Sitework Estimating and Takeoff Services

We quantify site development from your civil drawings — paving sections by area and tonnage, curb and sidewalk by linear and square foot, storm and site utilities by size and depth, and every site improvement on the plan — and deliver an itemized 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

A sitework package is a dozen small trades sharing one drawing set, and its quantities are spread across the grading plan, the utility plan, the paving details, the landscape plan and the erosion-control plan. Nothing on a site plan is a single line item: a parking lot is base course, binder, surface, striping, curb, drainage and signage, and each layer has its own unit.

Site clearing and demolitionclearing and grubbing by acre, tree removal by caliper, and removal of existing pavement, curb, walk, structures and utilities to be abandoned

Pavement sectionsasphalt by tonnage per course, separating aggregate base, binder and surface, with each course's compacted depth carried from the detail rather than assumed

Concrete paving and site concreteSF by thickness for drives, aprons, dumpster pads, equipment pads and heavy-duty sections, with reinforcing and jointing included

Curb and gutterLF by profile, separating vertical, rolled, integral curb-and-gutter and mountable, with radius, transition and depressed sections counted separately

Sidewalks, walkways and rampsSF by thickness and finish, with ADA-compliant curb ramps, detectable warning surfaces and handrail interface counted individually

Storm drainagepipe LF by size, material and depth band, plus catch basins, area drains, manholes, headwalls, inlets, trench drains and outlet protection by count and depth

Stormwater managementdetention and retention basin excavation and structures, underground detention systems, water-quality units, infiltration trenches and outlet control structures

Site utilitieswater main, fire line, sanitary sewer, force main and their appurtenances by size and depth, with valves, hydrants, services, cleanouts and connection-to-existing work counted individually

Dry utilitieselectrical and communications duct bank, conduit, handholes, pull boxes, transformer and switchgear pads, and the trench they share

Pavement markings and signagestriping LF, stalls and symbols by count, accessible stall markings, wheel stops, bollards and regulatory and directional signs

Site lighting interfacepole bases and foundations by count and depth, with the conduit and wire boundary against the electrical package stated

Fencing and gatesLF by height and type, gate counts by width and operation, with post foundations and privacy or screening treatments

Retaining walls and site structuresLF and face SF by wall type separating segmental, cast-in-place and modular block, with drainage, geogrid and guard interface

Landscape and irrigation interfacetopsoil respread depth, seed and sod SF, plant counts by size, mulch CY, edging LF, and irrigation heads and zones

Erosion and sediment controlsilt fence, inlet protection, construction entrances, check dams, basins and temporary stabilization, with the permit's maintenance duration carried

Traffic control and accessmaintenance of traffic, temporary access, phasing constraints and off-hours work where the drawings or permit require it

Site amenitiestrash enclosures, bike racks, benches, flag poles, guard posts and any owner-supplied items requiring installation

How Sitework 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.

Asphalt pavingTON by courseTonnage per course from area, compacted depth and mix density. Square yards alone cannot be priced, because depth and mix vary by section.

Aggregate baseTON and CYTons for purchase and delivery, cubic yards for placement, with the section depth carried from the paving detail.

Concrete paving and walksSF by thicknessThickness bands matter — a 4-inch walk and an 8-inch heavy-duty pad are separate line items even where they abut.

Curb and gutterLF by profileBy profile, with radius and depressed sections separated. Curb at a tight radius installs far slower than straight run.

Storm and utility pipeLF by size and depthDepth bands are essential — the same pipe at 4 feet and at 14 feet are different excavation, bedding, shoring and backfill costs.

StructuresEA by type and depthCatch basins, manholes and inlets counted individually with rim-to-invert depth, since depth drives both the structure and its excavation.

Striping and markingsLF and EALines by linear foot, stalls, arrows and symbols by count, because a symbol is priced per unit and not per foot.

FencingLF plus gates EAFence by linear foot and height; every gate counted separately with its width, operation and hardware.

Retaining wallsSF of faceExposed face area, not wall length — a 3-foot wall and a 12-foot wall of equal length are very different structures.

Seed, sod and topsoilSF and CYArea for seed and sod, volume for topsoil respread at the specified depth.

Erosion controlLF, EA, durationInstalled quantity plus the maintenance period the permit requires, which is frequently the larger cost.

Duct bankLF by configurationBy conduit count and configuration, with concrete encasement quantified separately where it is specified.

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 sitework plan crop

What Moves the Number on Sitework

Pavement section depth, not pavement area. A parking lot with a light-duty section in the stalls and a heavy-duty section in the drive lanes is two quantities, not one. The paving detail sets each course's compacted depth, and tonnage follows depth directly — so an area-only takeoff cannot distinguish the cheap half of the lot from the expensive half.

Utility depth and groundwater. Pipe cost scales sharply with depth. Deeper runs bring more excavation, bedding and backfill, and past a threshold they bring trench protection under OSHA's excavation rules. Groundwater above the pipe invert adds dewatering. None of this is visible in a linear-foot total without depth bands.

