Road and Civil Works Takeoff: Areas, Gutters, Sewers and Manholes from the Site Plan

Quantities from the site plan: an example

An example: a residential street, 120 m long, with carriageway, a footway on one side, parking bays and a new foul sewer. The site plan gives these quantities:

• Carriageway, asphalt: 120.00 m × 5.50 m = 660.00 m²
• Footway, concrete block paving: 120.00 m × 2.00 m = 240.00 m²
• Parking bays, grass pavers: 10 × 2.50 m × 5.00 m = 125.00 m²
• Gutters on both sides of the carriageway: 2 × 120.00 m = 240.00 m
• Sewer DN 250: 120.00 m, with 4 manholes and 12 house connections
• Trees: 8

Areas go into the quantity by surface type, gutters and pipes by length, manholes, house connections and trees by number. One street is quick to calculate; a development with several streets and side areas is not. That is where PlanReader comes in.

What PlanReader takes off the site plan

You upload the site plan as PDF and choose the “Road and civil works” template or describe in your own words what you need. PlanReader captures only new work, not existing features:

• Road and paved areas: separated by surface, each with its area.
• Strips and gutters, sewers and pipes: each with its length.
• Parking bays and parking markings, house connections, manholes and trees: captured and marked on the plan.

Whether you need only the paved areas, only the sewer or the whole plan is up to you.

New work and existing features kept apart

Site plans usually show both: what is to be built and what is already there. PlanReader captures only the new work. Every area, every pipe and every manhole is drawn on the original PDF, so your team sees at a glance what goes into the quantity. Whatever you see differently, you change directly on the plan: adjust, add or delete. The Excel export picks up every change.

What the site plan does not show

The site plan gives areas, lengths and counts. For the pavement layers, thicknesses and widths come from the standard cross-section, for example for the frost protection layer, base course and surface course. Sewer and manhole depths are on the longitudinal section; earthworks are worked out from the cross-sections. You add these figures from the respective drawings.

DIN 18318, DIN 18317 and DIN 18306: the rules in brief

When a German construction contract includes the VOB, road and civil works have their own standards in VOB Part C, including DIN 18300 for earthworks, DIN 18317 for asphalt pavement layers, DIN 18318 for block paving, slab paving and edgings and DIN 18306 for sewer construction. Billing follows the type of work:

• Pavements: by area, separated by type of construction.
• Edgings, gutters and pipes: by length, pipes separated by material and nominal size.
• Manholes: by number, with the depth in the item description.

What is measured over in detail is settled by the standard and your bill of quantities. PlanReader delivers the quantities as the plan shows them, and you decide under your contract how they go into the invoice.

How it works

• 1. Upload the site plan: upload the road site plan as PDF and set the scale on the plan.
• 2. Choose the template: “Road and civil works” or a job of your own, for example “paved areas by surface and gutters only”.
• 3. Check on the plan: every quantity is drawn on. Your team checks, adds and corrects.
• 4. Take over the Excel: the takeoff goes straight into your estimate.

PlanReader does the groundwork; checking and approval stay with your team.

Frequently asked questions

How is paving billed under the VOB?

By area, separated by type of construction, under DIN 18318. Edgings and gutters are billed by length. What is measured over in detail is settled by the standard and the bill of quantities.

Does PlanReader capture existing features too?

No. With the “Road and civil works” template, PlanReader captures only the new work, so no existing features slip into the quantity.

Which drawings do I need?

The road site plan as PDF. You set the scale on the plan. Layer thicknesses and sewer and manhole depths come from the standard cross-section and the longitudinal section.

Quantity takeoff by trade

More articles in this series:

• Painting and plaster: calculating wall, ceiling and façade areas
• Drywall: wall areas for one side or both
• Screed, tiles and flooring: room areas and floor build-up
• MEP, electrical and HVAC: counting fixtures, measuring runs
• Shell construction: walls by material, masonry and concrete
• Façade: ETICS, render and cladding areas from the elevations

All features at a glance: quantity takeoff from PDF drawings with PlanReader.