Doors and frames takeoffs, counted twice.

A Countersheet door takeoff is an opening-by-opening schedule of every door in your bid set: leaves, size, door and frame type, frame condition, fire rating, handing and hardware set, read from the door schedule and checked against the tags and swings on the plans. Each hardware set in 08 71 00 is matched to the openings that use it. Every mismatch between schedule, plans and spec goes to the GC as a question, and the package is back within 48 hours of complete documents.

What a Countersheet door and frame takeoff includes

Door estimators count openings. A pair of doors is one opening with two leaves and one frame, and the takeoff carries all three counts.

Hardware sets: the set number on every opening, the count of openings and leaves that use each set, and every gap as a GC question: a set the schedule names that 08 71 00 never defines, a set marked not used, or a rated opening whose set has no closer. An item-by-item hardware order list (catalog numbers, finishes, handing, keying, cut sizes) is not part of this takeoff.

Totals by floor and type: openings, leaves, frames, rated openings by rating, electrified openings and sets used. Access doors shown on the drawings are listed by size, type and rating.

How we count it

1. Read 08 71 00 first: finish, keying, electrified hardware, whether each set reads "each door" or "each opening", and sets marked not used. Division 01 says whether hardware is an allowance.
2. Count 1: the door schedule, read straight from the PDF, never retyped. Rows that do not parse ("VARIES", blank sets, "EXISTING", "NIC") are flagged.
3. Count 2: the plans. Every floor plan and enlarged plan swept for door tags by text search and by symbol, without looking at the schedule.
4. Reconcile. Each schedule row must appear on a plan, and each plan tag must have a row. The usual differences: doors only on enlarged plans, duplicated numbers, untagged closet doors, pairs drawn as two singles, and rows for deleted doors.
5. Check each opening: rating against the life safety plan and wall type, handing from the swing, frame condition from the wall type, and the set against the opening.
6. Match the sets. Every set number on the schedule against 08 71 00, and the leaves and openings that use each set, read by the set heading (each door or each opening).
7. Check the totals. Leaves, frames and sets match the opening count; every electrified opening has a power transfer and a power source noted.

Sizes are written as scheduled. Counts are exact with no waste factor; spares appear only when the spec asks for extra stock. For the column-by-column method, read how to read a door schedule.

What estimators often miss on door and hardware bids

• Pairs drawn as two singles. The plan shows two doors; the schedule shows one opening with two leaves. Counting leaves as openings inflates frames and sets.
• The spec's hinge rule. A spec can override the rule of thumb: on one VA spec a 7'-6" door takes 4 hinges where the usual one-per-30" rule gives 3.
• Rated walls with non-rated doors. The wall sets the minimum door rating. A blank or low rating in a rated wall goes to the architect.
• Coordinators on pairs. A pair with an astragal or automatic flush bolts needs a coordinator. When the set has none, it is a question.
• Power transfer and frame preps. Every electrified item through the door needs a power transfer, and the frame needs the matching prep.
• S-label gasketing. An "S" in the rating column means a listed gasket set on that opening.
• Hidden wood door lines. Category B rated wood doors need applied edge seals in positive-pressure jurisdictions, and mineral-core doors need blocking for closers and exit devices.
• Storefront hardware counted twice. Entrance closers and exit devices can appear in both the storefront section and 08 71 00. We assign each item to one trade.
• An old hardware set. Addenda often reissue the door schedule or change sets. We log the latest issue of each.

What you get

• The report (PDF): totals, the opening schedule with sources, openings by hardware set, inclusions and exclusions, GC questions, the field-verify list and the quality check.
• The workbook (Excel): every opening with field-measure columns, openings and leaves per hardware set, and live totals.
• A CSV of the opening schedule.
• The marked sheets (PDF): every door tag marked counted, out of scope or a question.
• Scope language to paste into your proposal.

Distributors price doors and frames by type and size, and hardware set by set against the spec. Installers price labor per opening, with adders for pairs, electrified hardware and rated doors.

Price and turnaround

Per trade, by the pages we work from: drawing sheets plus the trade's spec pages.

Your first takeoff is free: one trade, a set under 25 pages. Plans run $449 a month for 3 takeoffs, $799 for 6 and $1,499 for 12 (pricing). We confirm the fee by email before work starts; you pay by card or bank through Stripe. The package is back 48 hours from complete documents, faster on request when we can, and revisions are free until bid day, plus one addendum. Send the bid set.

What's not included

• An item-by-item hardware order list, a hardware consultant's review, hardware specification, a keying schedule and code-compliance review.
• Setting and grouting frames in masonry, and installing frames, doors and hardware. We note who the spec names.
• Glass in doors and sidelights (08 80 00) unless factory glazed, and storefront entrances (08 41 13).
• Card readers, door contacts and request-to-exit (Division 28), and conduit and power (Division 26).
• Duct access doors (Division 23), field painting, door signs, toilet partition doors and elevator doors.
• Overhead coiling and sectional doors, their own overhead door takeoff.
• Site visits. In renovations, existing frames, wall thickness and floor finish heights go on the field-verify list.

Frequently asked questions

Do you take off door hardware or only doors and frames?

Doors and frames, with the hardware set on every opening. We read each set in 08 71 00, count the openings and leaves that use it, and send every missing or mismatched set to the GC as a question. An item-by-item order list by finish and handing, keying, and a hardware consultant's review are not included.

What happens when the door schedule and the plans disagree?

Each difference is listed with the door number, the sheets and what differs, and goes to the GC as a question. Nothing is settled by guessing.

What if hardware is carried as an allowance?

We record the allowance from Division 01 and still give the openings by hardware set. You bid the allowance, and the set counts help you and the GC judge whether it covers the openings on the drawings.

Do you check fire ratings and ADA compliance?

We check each door's rating against the life safety plan and the wall type and list every mismatch, but we do not certify code. A rated opening whose set lacks a closer or positive latching, or a room that looks like it needs panic hardware, goes to the GC as a question.