TakeoffIQ Mechanical™ prices a house's mechanical (hvac) from the plans: open the PDF, check the rooms, registers and equipment on the plan, and send the proposal. This manual covers every screen, button, setting and report. In the program, type in Where is…? at the bottom left to jump straight to any of them.
Sign up and your free trial
Where: hvac.takeoffiqai.com/signup
- Go to hvac.takeoffiqai.com and choose Start a free trial.
- Type your company name, your e-mail and a password (at least 8 characters), tick that you agree to the terms, and press Start free trial.
- Your free trial is 14 days or 3 houses, whichever comes first. No card is needed.
- The bar at the bottom right always shows your plan, the days and houses left, and links to Billing and Sign out.
Set your hourly rate (first sign-in)
Where: Shown the first time you sign in; any time later on the Estimate tab
- The first time you sign in, TakeoffIQ asks Set your hourly rate. The numbers are samples until you change them.
- For the installer, helper and foreman, type Your cost per hour and what You charge per hour.
- Share of hours % is how the hours on a job split between them. Leave helper and foreman at 0 if you work alone.
- Press Next: material prices, then check the main material prices against what your supply house charges you (before tax), and press Use these prices.
- Press Later to skip; the sample rates are used until you set yours.
Jobs home
Where: Top left: ← All jobs
- ← All jobs brings you here from any job.
- + New takeoff opens a plan PDF and starts a new job (see Start a new takeoff).
- Tap any job to open it. Your jobs are saved to your account, so they open on any computer, tablet or phone you sign in on.
Start a new takeoff (open plans)
Where: Jobs home → + New takeoff
- On the jobs home press + New takeoff and pick the plan PDF.
- TakeoffIQ finds the floor plan in the set and opens it. The job name is the file name; change it on the Proposal tab.
- Each new set of plans counts as one house on your plan (fair use is 60 houses a month per trade).
- The job and its plan are saved to your account right away.
The plan screen: rooms, air handler, return
Where: Open any job
- Press Draw room, then drag a box over each room. Pick the room type and windows under Rooms & loads.
- Move air handler and Move return: press, then tap where they go.
- Top of plan faces sets which way the house faces. Tick Size for worst direction for model homes built on lots facing different ways.
- Ducts, Rooms and Price Check show or hide those layers. Fit, − and + zoom.
Price Check box
Where: Top left of the plan
- Lists each register size, the return, jump ducts, the air handler, the condenser and the trunk length, each with a red ring when it is priced in the bid.
Measure (ruler)
Where: Toolbar → 📏 Measure
- Press 📏 Measure, tap the first point, then the second. The length shows on the plan at the plan's scale.
- It snaps to the center of a register or the air handler when you tap close to one, and otherwise to the nearest wall face: tap just outside a wall for its outside face, just inside for its inside face. Lettering is ignored.
- Square keeps the line straight across or straight up and down. Snap turns snapping off.
- Set scale…: measure a dimension printed on the plan, type its real length (like 24'-0") and press Apply scale. Every measurement after that uses it.
- Clear removes the lines; Done closes the ruler.
Summary
Where: Summary tab
- Cooling load, heat loss, the recommended unit and the unit on the plans.
- All four directions shows the load if the front faces N, E, S or W; the worst one is used when that box is ticked.
- Notes for this job and Needs fixing list what to check.
Rooms & loads
Where: Rooms & loads tab
- Every room with its exterior wall, windows, sensible, latent and heat load and CFM.
- House and design inputs: scale (points per foot), square footage, ceiling height, insulation, windows and where the ducts run (attic or inside).
Equipment
Where: Equipment tab
- The recommended size and heat strip, and a check of the unit on the plans (or the one you plan to install): too small, OK or too big.
- Pick single-stage, two-stage or variable speed, and A/C + heat strip or heat pump.
- Electrical for this equipment gives typical breaker and wire sizes for the electrician.
Ducts
Where: Ducts tab
- Design friction rate, supply air and every supply run with its CFM, size, speed (FPM) and register.
- If the print shows duct sizes, enter them under Drawn on print; any that are too small are flagged.
- Trunk segments, return and bedroom jump ducts are listed below.
Code check (FBC 8th Ed.)
Where: Code check tab
- What to fix and what to verify: Manual J/S/D, unit size and efficiency, duct insulation and leakage, condensate, return location, smoke alarms near supply registers and more.
- These are notes to check; nothing is priced from them automatically.
Materials
Where: Materials tab
- The material list worked out from the duct design. The same list goes to the supply house from Outputs.
Estimate
Where: Estimate tab
- Cost-built price, Break-even, Your bid per house and Per ton, with every line below.
