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Built for Canadian Construction

Manual Takeoffs Cost You Bids. Estimating Errors Cost You Projects.

Canadian concrete and asphalt contractors lose 15–20 hours per bid to manual PDF measurement. BidScoper puts accurate, auditable takeoffs in your browser — no install, no desktop software, no Imperial-to-Metric conversion.

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0 hrs
Hours saved per bid
CIQS productivity benchmarks
5–0%
Manual takeoff error rate
RSMeans / Construction Estimating Institute
$0/yr
Desktop license cost/yr
PlanSwift pricing
0%
Bid-to-win improvement
Construction Financial Management Association

Why Estimating Departments Lose Money

Six problems that cost Canadian contractors thousands per bid — and millions per year.

📐

Manual PDF Measurement

15–20 hours per bid spent tracing PDFs by hand. One misread scale invalidates every quantity on the sheet.

CIQS estimates 60% of estimating time is spent on manual measurement

💻

Desktop Software Lock-In

$2,000–$5,500/yr per seat for PlanSwift or Bluebeam. Windows-only, VPN required for remote access. License renewal headaches every year.

PlanSwift Professional Edition list pricing

📋

No Audit Trail

Handwritten dimensions on printed plans provide zero defensibility when a GC challenges your quantities. You measured it — but can you prove it?

Construction Estimating Institute best practices

📏

Imperial/Metric Confusion

Canadian specs require metric, but most desktop tools default to Imperial. Thickness in inches, area in sq ft — conversion errors cost real money.

CSA A23.1 / OPSS specifications require metric units

📧

Collaboration Friction

PDFs and spreadsheets flying by email between estimators. Nobody knows which takeoff is the current version. Change orders require a full redo.

KPMG Global Construction Survey — collaboration cited as top challenge

💾

Data Loss from Local Files

Takeoffs saved on one laptop. Hard drive failure, stolen device, or departed employee wipes months of institutional knowledge.

Verizon DBIR — 22% of data loss in SMBs is from device failure or theft

Everything You Need for Accurate Takeoffs

Purpose-built tools for concrete and asphalt estimating. No general-purpose bloat.

Measurement

Polygon & Polyline Tools

Trace closed areas (sidewalks, parking lots) or open paths (curbs, piping). Automatic area and length calculations in metric.

Polygon Polyline Point Counter
Measurement

Multi-Scale Calibration

Two-point calibration per viewport. Handle overview sheets and detail drawings on the same page with independent scales.

Two-Point Tool Multiple Viewports Per-Page
Measurement

Cutout / Hole Geometry

Subtract manholes, catch basins, and utility openings from polygon areas. Net area auto-computed using Shoelace formula.

Cutouts Net Area GeoJSON-like
Templates

Concrete Sidewalk 32 MPa

125mm default thickness, Granular A 150mm base, optional rebar group. Formula: area × thickness × (1 + waste%).

Concrete 32 MPa Granular A
Templates

Concrete Ramp 32 MPa

200mm default thickness with same formula engine. Variable overrides per measurement for site-specific adjustments.

Concrete 200mm Overrides
Templates

Asphalt HL-3/HL-4 on Gran A/B

Four-layer template: HL-3 (40mm), HL-4 (50mm), Granular A (150mm), Granular B (300mm). Tonnage at 2.4 t/m³.

Asphalt HL-3 HL-4 Tonnage
Templates

Asphalt Removal by Area

50mm default removal depth. Density-based tonnage calculation for disposal estimating.

Removal 50mm Density
Templates

Variable Overrides

Override thickness, waste %, rebar rate, or density on any individual measurement. Templates provide defaults, you control specifics.

Per-Measurement Thickness Waste %
Export

CSV Export

Download all measurements, computed outputs, and variable assumptions as CSV. Drop straight into your bid spreadsheet.

CSV Measurements Outputs
Export

Annotated PDF Export

Export the plan set with your measurement markups overlaid. Defensible documentation for bid packages.

PDF Markups Audit Trail
Collaboration

Cloud Access Anywhere

Browser-based — access takeoffs from office, home, or job site. No VPN, no desktop install, no license dongles.

Browser No Install Any Device
Infrastructure

Canadian Data Residency

Data stored and processed in Canada. Magic link authentication — no passwords to manage or leak. Audit trail on every action.

Canada Magic Link Audit Trail

Five Steps from PDF to Bid

Upload your plans, measure, apply templates, and export. Auto-advances every 4 seconds — click any step to pause.

Step 1: Upload Plans

Drag and drop PDF construction drawings

Multi-page support with thumbnail navigation. Any PDF plan set — site plans, grading plans, detail sheets. Instant rendering in your browser.

6 Roles. Real Problems. One Solution.

From chief estimators to IT managers — hear the problems in their own language.

