Perfect Takeoff: Fire-alarm takeoffs & bids in minutes, not hours

What you get

One upload. Three deliverables.

Every takeoff produces the three things a bid actually needs: the marked-up plan, the priced bill of materials, and the client-ready quote. All from the same source, so they never disagree.

Deliverable 01
Marked-up plan
Every device pinned to the drawing at NFPA 72 spacing, color-coded by type, with coverage rings, and every marker draggable when you want the final say.
Per floorDraggablePDF / PNG export
Deliverable 02
Live bill of materials
Every placed device rolls up into a priced BOM, mounts, backboxes, and wire included. Nudge a device and the quantities and totals recompute instantly.
Editable unit costsMounts + backboxesCSV export
Deliverable 03
Client-ready quote
A branded proposal with labor, margin, permit, and tax, with your company name, license number, and validity dates baked in. It looks like your shop made it, because it did.
Your brandingLabor + marginPDF proposal

Marked-up plan01

A real floor plan marked up by Perfect Takeoff: smoke and CO detectors in each unit, horn strobes along the corridor, and the FACP placed in the electrical room.

Bill of materials02

SDPhoto smoke detector14 x$1,806

HSWall horn strobe9 x$1,431

SPCeiling speaker6 x$564

DDDuct detector and housing3 x$885

PSManual pull station5 x$410

Materials subtotal$9,470

Your Company, LLCFire alarm proposal, Lic. #C10-000000

#PT-1042

Materials$9,470

Labor, 84 hrs$6,300

Permit and fees$650

Margin$1,820

Total$18,240

How it works

Three steps from plan set to priced bid.

Plan set4 sheets

A1Level 1 floor planA1.01, 1/8 in = 1 ftRead

A1Level 2 floor planA1.02, 1/8 in = 1 ftRead

A1Level 3 floor planA1.03, 1/8 in = 1 ftRead

M2Mechanical scheduleM2.01Read

A1.1, devices placed86

Client quote#PT-1042

Materials$9,470

Labor, 84 hrs$6,300

Permit and fees$650

Margin$1,820

Total$18,240

Checks passed

Drop in the plans

Upload a PDF plan set, any number of sheets and floors. Perfect Takeoff detects the drawings, scale, and levels automatically.

Devices place themselves

Smokes, pulls, horn/strobes, duct detectors, modules and the panel drop onto the plan to NFPA 72 spacing: a complete, reviewable first pass.

Review, price, send

Nudge anything, watch the BOM and labor update live, then export a client quote, an AHJ submittal, or a riser, in your branding.

See the full walkthrough Every step, on a real job, and what it does not do.

Pricing

Priced to pay for itself on the first bid.

Simple pricing, billed monthly or annually. Every account starts with a 7-day free trial (up to 5 takeoffs).

Pro

$149/mo

or $1,490/yr — 2 months free

For the one-person shop bidding a few jobs a month.

Up to 10 takeoffs / month
BOM + client quotes
Submittal & riser export
Pipeline & branded proposals
Shareable proposal links
Email support

Start your 7-day free trial

Unlimited

$599/mo

or $5,990/yr — 2 months free

For the estimating desk running steady bid volume.

Unlimited takeoffs
Everything in Pro
Pipeline & branded proposals
Shareable proposal links
Priority support

Start free, upgrade anytime

Team

Let's talk

For multi-estimator teams and enterprise rollouts.

Everything in Unlimited
Multiple seats — managers see each rep’s board
Onboarding & training
Dedicated support

Email us

Every account starts with a 7-day free trial (up to 5 takeoffs). No credit card to start. Cancel anytime.
Paid plans renew automatically every month, or every year on annual billing, at the price shown until you cancel. Cancel online anytime in the app under Manage billing; it takes effect at the end of the period you have paid for. See the Terms.
Not sure which tier fits? Ask us. A real person answers.

Who it's for

Built for the person turning plans into bids.

Perfect Takeoff is made for the estimator staring down a PDF plan set on a deadline, whether that's a one-person shop or a life-safety division inside a bigger contractor.

Solo & owner-estimators

When you're the one who wins the work and prices it, takeoffs come out of your nights and weekends. Perfect Takeoff gives you back the hours so you can bid more jobs without adding a head.

Fits if: you are the estimator.

Small-to-mid fire-alarm shops

Crews of 1–20 bidding tenant improvement, new construction, and retrofit. Standardize how every job gets counted and priced, so the number that goes out doesn't depend on who ran the takeoff.

Fits if: you bid fire alarm every week.

Low-voltage & electrical divisions

Electrical and integration contractors who carry fire alarm as part of a larger scope. Get a defensible life-safety number fast, without pulling a specialist off another job to count devices.

Fits if: fire alarm is one line on a bigger bid.

Not the fit: Perfect Takeoff is a bid-stage takeoff, not a replacement for the stamped PE design. The engineer's seal and AHJ review still apply.

You stay in control

A first pass, not a final answer.