- Equipment and material carry tax and markup; labor at your rate; then overhead and profit if you set them.
Equipment schedule
Where: Equipment schedule tab
- The equipment schedule for the plans: tag, equipment, size, air flow, efficiency, typical electrical and location.
Your rates & markup
Where: Estimate tab → Your rates & markup
- Labor: Your cost and You charge per hour for the installer, helper and foreman, and each one's Share of hours %.
- Then Material markup, Equipment markup, Sales tax on material, Overhead (added to the price) and Profit (added after overhead).
- The box underneath shows your crew rate and how the price and break-even are worked out. Every change saves at once and updates the estimate.
Price book: material prices and labor hours
Where: Estimate tab → below Your rates
- Every material price and labor hour is editable. Type a new number and it saves.
- Reset price book puts back the starting sample values (a copy of your list is kept; see below).
Supplier price sheets
Where: Estimate tab → Supplier price sheet
- Drop the supply house's file on Drop a price sheet here (or click it to choose): Excel, CSV, PDF, a saved e-mail (.eml) with the sheet attached, or a photo.
- Each line is matched to your materials; sizes must agree, and C (per 100) and M (per 1000) prices are converted. Coils, sticks and boxes are converted to a price per foot.
- You see Your price, New price and the Change, big changes first in red. Untick any line you don't want, or tick keep to lock your price on every later sheet.
- Press Apply ticked prices. Nothing changes before that, and your price list is copied first.
- Lines that didn't match can be added as your own materials. Price sheet history keeps every sheet and every copy of your price list; Restore this copy puts an old list back.
Company Setup (your logo and terms)
Where: Proposal tab → Company Setup
- Open Company Setup at the top of the Proposal tab.
- Fill in company name, license number, address, phone and e-mail, choose your Logo (PNG or JPG), and your standard payment terms and exclusions.
- It goes on every proposal and report from this program and is saved with your account.
Proposal
Where: Proposal tab
- Fill in Customer and job: customer, company, address, phone, e-mail, job address, date and the price per house. The price starts at your bid (or the cost-built price).
- Change this job's payment terms, what's not included, and notes.
- Download PDF saves the proposal with your logo; Copy text copies it to paste into an e-mail. The preview below shows exactly what they'll get.
Outputs: takeoff list, material list, marked plans
Where: Outputs tab
- Takeoff list: everything counted and measured, as PDF or Excel.
- Material list: quantities only, no prices, for the supply house: PDF, Excel or Copy for e-mail.
- Marked plans: a PDF of the plan with every counted item marked in color and a key with the counts, so anyone can check the count.
- Open Proposal goes to the Proposal tab.
Duplexes and townhomes (attached units)
Where: + New takeoff → tick several sheets; jobs home → Buildings
- Press + New takeoff and pick the plan set. When it has several pages, Which sheets? shows them all; tick the sheet for each unit type (it reads "Unit A", "Unit B" off the sheets).
- Leave These are the units of one building ticked and give the building a name, then press Open. Each sheet becomes its own takeoff.
- Count each unit's plan like a house. The building is listed under Buildings on the jobs home; press Open.
- In the building, set How many of each unit (a mirrored unit counts as the same unit), and type Your price per unit if it differs from the cost-built price.
- Add Shared items priced once for the building (condensers on a shared pad, building exhaust).
- The building total and the average per unit show at the bottom. Proposal PDF makes one proposal for the building, unit by unit, with your logo and terms; Copy text copies it.
Plans and billing
Where: Bottom right bar → Billing
- Mechanical (HVAC): $99 a month or $990 a year. All three trades (Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing): $179 a month or $1,790 a year. One house: $29.
- Plans include unlimited houses for your own company's bids, fair use 60 houses a month per trade.
- Press Billing in the bar at the bottom right, choose a plan and pay securely with Stripe. Manage card, invoices or cancel on the Billing page changes your card, shows invoices or cancels.
- If you cancel, your saved jobs still open; new houses need a plan.
Sign in, sign out, password
Where: Bottom right bar → Sign out; sign-in page
- Sign in at hvac.takeoffiqai.com/login with your e-mail and password.
- Sign out is in the bar at the bottom right.
- Forgot your password? Use Forgot password on the sign-in page; we e-mail you a link.
Help and "Where is…?"
Where: Bottom left: ? Help
- Type in Where is…? at the bottom left of every screen (for example "labor rate") and pick a result: Go there jumps to it and highlights it.
- Press ? Help to ask how to do something; answers come from this manual.
- Something wrong? Press Send to TakeoffIQ in Help. It sends your note and a picture of the screen to the TakeoffIQ development team; you'll hear back as soon as it's looked at.
- Or e-mail homes@takeoffiqai.com.