Connection to existing infrastructure. Tying into a live water main or an existing sewer means tapping, valve work, bypass pumping, testing, permits and often night work under a utility authority's own standard details. These are among the most expensive individual items on a site package and they appear as a single note on the plan.

Jurisdiction and governing standard. Most site packages are built to a state DOT specification and a local water and sewer authority's standard details. Those documents set materials, bedding, testing frequency, restoration requirements and inspection — and they differ enough between jurisdictions that the same drawing costs differently in two counties.

Phasing, access and traffic control. A site built in one operation and the same site built in four phases while remaining open differ in mobilizations, temporary paving, traffic control and lost production. The phasing plan, not the site plan, carries this.

Restoration and tie-in to existing surfaces. Saw-cutting, matching existing grades, patching, milling and overlay at the limits of work are frequently under-quantified because the limit of work is a line on a drawing rather than an item with a quantity.

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.

Civil drawings — site plan, grading plan, utility plan and drainage plan
Paving and site details, which define each pavement section's courses and depths
Storm and sanitary profiles with rim and invert elevations, for depth bands
Specification sections for Divisions 31, 32 and 33, plus the governing DOT or authority standards
Erosion and sediment control plan and the applicable permit conditions
Landscape and irrigation plans, where they are in this package
Site electrical and lighting plans, for pole bases, duct bank and the scope boundary
Phasing or maintenance-of-traffic plan, where the site stays operational during construction

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 32 — Exterior Improvements, with Division 33 — Utilities.

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:

State DOT standard specifications and details — the governing document on most site packages
AASHTO material and pavement design standards
ASTM D6926 / D6927 — asphalt mixture preparation and Marshall stability
ACI 330 — Guide for the Design and Construction of Concrete Parking Lots
ADA Standards for Accessible Design — ramps, slopes, landings and detectable warnings
ASTM D698 / D1557 — Proctor compaction for base and subgrade acceptance
EPA NPDES construction general permit — erosion and sediment control obligations
Local water and sewer authority standard details and specifications

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 Sitework Is Estimated Wrong

Paving priced by area at one section. Applying a single dollar-per-square-yard figure across a whole lot ignores that stalls, drive lanes and truck courts have different sections. Since tonnage follows compacted depth, the error scales with the area it is applied to, and it always favours the light section.

Utility pipe measured without depth. A linear-foot total for 8-inch sanitary is not enough to price. Excavation, bedding, backfill, shoring and dewatering all track depth, and a run that starts shallow and ends 16 feet down has to be banded to be estimated at all.

Structures counted without depth. Catch basins and manholes are commonly counted as units. A 4-foot-deep basin and a 16-foot-deep manhole are not comparable items — the structure, the excavation and the shoring all change, and the count alone hides it.

Connection-to-existing treated as a note. Tapping a live main, bypassing a sewer or coordinating a utility shutdown carries permits, testing, restoration and frequently off-hours labor. On the drawings it is one leader and one note; in the estimate it belongs as its own priced item.

Earthwork and utility trench double-counted. When the earthwork and sitework packages are taken off separately, trench excavation inside the graded area regularly appears in both. We state the boundary we quantified to so the two estimates can be added without overlap.

Related Estimating Services

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different from your earthwork takeoff?

Earthwork covers moving soil — cut and fill, stripping, compaction, import and export. Sitework covers what gets built on the graded surface: paving, curb, walks, storm, utilities, fencing and site improvements. Most projects need both, and we state the boundary so they can be added without double-counting the trench work.

Do you report paving in tons or square yards?

Tons per course, derived from area, the compacted depth in the paving detail and the mix density — with square yards shown alongside for checking. Asphalt is bought by the ton, so tonnage is the quantity that can actually be priced.

Are utility quantities banded by depth?

Yes. Pipe is reported by size, material and depth band, taken from the profiles rather than the plan, because excavation, bedding, backfill and trench protection all scale with depth.

Do you include erosion and sediment control?

Yes — installed quantities plus the maintenance, inspection and removal obligations that run for the permit's duration. On a long site schedule the maintenance period commonly costs more than the initial installation.

Can you quantify site electrical and lighting?

We quantify pole bases, duct bank, conduit and handholes as site scope, and state where the boundary sits against the electrical package. The fixtures, feeders and gear themselves belong in a Division 26 takeoff.

Do you handle connections to existing utilities?

Yes, as their own priced items rather than as part of a linear-foot rate — tapping, valve work, bypass pumping, testing and restoration, with the utility authority's standard details noted where they govern.

Which standards do you quantify to?

The project's own, which on site packages usually means a state DOT specification plus the local water and sewer authority's standard details. Where the set does not identify them, we state what we assumed, because those documents change materials and testing requirements.

What if the civil set is incomplete or permit drawings are pending?

We quantify what is drawn and list the rest as identified allowances rather than folding them into unit rates. On site packages, quantities that depend on an authority's review are exactly the ones you want visible.

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