Short answer
Work sheet by sheet, identify every steel member callout, record its size and quantity, and mark it as counted so nothing is picked up twice. Where members are labeled with marks instead of sizes, resolve each mark through the schedule first. Then reconcile plans against schedules and details before you total.
A workable sequence
- Triage the set. List the sheets that carry steel (framing plans, foundation plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules) and set the rest aside.
- Read the general notes and the specification for grades, finishes and anything excluded.
- Take off the schedules first: beam, column, brace, lintel, joist. Write down what each mark means.
- Go through each framing plan level by level. For every member, record the size, the length and the count.
- Pick up columns from the column schedule or elevations, not from the plans alone, because plans show where a column is and the schedule shows what it is at each level.
- Pick up bracing, lintels, plates, embeds, stairs and misc metals from their own details.
- Reconcile. Check plan counts against schedule quantities, and details against the plans they refer to.
- Total by size, then convert to weight with the weight per foot.
Direct labels versus marks
A direct label puts the size on the member: "W14x22" next to a beam. You count each one. A mark puts a short code on the member ("B7") and the schedule says B7 is a W14x22. In that case you count marks on the plan and look up the size.
Mixing the two on one set is common. Some beams are labeled directly and the rest rely on a schedule. The schedule can also include sizes that never appear on the plan, such as members shown only in sections. Read Schedule vs direct labels in a takeoff for the failure modes.
How do you avoid counting the same member twice?
Mark your counts on the drawing as you go. Use one color per member type or per pass. Watch for the usual double-count sources: a member shown on a plan and again on an enlarged detail, a typical floor drawn once but noted "typical for levels 2 to 5", a roof plan that repeats a lower level, and partial plans that overlap along a match line.
Typical notes cut both ways. If a plan says typical and you only count it once, you are short. If you count the plan and the enlarged detail of the same bay, you are over. The rule is to count each physical member once, and to read the notes to know how many physical members a drawing represents.
What counting looks like in SteelFlo
You upload the PDF. AI finds the steel member callouts on every page and draws a box on each one. You then review the boxes: confirm, reject, or fix a size. The count for each size is the number of boxes, so there is no hidden math and every counted piece is visible on the sheet. Schedules are read so that marks resolve to sizes, and you can add a box yourself for anything the AI missed.
You still need the same judgment about typical notes, repeated sheets and what the specification excludes. The software takes the tallying off your plate; it does not replace reading the set.
Counting by member type
Different member types hide in different places:
- Beams and girders: framing plans, one plan per level, plus roof. Check mezzanines and penthouses.
- Columns: column schedules and elevations. Plans show locations only.
- Bracing: braced-frame elevations and details, often on their own sheets.
- Joists and deck: joist schedules and plans. Joists are bought out from a joist supplier in many shops, so check how you are carrying them.
- Angles and channels: lintels, openings, edge angles, stair stringers, usually in details.
- Plates: base plates, gussets, stiffeners and embeds, in details and notes. Plates are the hardest to count because they are often implied.
- Misc metals: stairs, rails and ladders, which may be on architectural sheets.
A takeoff with only beams and columns is a framing takeoff. Be explicit about what else you included.
Checks to run before you total
- Compare the number of beams of each size on the plan with any schedule that lists them.
- Compare total tonnage per square foot of floor with your past jobs of the same type. A number far outside your usual range is worth a second look.
- Check each level: do the roof, every floor and any mezzanine each have a count?
- Check match lines: do partial plans overlap, and did you count the overlap twice or not at all?
- Search the specification and general notes for items that add scope: galvanizing, AESS, shop primers, special inspection.
- Confirm every size you listed exists. If you wrote W12x24 and no such size is in the tables, you have a typo or a bad callout. The shape database is a quick check.
These checks catch most of the errors that cost real money.
How does the review step work in software?
After detection, each box is a claim: "this is a W16x26 on page 7". Review means confirming the claim. Boxes the tool is unsure about are surfaced first. If you reject a box, it stops counting. If you spot something the tool missed, you add one. Sizes can be corrected in place, and the totals update.
The advantage is that the output is auditable. Anyone can open the sheet, see the box, and agree or disagree with it. That is hard to achieve with a spreadsheet tally.
Look up the sizes
Stop counting steel by hand.
Upload your drawing set and SteelFlo puts a box on every steel label it finds, on every page. You verify the boxes and export a bill of materials.