Plumbing Takeoff: Count Fixtures, Pipe, Fittings and Hangers by System

A plumbing takeoff counts every fixture by system, measures pipe by size and material along its route, and derives fittings, valves and hangers from those runs by rules you can see. This guide shows how to do a plumbing takeoff on one restroom block, from the first count to the last hanger, with every input printed so you can redo the arithmetic or test any provider's numbers against it. The method behind it is in the general takeoff walkthrough.

What a plumbing takeoff includes

The finished takeoff holds six lists:

• Fixtures by mark.

• Pipe by system, size and material.

• Fittings and valves by type and size.

• Hangers and supports.

• Insulation.

• Open questions.

Pricing and labor come afterward, as a separate step. Run the work in this order whoever does the count, and how plumbing quantities are measured shows what a delivered package carries. If the sheets are due before you can count them, the last section before the FAQ covers when to send them out.

The plumbing takeoff example here is illustrative. It is a restroom block on an upper floor of an office building: a women's room, a men's room and a janitor closet around one chase. Its limits are listed near the end, and none of its numbers describe a real project.

Plumbing takeoff starts with the fixture schedule and the legend

Open the legend first. It tells you which line is cold, hot, waste or vent and what each valve and cleanout symbol means. Then read the fixture schedule, the plumbing specification and the riser diagram before you measure anything. Have these open before the first count:

• Plumbing legend and general notes

• Fixture schedule, with its details and remarks

• Plumbing specification

• Riser diagrams and the plan for every floor

• Architectural plans

• Every addendum issued so far

• Demolition sheets, if the job has them

The schedule gives each mark with its connection sizes, and the details add mounting height and carrier. The specification gives pipe material by service, valve types, insulation and usually the hanger rules.

Build the plumbing takeoff sheet before you count. One block per system and one row per size and material keeps a change in one system from disturbing the others. Columns that earn their place are run or mark ID, system, size, material, source sheet, quantity, unit, and a notes column for assumptions. A takeoff sheet layout shows one way to set it up. Keep the source sheet beside every quantity, because the first question after an addendum is which number changed.

Count fixtures once, then split them by system

Count each fixture one time, by mark, on the plumbing plan. Then let the schedule split it across systems, the way the electrical version of this method splits a device across circuits. A flush-valve water closet is one fixture, but it is one cold connection, one waste connection and a share of a vent.

Table 1 lists the block. Overhead water pipe and vent headers sit 10.5 ft above the finished floor, and waste branches hang 2.0 ft below it. The mounting heights come from the fixture details and are illustrative.

Table 1. Fixtures, connections and drops.

That is 13 fixtures with 13 cold, 6 hot and 13 waste connections. Vents are counted on the vent runs, because fixtures share them.

By room, the women's room has 3 WC-1 and 3 LAV-1. The men's room has 2 WC-1, 2 UR-1 and 2 LAV-1. The janitor closet has the MS-1. Table 2 shows which run serves each group.

Measure pipe by size and material along the route

Check the scale bar on each sheet against a dimensioned wall before you measure, because a reduced print throws every run off. Then measure each run at scale along the path the pipe will take, not in a straight line between fixtures. Take sizes as drawn: a size that looks wrong is a question for the engineer, not a change.

Keep size and material on separate lines. In this example's specification, water pipe is copper tube and waste and vent are cast iron. Table 2 lists the horizontal runs read from the plan and the fixtures each one serves. Each vent also rises 12.5 ft, from the waste branch to the header.

Table 2. Horizontal runs read from the plan.

Now add the drops and rises from Table 1 to each size. The 1 in. cold line is five water closet drops of 8.0 ft, which is 40 ft. The 3/4 in. hot line is 8 + 6 + 6 ft of route plus the 7.5 ft mop sink drop, which is 27.5 ft. Table 3 shows every size.

Table 3. Pipe by size and system, route plus drops and rises.

Together that is 378.5 ft, made of 234.5 ft of copper and 144 ft of cast iron. Of that, 231.5 ft is vertical, or 61 percent. A measure taken from the plan alone sees only the 147 ft of route. Raise the ceiling 1 ft and, if the overhead pipe rises with it, the block gains 22 ft (19 supply drops and 3 vent rises) with no change in plan view. Another block will split differently, but you will not know how until you measure the drops from elevations.

Round pipe to purchase lengths once per size

Round up once per size and material, after you pool every line of the same size and material. Stick lengths are supplier inputs, and this example uses 20 ft for copper and 10 ft for cast iron. Table 4 pools the footage first, so 4.375 sticks of 1/2 in. copper becomes 5 and 2.05 sticks of 1-1/2 in. cast iron becomes 3.

Table 4. Purchase sticks by size.

That is 14 copper sticks and 16 cast iron sticks. Rounding up gives a purchase unit, not a waste allowance, so add cuts and breakage in the pricing step. Lumber rounds up to stock lengths the same way in a framing list taken off from plans.

Derive fittings and valves from the runs

Fittings come from the run geometry, by rules you write down and apply the same way every time. These are this example's rules, not code.

• Elbows. One for every bend in Table 2, plus a stub-out elbow at the bottom of each water drop.

• Tees. One for each fixture connection on a header, sized run by branch, and one for each room header that leaves a main. The closet line is the main continuing, so it takes a reducer instead.

• Reducers. One where a main continues as a smaller line.

• Valves and stops. An isolation valve on each header or closet line, and a stop on each supply connection. If the flush valves in the schedule come with their own stops, drop the 7 stops on WC-1 and UR-1 and the total falls from 19 to 12.

