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On-Screen Takeoff - 07.04 Assigning Takeoff to a Bid Area - OST

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You can allocate your takeoff to a particular Bid Area two ways:

After you've drawn the takeoff (recommended), or
As you draw takeoff (not recommended, we explain why below)

There is no need to set up Bid Areas before taking off a project. In fact, it may be easier to complete all your takeoff first, then create the Bid Areas, and finally go through each page assigning takeoff to Bid Areas. This way, you know all your takeoff is completed and you are being very deliberate in assigning it to Bid Areas.

When switching Areas, takeoff not assigned to (or "in") the Current Area is greyed-out. This can affect what is printed depending on how you have your Options configured. See Related Articles for details on setting Program Options and User Preferences and for information about Printing Plans, Takeoff, and Annotation.

On-Screen Takeoff example of takeoff not in the selected bid area - greyed out

Once takeoff is assigned to the currently selected Bid Area/Typical Area (or you select the Bid Area/Typical Area to which takeoff is assigned), it is no longer greyed-out.

Once takeoff is assigned to an Area (or Typical Area), that Bid Area is bolded in the Areas drop-down list. This bolding is page-specific and helps the user quickly identify which areas are used on a particular page.

in the On-Screen Takeoff Bid Areas drop-down, the selected area is bolded

Assigning Takeoff Objects to Bid Area After Takeoff is Completed (Recommended Method)

To assign takeoff to a Bid Area to existing takeoff,

Select the appropriate Area from the Area drop-down menu

the bid areas control is located on the Settings toolbar

Click the Select tool
Select the takeoff object(s) to assign to the selected Area
Right-click to display the Context Menu
Select Assign to Current Area

Repeat this process for all takeoff objects to assign to each Bid Area.

Notice that objects are displayed in color once they are assigned to the current Area (the Area selected in the Area drop-down).

After assigning an object to the selected area it displays in its normal color, not greyed-out

Note

The reason we recommend assigning takeoff after you draw it, is it is a deliberate action, not automatic - there is less chance that you will allocate takeoff to an incorrect area.

Assigning Takeoff Objects to the Current Area while Drawing takeoff

To assign takeoff to an Area as you draw the takeoff,

Select a Bid Area from the Area drop-down menu on the Settings toolbar. (Select (All Areas) in the Area drop-down menu to leave takeoff 'unassigned'.)

the bid areas control is located on the Settings toolbar - all area selected

Select a Condition from the Condition List and draw takeoff
Draw some takeoff - as you draw takeoff it is assigned to that currently selected Bid Area, automatically

Caution

Be sure to select the correct Bid Area when you are drawing takeoff. It is easy to forget to change to the proper Bid Area when you switch pages.

For this reason, we recommend assigning takeoff to Areas after you've completed all takeoff - it is more deliberate and you are less likely to make any mistakes.

Note

Use the Takeoff (Summary) Tab to check if you've properly assigned all takeoff to Bid Areas - look for any "unassigned" takeoff.

Assigning takeoff objects to a Typical Area follows the same process - see Related Articles for more information.

Creating and Adjusting Sub-Areas

What are Zones and Why Use Them?