operation type carried — a fixed unit and an operable unit of equal size are different items.

Storefront framingLFFraming measured in linear feet with corner, end, head and sill conditions counted separately rather than absorbed into the run.

Curtain wall and infillSFGlazed infill by square foot, kept apart from framing linear footage because the two are priced and installed differently.

GlazingSF by makeupBy glass type, thickness and IGU makeup. Tempered, laminated, low-E and spandrel are separate quantities even in the same elevation.

Overhead and coiling doorsEABy type and size with the operator and controls counted separately, since motorization is frequently a larger cost than the curtain.

Access panelsEABy size and fire rating — a rated panel in a rated assembly is not the same item as a plain access door.

Perimeter sealantLFJoint length at frame perimeters, which is derived from the opening sizes rather than counted per opening.

Rated openingsEA by ratingCounted by rating so the door, frame and hardware for each rating can be verified as a matched, labelled assembly.

Who This Is For

General contractors carrying this trade directly, or checking a subcontractor's number before it goes into the bid.

Subcontractors pricing their own scope in this division.

Developers and owners validating a number they've already been given.

Material suppliers and distributors verifying a customer's order.

What You Receive

An itemized Excel takeoff, organized by division
A marked-up plan set — every quantity traces back to a location on the drawings
Labor, material and equipment split out separately
Waste and overage factors shown as visible line items
An assumptions and exclusions schedule

Marked-up openings plan crop

What Moves the Number on Openings

Hardware set distribution. Hardware is the most misestimated part of Division 08 because sets are not evenly spread. A handful of openings carrying panic hardware, electrified closers and access-control interface can represent a disproportionate share of the hardware budget, while most openings take a simple passage set. Averaging across the door count cannot see that at all.

Fire and smoke ratings. A rated opening requires a rated door, a rated frame and rated hardware together, labelled and installed per NFPA 80. Self-closing and positive-latching requirements change the hardware set, not just the leaf, and the requirement comes from the life-safety plan rather than the door schedule.

Frame material, gauge and construction. Knock-down and welded hollow metal frames differ in price, in lead time and in installation sequence — welded frames generally have to be set before the wall is closed. Where the schedule is silent, the cheap assumption is usually the wrong one and it affects the schedule as well as the cost.

Storefront and curtain wall conditions. A flat linear-foot measurement of a storefront run misses corner posts, end jambs, head and sill receptors — the conditions that carry the extrusions and the labor. On a long retail elevation these accumulate quickly and they are visible only on the elevations and details.

Glazing makeup and performance. Glass is specified by makeup, not by area. Tempered, laminated, low-E coating, spandrel and fire-rated glazing carry very different unit costs, and safety glazing requirements at doors, sidelights and low openings are code-driven rather than optional.

Electrified hardware and access control. Electric strikes, mag locks, power transfers and power supplies bring a low-voltage interface, a door-position and release sequence, and coordination with the security package. Whether the openings contract or the security contract carries each item is a boundary worth confirming before bid.

What We Need From You

A complete set is ideal, but rarely what exists. Send what you have — we will tell you at quote stage what can be quantified firm and what has to be an allowance.

Door schedule with type marks, sizes, materials and ratings
Hardware schedule or hardware sets — the document that decides most of the cost
Window and storefront schedules with type marks and sizes
Architectural floor plans, for opening locations and wall conditions
Exterior elevations and storefront details, for framing runs and corner conditions
Life-safety plans showing rated partitions, so opening ratings can be verified
Specification sections for Division 08, including glazing performance and hardware grades
Access-control or security drawings, where electrified hardware is involved

How It Works

1 Send your plans — PDF, DWG, DOC, images or ZIP, up to 100MB per file.
2 Get your quote — a flat price for the scope with a delivery date, confirmed in writing.
3 Approve — nothing starts until you confirm.
4 We take it off — quantities from the drawings and schedules.
5 Delivery — workbook, marked-up set, assumptions schedule.

How Pricing and Turnaround Work

Every project is priced individually from your drawings. Send the plan set and you get a flat quote for the scope before any work starts — no hourly billing, no open-ended engagement.

Turnaround depends on the size of the package and how many trades are in scope — which is why you get a firm delivery date with your quote rather than a generic promise.

Tools and Standards

Takeoffs are produced in Bluebeam, PlanSwift, Trimble, STACK, organized against CSI MasterFormat divisions — this scope is specified under Division 08 — Openings.

Quantities and assemblies are read against the published standards that govern this trade, because the standard is what decides whether two apparently identical items are actually the same line item:

NFPA 80 — Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives
NFPA 105 — Smoke Door Assemblies and Other Opening Protectives
UL / Warnock Hersey labelling for rated door, frame and hardware assemblies
ANSI/BHMA A156 series — builders hardware grades and performance
SDI / HMMA standards for hollow metal doors and frames
WDMA and AWI standards for wood doors and architectural wood door grades
AAMA / NAFS (AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101) — window and storefront performance ratings
ADA Standards for Accessible Design — clear width, opening force and hardware height

Pricing is built on RSMeans cost data localized to your project's market, then reconciled against current supplier quotes and our own completed project costs. Every estimate states its pricing basis and the date it was priced.

Why Openings Is Estimated Wrong

Hardware sets counted against the wrong door count. The door schedule says 214 openings; the hardware schedule specifies 31 sets. Averaging a set cost across the door count misses that sets aren't evenly distributed — a handful of openings carrying panic hardware and electrified closers can be a third of the hardware budget.

Fire ratings not carried through to hardware. A rated opening needs a rated door, frame AND hardware — self-closing, positive-latching, with the right hinges. Estimates routinely carry the rating on the door and frame and price the hardware as standard.

Storefront corner and end conditions under-measured. A flat linear-foot run misses corner posts, end jambs, head and sill receptors. On a long retail elevation these can add materially to the framing buy, and they appear only on the elevations and details.

Frame type assumed instead of scheduled. Knock-down and welded frames differ in price and install sequence. When the schedule is incomplete, the cheap assumption is usually the wrong one.

Electrified hardware split with the security package left undefined. Electric strikes, power transfers and power supplies sit on the boundary between Division 08 and the access-control contract. When neither estimate claims them, they surface as a change order after the doors are already hung.

Related Estimating Services

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you take off door hardware separately from doors?

Yes. Hardware is quantified by set and listed separately from the door and frame counts, because they're usually bought from different suppliers on different lead times.

Can you reconcile our hardware schedule against the door schedule?

That's a standard part of the deliverable — every opening with no set assigned, every set specified but not used, and every set that conflicts with its opening's fire rating.

Do you handle storefront and curtain wall, or only openings?

Both. Storefront and curtain wall are quantified in linear feet of framing and square feet of infill, with corner, end, head and sill conditions counted separately.

How do you treat fire-rated openings?

The rating is carried through door, frame and hardware together, checked against the life-safety plan, and counted by rating so each assembly can be verified as matched and labelled per NFPA 80.

What if the door schedule is incomplete or missing?

We work from plans and elevations and tell you exactly what we assumed for every opening we couldn't verify.

Do you quantify electrified hardware and access control interface?

Yes, counted separately from mechanical hardware — strikes, electrified locksets and hinges, mag locks, power transfers and power supplies — with the boundary against the security package stated, because that boundary is where this scope usually goes missing.

Do you price the openings or just quantify them?

Either. Quantities only is faster and cheaper if you have your own supplier pricing.

Can you work from elevations if the plans are unclear?

Usually — send what you have and we'll tell you at quote stage whether it's enough.

Send us your openings plans and get a quote

Upload your plans or tell us what you need. We’ll reply with pricing and a delivery date.

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