• Drainage. A sanitary tee for each fixture connection and one for the vent tie-in, plus a cleanout at the head of each branch.

Table 5. Fittings, valves and cleanouts from the rules.

The tee count is 19 fixture connections (13 cold and 6 hot) plus 4 room headers, 2 off each main. That is 23.

Count hangers from run length and spacing

This example counts hangers with one formula: run length divided by the maximum spacing, rounded up for each run. The formula counts spans along each run. Add separate lines where your specification calls for a support at a valve, a change of direction or a branch.

Spacing is an input. Look for the hangers and supports section of the plumbing specification first; where it is silent, look to the plumbing code adopted where the job sits. Wisconsin's plumbing code (SPS 382.60, as reproduced on UpCodes) is one example. Its table allows copper tube a horizontal maximum of 6 ft at 1-1/4 in. and smaller and 10 ft at 1-1/2 in. and larger, with 10 ft as the vertical maximum for both. Cast iron gets 5 ft horizontal and 15 ft vertical.

A footnote lets horizontal cast iron reach 10 ft where 10 ft lengths are installed, but this example's specification holds it to 5 ft. Other codes publish their own tables, and the size where the spacing changes can differ. If yours puts 1-1/2 in. copper at 6 ft, CW-1 takes 3 hangers (14 / 6 = 2.33) instead of 2, and the total becomes 33.

Table 6. Hangers by group, rounded up per run.

Rounding per run is deliberate, because nobody installs a fraction of a hanger. Pooling the footage instead gives 27 horizontal hangers where the runs give 29, and the gap grows with the number of short runs.

Know where this stops. The same Wisconsin text holds horizontal no-hub pipe within 24 in. on each side of a joint unless a shield keeps it aligned, and it counts a fixture drain connection as a support point. Where a joint rule applies, count from the joints and compare it with the table result. Trapeze hangers that carry several lines, bracing for earthquakes and riser clamps between floors need lines of their own.

A purchase order needs these lists grouped by supplier, size and unit, which is the step in from quantities to a buy list.

Insulation, sleeves and the items between sheets

Insulation follows the pipe. This example's specification insulates all hot water piping, so the 85.25 ft in Table 3 carries over: 43.75 ft of 1/2 in., 27.5 ft of 3/4 in. and 14 ft of 1 in. If the specification stops insulation at the wall, take the 51.25 ft of drops out and carry the 34 ft of route. If it also insulates cold water above ceilings, add that footage as its own line.

Where the plans mark a lavatory as accessible, the 2010 ADA Standards (section 606.5) require the supply and drain pipes under it to be insulated or otherwise guarded against contact (ADA.gov). Carry one under-lavatory kit for each lavatory the plans mark that way. The notes in this example mark all five.

Then list what no single sheet hands you:

• Sleeves and firestopping. Rated walls show on the architectural sheets and pipe sizes on yours. Find the firestopping section and read who furnishes it.

• Core drilling and slab openings. Structural sheets and the general contractor often hold them.

• Carriers and blocking. Your schedule names the carrier, and the architectural sheets show the blocking behind the wall.

• Access doors. They are frequently in another trade's scope.

• Waste hangers on the floor below. They hang in that floor's ceiling space, so check its reflected ceiling plan for conflicts.

Write the exclusions on the takeoff too. Site utilities, fire protection, equipment connections by others and the equipment itself are often separate scopes. Storm and roof drainage, fuel gas and medical gas can sit with plumbing or with another trade, depending on the job, so read the table of contents and the bid form to see who carries them. If they are yours, each gets its own block on the sheet, built the same way.

The Division 21, 22 and 33 titles name where fire suppression, plumbing and site utilities usually sit in a specification. Exclusions wording for a sub bid shows how to state them.

Reconcile the plumbing sheets against the architectural sheets

Three counts must agree: the plumbing schedule, the plumbing plan and the architectural plan. Where they do not, log the difference as a question, send it before the question deadline and state the count you carried in the proposal. The contract documents set which sheet controls, so read that clause instead of assuming.

Table 7. Three-way fixture count.

The lavatory is worth the question. A sixth one adds 21 ft of pipe (8.75 cold, 8.75 hot and 3.5 waste) if it taps the existing headers with no added route. It also adds five fittings, two stops and another kit.

From plumbing takeoff to a bid number, with hours as variables

Quantities become a price only after supplier quotes, labor and markup, and from takeoff to bid price walks through that build-up. Keep labor as hours: quantity times hours per unit, from your own history. Use one variable per size band, because a 1/2 in. drop in a wall and 4 in. cast iron under a slab do not take the same time.

Table 8. Quantities to multiply by your own hours.

Total hours are the sum of quantity times hours per unit down the table. Height, access and demolition change the hours and leave the counts alone.

When the plumbing sheets outrun your week

Count the hours your own method needs for the whole set, including the reconciliation and a second-person check. If that total runs past the day your bid or the supplier quotes are due, the plumbing is the part to send out. Software or an outside desk sets the options side by side in a decision table.

Takeoff Services LLC sells outsourced takeoffs, so read this section as a seller's view. The tables above are written so you can test any provider's plumbing numbers against them, and the answer can be to keep it in house.

When fixtures, pipe and hangers all have to be counted before Tuesday, sending the plumbing sheets to an outside desk and keeping the pricing is one way to split the work, and the marked-up sheets let you check any count. To see the dates, count days back from the bid.

Frequently asked questions