ME
Mike Evans
Chief Estimator

Mid-size concrete contractor — 40 employees, $18M revenue

Pain Points

  • - PlanSwift crashes on large municipal plan sets (200+ pages)
  • - Junior estimators make scale errors on multi-scale detail sheets
  • - $10K/yr for 3 desktop licenses — and they only run on office Windows machines
  • - Can't access takeoffs from home or job site without VPN

BidScoper Wins

  • + Browser-based — no crashes, no installs, works on any device
  • + Multi-viewport calibration catches scale mismatches before they cost money
  • + Replace 3 desktop licenses with one cloud subscription
  • + Review takeoffs from home, site trailer, or client meeting

Technical Advantages

  • * PDF.js rendering handles 200+ page plan sets in-browser
  • * Per-viewport scale calibration with visual region boundaries
  • * Cloud storage — takeoff data never lives on one machine
  • * Magic link auth — no passwords, no Active Directory headaches
KT
Karen Thompson
Owner / General Manager

Paving company — 25 employees, $12M revenue

Pain Points

  • - Losing bids because takeoffs take 3–4 days instead of hours
  • - No visibility into estimating workload or bid pipeline
  • - $180K loss last year from wrong HL-3 thickness on a municipal overlay
  • - Institutional knowledge walks out the door when an estimator leaves

BidScoper Wins

  • + Cut takeoff time from days to hours — bid on more projects
  • + All takeoffs in one place — see who is working on what
  • + Assembly templates enforce correct layer thicknesses by default
  • + Cloud storage preserves every takeoff, every variable, every decision

Technical Advantages

  • * Template formulas prevent thickness and density errors
  • * Audit trail shows exactly how quantities were derived
  • * CSV export feeds directly into bid spreadsheets
  • * No single point of failure — data survives staff turnover
JL
Jason Lee
Project Manager

GC doing municipal infrastructure

Pain Points

  • - Can't independently verify subcontractor quantities
  • - Change orders require the estimator to redo the entire takeoff
  • - CSV data re-typed from screenshots of PlanSwift
  • - Can't tell which takeoff version is current — email chaos

BidScoper Wins

  • + Open the takeoff yourself — verify any measurement in 2 clicks
  • + Modify existing takeoff for change orders — no full redo
  • + Export CSV directly — no re-typing, no transcription errors
  • + One cloud source of truth — always the latest version

Technical Advantages

  • * Measurement-level detail visible to anyone with access
  • * Variable overrides per measurement for change order adjustments
  • * Annotated PDF export for bid package documentation
  • * Browser access from any device — office, site, or client meeting
SP
Sarah Patel
Bid Coordinator

Estimating firm — 30–50 bids/month

Pain Points

  • - Tracking different client specs across 30+ active bids
  • - Deadline clusters — 12 bids due in one week, no way to parallelize
  • - Remote estimators across 3 provinces on different desktop setups
  • - Can't defend quantities when a GC challenges the numbers

BidScoper Wins

  • + Template system standardizes specs across all bids
  • + Cloud access lets any estimator work on any bid from anywhere
  • + Browser-based — same tool regardless of OS or location
  • + Annotated PDF + CSV export = defensible, auditable quantities

Technical Advantages

  • * Assembly templates encode client-specific specs as variable defaults
  • * No desktop license management — just send a magic link
  • * Parallel access — multiple estimators can work simultaneously
  • * Export pipeline produces bid-ready documentation in minutes
RA
Ryan Adams
Junior Estimator

Concrete subcontractor — 2 years experience

Pain Points

  • - Scale errors on multi-scale sheets — 1 in 3 of his takeoffs get flagged in review
  • - Doesn't know standard thicknesses for different concrete applications
  • - Can't access PlanSwift from home — stuck doing takeoffs in the office
  • - Afraid of the cutout tool — avoids manholes and catch basins

BidScoper Wins

  • + Visual viewport regions make scale boundaries obvious
  • + Templates provide correct default thicknesses — learn by using
  • + Browser-based — do takeoffs from home, coffee shop, anywhere
  • + Cutout tool is click-to-trace, not intimidating CAD workflow

Technical Advantages

  • * Viewport calibration shows scale region boundaries on the drawing
  • * Assembly templates encode industry-standard defaults
  • * Cutout geometry uses same polygon tool — no separate workflow
  • * Running totals update in real-time as measurements are added
DM
Derek Morrison
IT Manager

Construction company — 60 employees, 3 offices

Pain Points

  • - Maintaining 8 Windows desktops just for PlanSwift ($6K/machine refresh cycle)
  • - License procurement — PlanSwift renewals, seat count negotiations, version upgrades
  • - No centralized backup of takeoff files — data scattered across local drives
  • - Data residency questions from municipal clients on government-funded projects

BidScoper Wins

  • + Eliminate dedicated Windows machines — any browser, any OS
  • + No license files, no dongles, no seat management
  • + All data in the cloud — automatic backup, zero local file management
  • + Canadian data residency — straightforward answer for RFP questionnaires

Technical Advantages

  • * Zero client-side install — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
  • * Magic link authentication — no passwords to reset, no Active Directory sync
  • * Cloudflare infrastructure with Canadian data residency
  • * Audit trail for compliance and data governance requirements

Technical Deep-Dives

Under the hood — how BidScoper handles the hard problems in construction takeoff.

