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OST - 10.02 Typical Areas - Overview

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A project can have several takeoff objects that, when combined together, create a Typical Area such as: apartment units, hotel suites, townhouses, or common (recurring) rest rooms or lobby areas. On-Screen Takeoff allows an estimator to assign a count for each of these Typical Areas within a building or project and then perform the takeoff once. The takeoff assigned to this Typical Area is then multiplied out based on the number of times a Typical Area occurs in each Bid Area. On-Screen Takeoff can break out reports for each Typical Area, floor, building, or show a grand total for the Bid.

For example, let us say an estimator is taking off an apartment complex consisting of two buildings, each with five floors. In this complex, there are identical apartments "2 Bedroom Unit Type A" on floors with 8' Ceilings (Floors 1 - 4) and 10' Ceiling's on the 5th Floor. Rather than taking off each apartment individually, the estimator creates a Typical Area representing a typical unit for each unique height (named appropriately), assigns a count based on how many times that unit occurs in each Bid Area, then takes off that unit one time and assigns that takeoff to the Typical Area. On-Screen Takeoff multiplies those takeoff quantities based on the values entered for the Typical Area.

Using Typical Areas can save hours or even days of work taking off plans and allows you to quickly change cumulative totals if revisions or additions are made to the Typical Area.

Caution

Typical Areas are not compatible with Digital Production Control because they do not display actual takeoff objects, they just multiple the single instance of the typical takeoff drawn. Use Typical Groups and Repeating Pages (covered in the articles that follow) if you are going to use DPC to manage your job in the field.

Caution

Each count of a Typical Area is exactly the same including the Height. If there is a change of height or any other Condition information for some instances, a different Typical Area must be created and that Typical Area taken off separately. Since a Condition Detail is restricted to just one height - each Condition would need to be duplicated and adjusted to compensate for this height change. OST makes this easy with the 'duplicate and reassign takeoff' function - see Related Articles.
Do not assign common items to a Typical Area. For example, if the project includes two Units with a common wall, do not assign that common wall to either of the Typical Areas as it could be over counted. Takeoff common objects separately or as a Typical Area of their own.

Typical Takeoff

Creating Typical Areas - Filling out the Typical Areas Grid