How to do an excavation and earthwork takeoff

Read the spec first

Start with Division 31. Read 31 20 00 Earth Moving. Note the fill materials, the compaction rules and the testing rules. Then read the soils report from cover to cover. It describes the soil, the groundwater and any rock. It often recommends work that the drawings do not show.

Sheets and schedules that carry the count

• The existing conditions or survey sheet. It shows the existing contours.
• The grading plan. It shows the proposed contours and spot elevations.
• The site plan and the paving sections. They give the depth below finished grade.
• The foundation plan. It gives footing depths and the building pad.
• The erosion control plan.
• The boring logs in the soils report.

Steps in order

1. Mark the limits of work on the grading plan.
2. Measure the area to clear and the area to strip of topsoil.
3. Adjust proposed grades to subgrade. Subtract paving, base and slab sections.
4. Work out cut and fill by grid, by section or with software.
5. Work out the building pad and footing excavation.
6. Adjust the volumes for shrink and swell. Use the soils report and your experience.
7. Balance the site. Find the import or export quantity.
8. Measure erosion control, subgrade preparation and topsoil respread.

Count, length, area or volume

• Count: inlet protection, construction entrances and trees to remove.
• Length: silt fence, swales and footing trenches.
• Area: clearing, stripping, subgrade preparation, fine grading and seeding.
• Volume: cut, fill, import, export, topsoil and structural backfill.

Conflicts to find, and what to exclude

• The soils report recommends over-excavation. The drawings and the spec do not mention it.
• The spec assumes a topsoil depth. The borings show a different depth.
• The survey contours and the grading plan do not agree at the edges.
• Nobody states who digs the footings: the earthwork contractor or the concrete contractor.
• The spec calls rock unclassified. The borings show rock.

The ground is the risk in this trade. Qualify rock, groundwater, unsuitable soil and contaminated soil. State the basis of your import and export quantities. Exclude survey, staking, testing and permits unless the documents assign them to you.

Trade takeoffs · Updated 11 Nov 2026