Construction drawings often have multiple scales on a single page — a site overview at 1:500 and detail sections at 1:50. BidScoper lets you define rectangular viewport regions and calibrate each independently using the two-point tool. Click two points of known distance, enter the real-world measurement, and every measurement within that viewport automatically uses the correct scale. Visual region boundaries make it obvious which scale applies where.
Assembly templates use a safe recursive descent parser (no eval) to compute material quantities from measurements. For example, the Concrete Sidewalk 32 MPa template takes your measured area and computes: concrete volume = area × thickness × (1 + waste%), Granular A volume = area × base thickness. Outputs are evaluated in topological order so dependent calculations (like rebar tonnes from rebar kg) resolve correctly. Variables can be overridden per measurement for site-specific conditions.
Real-world areas have obstructions — manholes, catch basins, utility openings. BidScoper stores polygon geometry in a GeoJSON-like format: coordinates = [outerRing, ...holes]. The Shoelace formula calculates the outer area, subtracts each hole area, and gives you net area. The cutout tool uses the same polygon tracing workflow — no separate CAD-style interface. This matters because a 1.2m diameter manhole in a 100m² sidewalk is 1.1m² of concrete you don't need to pour.
BidScoper exports two formats: CSV with all measurements, computed outputs, variable values, and assembly template assumptions — ready to drop into your bid spreadsheet. Annotated PDF with your measurement markups overlaid on the original plan pages — defensible documentation for the bid package. The CSV includes every variable value and formula used, so anyone reviewing the bid can trace exactly how quantities were derived.

For Concrete Contractors & Estimators

Sidewalks, ramps, pads, curbs — measured and quantified from PDF plans.

Concrete Sidewalk 32 MPa

125mm default thickness, Granular A 150mm base, optional rebar group. Formula: area × thickness × (1 + waste%). Auto-computes concrete volume (m³), granular volume, and rebar tonnage.

Concrete Ramp 32 MPa

200mm default thickness with same formula engine. Variable overrides per measurement for site-specific thickness, waste %, and rebar rate adjustments.

Cutout Support

Subtract manholes and catch basins from polygon areas. Net area computed automatically. A 1.2m diameter manhole = 1.1m² of concrete you don't pour.

Variable Overrides

Override thickness, waste %, and rebar rate on any individual measurement. Templates provide industry-standard defaults — you control the specifics for each section of the project.

For Asphalt & Paving Contractors

Road overlays, parking lots, removal — with HL-3, HL-4, and granular calculations.

Asphalt HL-3/HL-4 on Granular A/B

Four-layer template: HL-3 (40mm), HL-4 (50mm), Granular A (150mm), Granular B (300mm). Density default 2.4 t/m³. Auto-computes volumes and tonnages for each layer.

Asphalt Removal by Area

50mm default removal depth. Density-based tonnage calculation for disposal estimating. Override depth and density per measurement for varying site conditions.

Waste Factors

Waste factor applies to all volume computations. Set once in the template or override per measurement. Typical range: 3–10% depending on conditions.

Multiple Scales per Page

Road projects often have an overview sheet at 1:500 and detail cross-sections at 1:50. Calibrate each viewport independently — measurements stay accurate across scales.

Simple, Transparent Pricing

Start free. Upgrade when you need more.

Free Trial

$0
  • 3 projects
  • 5 exports / month
  • All measurement tools
  • All assembly templates
  • No credit card required
Start Free Trial

Pro

Unlimited
  • Unlimited projects
  • Unlimited exports
  • All measurement tools
  • Team billing
  • Priority support
Get Started

Frequently Asked Questions

16 questions from estimators, owners, PMs, and IT staff.