Perfect Takeoff does the counting so you don't have to, but the bid stays yours. Every placement is reviewable, every number editable, and nothing leaves your desk until you say so. It's an estimating copilot, not a black box.

Not a stamped design. It's a computer-assisted takeoff for estimating and coordination. The PE seal and AHJ review still apply.

Move, add, or delete any device

Nudge a marker, drop one the plan missed, or remove a duplicate, and the bill of materials, labor, and quote recompute live as you adjust. You never fight the tool to get the count right.
Ambiguity gets flagged, not guessed

When a sheet's scale or floor reads oddly, you can override it before it skews the count. Perfect Takeoff degrades to a faster manual review on messy plans, never a wrong count made silently.
Your pricing, your brand

Unit costs, labor rates, and margin are all yours to set. The quote that goes out carries your company name, license number, and contact info, so it reads like it came from your shop, because it did.
Nothing goes out until you approve

Review the whole set at your pace, then export the client quote, the AHJ submittal, or the riser when the number is one you'd defend. The final call is always yours. The tool just gets you there faster.

Why I built this

I got tired of losing nights to takeoffs.

I've spent enough evenings at the desk with a plan set, a highlighter, and a calculator — counting devices one page at a time, then rebuilding the whole count because the architect moved a wall. A single mid-size job could eat an entire night, and the bid still went out with that nagging feeling I'd missed a strobe somewhere.

Perfect Takeoff is the tool I wanted on those nights. Drop in the plans, let it do the first pass — the marked-up plan, the bill of materials, the priced bid — and spend your time checking the work instead of doing it from scratch. It isn't a stamped design and it doesn't pretend to be one; it's a fast, honest first pass that you review and make yours before anything reaches a customer.

It was built with working fire-alarm estimators and it's open to any shop. If that's you, I'd genuinely like to hear what your takeoffs look like.

The Perfect Takeoff team Built alongside working fire-alarm estimators

Questions

Answers before you ask.

How accurate is the automatic placement?

Perfect Takeoff produces a complete, code-aware first pass. Devices are placed to NFPA 72 spacing across every sheet. It's built to be reviewed: every marker is movable and every count is editable, so you always have the final say before the bid goes out. Think of it as a fast, thorough first draft from an estimator's copilot, not a stamped engineered design.

Do I need CAD or special drawings?

No. A standard PDF plan set is all it needs: the same drawings you already receive from the GC or architect. No CAD files, no special export.

What device types does it handle?

Smoke and heat detectors, CO, duct detectors, manual pull stations, horn/strobes, speakers, notification appliances, monitor and control modules, and the control panel, addressable or conventional, across TI, new construction, and retrofit projects.

Is this an engineered, stamped design?

No, and it doesn't claim to be. It's a computer-assisted takeoff for estimating and coordination. All quantities, locations, and code applications are subject to review by a licensed fire-protection engineer and the AHJ. It gets you to a fast, defensible bid; the stamp stays with your PE.

Can I use my own pricing and branding?

Yes. Unit prices, labor rates, and margin are all editable, and quotes carry your company name, license number, and contact info. The output looks like it came from your shop, because it did.

Where does my plan data live?

Saved projects live in your own Perfect Takeoff account, walled off from every other account, so they open on any computer you sign in from. Plan images go to Anthropic's Claude AI to recognize devices, and are never used to train it. Nothing is shared unless you send a link or join a team. The full answer is on our data handling & security page.

How long does a takeoff actually take?

Most multi-floor plan sets go from PDF to a marked-up plan with a priced BOM in minutes, versus the several hours a manual count typically takes. Your review time is on top of that, but you're reviewing and adjusting instead of counting from scratch.

What do I get besides the count?

A live bill of materials, a labor estimate, a branded client quote, and an AHJ submittal package (code citations, battery and SLC sizing, and a compliance summary), plus a one-line riser diagram, all from the same takeoff. Jobs then flow through a built-in pipeline so nothing slips between the count and the close.

Can I adjust the devices it places?

Always. Move, add, or delete any device and the BOM, labor, and totals recompute live. If a sheet's scale or floor is detected oddly, you can override it. You're never locked into the first pass.

Does it handle multiple floors and large sets?

Yes. It detects sheets and levels across the plan set and places devices per floor, so a full multi-story submittal is handled in one pass rather than sheet by sheet.

What does it cost?

Plans are $149/mo (Pro, 10 takeoffs a month) and $599/mo (Unlimited), with custom Team pricing. Annual billing is available at $1,490/yr (Pro) and $5,990/yr (Unlimited) — two months free. Every account starts with a 7-day free trial (up to 5 takeoffs), no credit card.

How do I get access?

Create an account and upload a PDF. Your first week is free (up to 5 takeoffs), no card. Want a walkthrough first? Request a demo below.

Still have a question? Email hello@perfecttakeoff.com — we answer every one.

Fire-alarm takeoffs and bids in minutes, not hours.

One upload. Three deliverables.

Marked-up plan

Live bill of materials

Client-ready quote

What one takeoff by hand really costs.