A quantity typed straight into a bill is a number nobody can check. A quantity cast from a dimension sheet carries its own working — six weeks later, when the query arrives.
Three steps, in that order, every time — whether the sheet is paper, a spreadsheet or this.
An elevation 9.60 long and 2.85 high, with one opening taken out of it. On paper you would draw exactly this, in exactly this order, and then write 9.60 × 2.85 on the dimension sheet and Ddt against the opening. BillMate does the squaring and keeps the working; the judgement about what to deduct stays yours, because that is a question for the method of measurement rather than for software.
The traditional dimension sheet has survived a century of alternatives because its layout is an argument. Read left to right and it tells you how many, of what size, giving what, for which item — in that order, because that is the order in which a mistake becomes visible.
| Column | Holds | Catches |
|---|---|---|
| Timesing | The multiplier for a repeated element — 2/, 5/. | Measuring one window and forgetting there are five. The multiplier is visible rather than buried in a total. |
| Dimensions | The measurements themselves, one per line: length, then width, then depth. | A dimension in the wrong position — the difference between an area and a volume is visible at a glance. |
| Squaring | The product. Calculated, never keyed. | Arithmetic slips. This column is exactly where a hand-worked sheet used to go wrong. |
| Description | What was measured, and why — the note to your future self. | Everything else. Six weeks later this column is the only thing that explains the sheet. |
Three lines of measurement and one deduction, squared and cast into item 1.01.
| Times | Dimensions | Squaring | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32.40 0.60 1.20 |
23.33 | Excavate trench, external walls. Centre-line girth 32.40, trench width 0.60, depth 1.20. | |
| 2/ | 7.80 0.60 1.20 |
11.23 | Ditto, the two cross walls. Timesing 2/ because both walls are identical — measured once, multiplied. |
| 9.60 0.60 1.20 |
6.91 | Ditto, the rear return. | |
| 3.50 0.60 1.20 |
2.52 | Deduct — trench through the existing apron slab, which is measured separately. | |
| Cast into the bill | 38.95 | m³ | |
Note the centre-line girth on the first line — measuring the external walls on their centre line is what stops the corners being counted twice. The 2/ on the second line is timesing: two identical cross walls, measured once. The last line is a deduction, and it reads as one.
The same sheet doing area rather than volume — two dimensions per line instead of three, and four separate deductions.
| Times | Dimensions | Squaring | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/ | 12.60 2.85 |
71.82 | Front and rear elevations, wall plate to dpc. Timesing 2/. |
| 2/ | 6.40 2.85 |
36.48 | Gable ends, ditto. |
| 5/ | 1.20 1.35 |
8.10 | Deduct five window openings, 1200 × 1350. |
| 2/ | 0.90 2.10 |
3.78 | Deduct two external door openings, 900 × 2100. |
| 9.68 | 9.68 | Deduct the lintel band cast with the ring beam, measured with the concrete. | |
| Cast into the bill | 86.74 | m² | |
Whether small openings are deducted at all is a question for your method of measurement, not for the software — the standards hub. BillMate does the arithmetic you ask for; it does not decide the rule.
One dimension per line. Skirting, kerbs, pipework, edge trims. The squaring column simply totals.
Two dimensions per line. Walls, floors, finishes, formwork faces. Openings come out as deductions on their own lines.
Three dimensions per line. Excavation, concrete, filling. The place where a misplaced dimension is most expensive.
Enumerated items. Doors, fittings, manholes. Timesing does the work and the dimension columns stay empty.
A visible multiplier for repeats, so five identical windows are measured once and multiplied where anyone can see it.
Subtractions that read as subtractions, on their own lines with their own reason — not negative numbers hiding in a column.
Calculated for every line and totalled. The column that used to be checked twice by hand is now not a source of error at all.
The total goes into the bill item in one action. Change a dimension later and the bill quantity follows.
Most software treats taking-off as data entry: measure, produce a quantity, discard the working. That is fine right up until someone asks where 38.95 m³ came from.
BillMate keeps the sheet attached to the item for as long as the project exists. Reopen it from the item, change a dimension when the drawing is revised, and the bill quantity follows. A checker can read your measurement rather than take it on trust — which is the entire reason the profession writes dimensions down.
| Item | Description | Unit | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.01 | Excavate to reduce levels, not exceeding 2.00 m deep; load, cart away and dispose off site | m³ | 420.00 | $18.50 | $7,770 |
| 1.02 | Plain concrete grade 15 blinding, 50 mm thick, to receive foundations | m² | 640.00 | $9.40 | $6,016 |
| 1.03 | Reinforced concrete grade 30 in isolated pad and strip foundations | m³ | 96.00 | $141.83 | $13,615.68 |
| 1.04 | High-yield steel reinforcement, cut, bent and fixed in position | t | 7.20 | $1,320 | $9,504 |
| 1.05 | Sawn formwork to vertical sides of foundations, height not exceeding 1.00 m | m² | 210.00 | $31.50 | $6,615 |
| 1.06 | Provisional sum for ground-improvement works, to be expended as directed | sum | 1 | $65,000 | $65,000 |
| Carried to collection | $108,520.68 | ||||
Everything above is the manual sheet, and it is free on the 2-project tier. There is also a way to fill it without keying every figure.
Measure on screen sits inside the dimension sheet on a paid licence. It opens an image of the drawing and takes dimensions off it by tapping, instead of every figure being keyed by hand. What it produces are ordinary dimension lines on the same sheet, with your notes on them — so they can be checked before anything reaches the bill.
What it is not. There is no IFC or BIM model take-off — measuring off a 3D model is a different capability and BillMate does not have it. And because the scale is set by hand from one line, the accuracy of everything you measure rests on that one line. Calibrate on a dimension close to what you are about to measure. The comparison, with the case against us included.
Learning the method rather than the tool? Our companion site has How to prepare a bill of quantities from drawings — the full sequence from fixing the information set through squaring, abstracting and billing, written as method rather than as software documentation. It applies whatever you measure in.
Taking-off is free — 2 projects, no sign-up, nothing to install.