Glazing & curtain wall takeoff services
We measure curtain wall elevation by elevation, storefront and entrances by opening, and every window and glazed door by type mark — with glass makeups, spandrel and framing profiles kept apart so your glass quote and your metal quote are built on the same numbers. For glazing subcontractors across Canada: from $900, on time or 50% off.
What we count on a
glazing takeoff
Glass, framing and the edges between them — organized by elevation and by type mark so a fabricator can read it and a supplier can quote from it. Glass area, framing lineal and opening counts all come out separately, because that's how the trade buys.
- Curtain wall area by elevation and systemSF / m²Split by elevation and level so access, staging and shipping can be priced against real areas.
- Curtain wall framing by profileLF / mMullions and horizontals counted separately, with depth and sightline taken from the details.
- Vision glass by makeupSF / m² + EAEach makeup its own line — thickness, coating, laminated and tempered lites, and insulating unit build-up.
- Spandrel glass and panels by makeupSF / m² + EAKept apart from vision glass, and reconciled between the elevations and the glass schedule.
- Storefront by openingEA + SF + LFEach opening with its framing run, glass area and infill.
- Entrances, doors and hardware openingsEABy type mark, with sidelites and transoms counted with them.
- Windows by type markEA + SFAgainst the window schedule, with operable units separated from fixed.
- Interior glazing, borrowed lights and glass partitionsSF + EA
- Glass railings and guards where in your scopeLF + EAFlagged where the spec puts them in Division 05 instead — see misc metals.
- Perimeter sealant by conditionLF / mHead, jamb, sill and transitions counted by the joint condition, with backer rod noted.
- Sill flashing, closures and trimsLF / EA
- Anchors, embeds and attachment pointsEAFrom the details and the structural set, since that's where the attachment is drawn.
- Louvres and mechanical screens within the glazed wallSF / EA
- Skylights and sloped glazingSF / EA
- Fire-rated glazing assembliesSF / EAWith the rating attached, because the assembly and the price are nothing like standard glass.
How we measure
glazing
Elevations and the glass schedule are read against each other before anything is counted. On most sets they disagree somewhere — a panel shown as spandrel on the elevation and missing from the schedule is the classic — and whichever one your supplier quoted, the other one is what gets built.
Measured by face, not as one building total
Each elevation is measured on its own and reported that way. North and south often carry different coatings, and every face carries different access, staging and crane time. A single building-wide square footage hides all of it.
Elevations against the glass schedule, panel by panel
Every lite is matched to a makeup in the schedule. Panels shown on an elevation but absent from the schedule, and makeups scheduled but never drawn, both go onto the assumptions page with the position we measured — so it becomes an RFI instead of a claim.
Glass area and framing lineal come out separately
Your glass supplier quotes area and lite counts; your metal supplier quotes lineal by profile; your installers price openings. All three come out of the same takeoff as separate sections, so you're not deriving one from another with a factor.
Windows and doors follow the schedule, counted each
Windows, glazed doors, sidelites and transoms are counted by type mark against the window and door schedules, with operable units separated from fixed. Sizes come from the schedule rather than being scaled off an elevation.
Sealant measured by condition, in lineal feet
Perimeter sealant is measured at head, jamb, sill and at every transition to an adjacent assembly, by the joint condition. It's a line item most subs never quantify and most general contractors assume is included — which makes it free work unless it's written down.
Anchorage comes off the details and the structural set
Embeds, anchors and attachment points are drawn in the details and on the structural sheets, not on the elevations. They're counted each, against the condition they serve, so the attachment isn't a lump-sum guess in an otherwise precise bid.
The envelope transition is named
Where the glazed wall meets cladding, roofing or the air and vapour barrier, the membrane tie-in and closure can fall on either side of the trade line. We quantify the transition and name the division the spec puts it in — the same joint we look at from the other side on roofing and envelope takeoffs.
Metric or imperial, whichever you bid in
Commercial and institutional sets in Canada are commonly metric; residential work is often imperial. The workbook arrives in the units you price with, or both columns, with type marks and makeup codes carried through exactly as the schedule writes them.
Scope gaps we flag
on glazing packages
The six that cost glazing subs money most often. Each one lands on the assumptions and exclusions page with the sheet it came from, so you can qualify it in your bid instead of meeting it in a change order.
Spandrel drawn but never scheduled
Spandrel shows on the elevations and is missing from the glass schedule. If your glass quote followed the schedule, you just bought the spandrel — and on a tower elevation that is a very large number to absorb.
Perimeter sealant nobody quantified
General contractors measure it twice and subs measure it zero times. Head, jamb, sill and every transition is lineal footage with labour and access attached. Unquantified, it's free work — and on a fully glazed building it is a lot of free work.
Embeds drawn on the structural set
The curtain wall lives on the architectural elevations; the embeds that hold it live on the structural sheets. Bid one set and the anchorage is somebody's assumption — usually yours, discovered after the concrete is poured.
Glass railings that may be Division 05
Glass guards and railings sit in Division 08 on some specs and Division 05 on others. We measure them, keep them in their own section and name which division the spec uses, so you and the metals fabricator aren't both excluding the same scope.
Membrane transitions at the rough opening
The air and vapour barrier has to tie into the window or curtain wall perimeter, and the spec doesn't always say whose membrane, whose flashing or whose sequence. Left ambiguous, it becomes a site problem billed to whoever is standing there.
Elevations averaged into one area
A ground-floor storefront and a tenth-floor replacement lite are the same square footage and nothing like the same cost. Measured as one building total, swing stage, crane and lift time all disappear from the bid and reappear on the schedule.
More of these by trade in the bid traps list, and the cost side in what a construction takeoff costs in Canada.
Workbook +
marked plans
Everything is checkable. Every quantity traces back to an elevation, a type mark and a coloured area on the marked-up drawings — and the glass, metal and opening sections can go straight out to three different suppliers.
Download the sample workbook (.xlsx) — a fictitious office TI, in the real format.
- Excel quantity workbookCSI MasterFormat or your own cost codes, by elevation and type mark.
- Colour-coded elevation markups (PDF)Straight from On-Screen Takeoff / Bluebeam Revu.
- Assumptions & exclusions pageSchedule-versus-elevation conflicts, sealant basis and division-of-work notes, in writing.
- One revision round and bid-period addendaIncluded, not billed as an extra.
- Optional: price placeholders (+15%) and quote template (+$150)Bid-ready workbook and a clean proposal format.
Project types we
take off most
The set types where senior counting changes the number most.
- Concrete mid-rise and high-rise residentialRepetitive window wall and punched openings by type mark, with typical-floor repetition you can audit.
- Mixed-use podiumStorefront and entrances at grade under residential glazing above — two systems, one set.
- Commercial officeCurtain wall measured elevation by elevation, with spandrel reconciled against the glass schedule.
- InstitutionalFire-rated glazing assemblies, interior glass partitions, and heavy hardware schedules.
- Commercial tenant improvementsInterior glazing, borrowed lights and glass-fronted offices with their own type marks.
Glazing takeoff FAQs
How much does a glazing takeoff cost?
How fast is it delivered?
Does this page cover building envelope too?
Do you separate glass area from framing?
What drawings do you need?
Can the workbook use our own cost codes?
What's excluded?
Send the drawings.
Fixed quote in 4 hours.
Drop a link through the quote form or email info@sharpbid.ca. A fixed price and a guaranteed delivery date come back within 4 business hours.
Trades that usually come with it
Where we work
…and anywhere else in Canada — everything is digital.