Concrete takeoff software is a tool that lets estimators measure quantities from PDF construction drawings. You trace lengths and areas directly on the plan, then the software calculates concrete volume in m³, granular base quantities, and rebar tonnage using thickness variables and assembly templates.
To calculate asphalt tonnage: (1) set the drawing scale using two known points, (2) trace the paving area as a polygon, (3) apply an asphalt assembly template with HL-3 and HL-4 layer thicknesses, (4) the software multiplies area × thickness × density (typically 2.4 t/m³). BidScoper automates this workflow.
Yes. BidScoper supports multiple viewport scales per page. Define rectangular viewport regions and calibrate each independently with the two-point tool. Measurements within each viewport automatically use the correct scale.
Yes. Metres for length, m² for area, m³ for volume, tonnes for mass. Thicknesses entered in mm, stored in metres. Ideal for Canadian construction projects.
A polyline traces an open path → total length in metres (curbs, piping). A polygon traces a closed shape → enclosed area in m² minus cutout holes (sidewalks, parking lots, pads).
Free trial: 3 projects, 5 exports/month. Pro: unlimited projects and exports. No credit card required for the trial.
No. Entirely cloud-based, runs in your browser. No desktop install, no plugins, no Java/Flash. Works on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge.
Assembly templates are pre-configured formulas converting a measured area/length into material quantities. E.g., Concrete Sidewalk 32 MPa: area → concrete volume + granular A + optional rebar. Includes templates for sidewalks, ramps, asphalt HL-3/HL-4, and removal.
PlanSwift is a Windows desktop application ($2,000–$5,500/yr per seat). BidScoper runs in your browser — no install, no Windows requirement, no VPN for remote access. BidScoper focuses on concrete and asphalt with purpose-built assembly templates, metric-first units, and Canadian data residency. PlanSwift is a general-purpose takeoff tool that requires manual formula configuration.
Bluebeam Revu is a PDF markup and collaboration tool used across all construction disciplines. BidScoper is purpose-built for quantity takeoff — specifically concrete and asphalt estimating. Where Bluebeam gives you general measurement tools, BidScoper gives you assembly templates that automatically compute volumes (m³), tonnages, and granular base quantities from a single area measurement.
Projects are associated with your organization. Any team member in your organization can access shared projects. Cloud-based storage means everyone sees the same measurements and computed outputs — no emailing files back and forth.
Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge — any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook. No plugins or extensions required. PDF rendering uses PDF.js, the same engine built into Firefox.
BidScoper uses Cloudflare infrastructure with data residency in Canada. Your plan sets, measurements, and computed outputs are stored in Canadian data centres. This is important for municipal contracts and government-funded projects that require Canadian data residency.
Sign up with your email — no credit card required. You get 3 projects and 5 exports per month. All measurement tools and assembly templates are included. When you need more, upgrade to Pro for unlimited projects and exports.
Not directly. BidScoper uses its own measurement and assembly template system. However, you can upload the same PDF plan sets and create takeoffs with BidScoper’s tools. Most users find the browser-based workflow faster than re-creating in PlanSwift.
Your existing projects and measurements remain accessible — you can still view and export them. To create new projects beyond the trial limit, upgrade to Pro. No data is deleted when you hit the trial limit.

Trust & Security

Your data, your control. Built for the compliance requirements of Canadian construction.

🇨🇦

Canadian Data Residency

Your plan sets, measurements, and computed outputs stored in Canadian data centres via Cloudflare infrastructure. Meets data residency requirements for municipal contracts and government-funded projects.

📊

Defensible Audit Trail

Every measurement, template application, variable override, and export is tracked. When a GC challenges your quantities, show exactly how they were derived — scale, geometry, formula, and timestamp.

📤

No Vendor Lock-In

Export your data as CSV anytime. Measurements, computed outputs, and variable assumptions — all yours. BidScoper earns your business by being better, not by holding your data hostage.

🔗

Magic Link Security

No passwords to manage, leak, or forget. Sign in with a secure link sent to your email. No Active Directory sync, no SSO configuration, no IT support tickets for password resets.

Stop Losing Bids to Manual Takeoffs

Start your free trial today. No credit card. No installation. No desktop software.

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References & Sources

[1]
CIQS — Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors — productivity benchmarks for estimating departments in Canadian construction.
[2]
PlanSwift Pricing — PlanSwift Professional Edition list pricing. Per-seat licensing for Windows desktop application.
[3]
RSMeans / CEI — RSMeans data and Construction Estimating Institute — manual takeoff error rates of 5–10% for area and volume calculations.
[4]
Construction Estimating Institute — Best practices for defensible estimating documentation and audit trail requirements.
[5]
CFMA — Construction Financial Management Association — bid-to-win ratio improvements from technology adoption in estimating.
[6]
CSA A23.1 / OPSS — Canadian Standards Association and Ontario Provincial Standard Specifications requiring metric units for concrete and asphalt work.
[7]
KPMG Global Construction Survey — Collaboration and data management challenges cited as top barriers to productivity in construction firms.
[8]
Verizon DBIR — Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report — data loss statistics for SMBs from device failure, theft, and employee departure.