Electrical takeoffs can be a scramble—finding the right drawings, counting symbols, and keeping everything traceable for review. Civils.ai assists by preparing a draft from your PDFs and schedules, so your team can focus on checks, adjustments, and pricing instead of starting from a blank page.
AI for Electrical Takeoff: Lights, Outlets, Detectors & Cable Tray
Speed up your electrical estimating with AI-powered takeoff. Automatically count lights, outlets, detectors, and measure cable tray lengths directly from PDF drawings — including scanned plans. Civils.ai delivers accurate, marked-up PDFs and quantity exports in minutes, saving time and boosting bid accuracy.
Oct. 24, 2025
Julianna
Widlund, P.E
AI for Electrical Takeoff: Lights, Outlets, Detectors & Cable Tray
Civils.ai helps your team prepare a draft electrical takeoff straight from PDF plans and schedules—so you can move faster on bids while keeping people firmly in control.
Why Estimators Use AI Assistance
Quicker start
Get a prepared draft from your plans and schedules without the usual manual grind.
Clear traceability
Draft outputs point back to the exact pages, making reviews and clarifications simple.
Easy re-issues
When an addendum lands, it’s easier to update a draft than to re-count from scratch.
How It Works (Simple, Human-Centred)
- Upload your PDFs — Add electrical plans and any related legends, schedules, or notes you want considered.
- Write your prompt — For example: “Prepare counts for lights, outlets, switches, detectors, and cable tray lengths per floor/zone. Reference the symbol legend and schedules.”
- Click “Run” — Civils.ai begins preparing a draft electrical takeoff from the documents you provided.
- QA review & adjust — Your QA team reviews the draft, fixes anything that needs attention, confirms assumptions, and adds notes where helpful.
- Share with confidence — Release the reviewed counts and summaries to stakeholders with clear references back to the source PDFs.
Important: Civils.ai assists with preparing bids. It does not replace professional judgment—final quantities are reviewed and approved by qualified people.
What the Draft Can Cover
The goal is a clean starting point for pricing—prepared from the drawings and schedules you upload.
Typical items
- Light fixtures by type (as shown in the symbol legend/schedule)
- Power outlets and switches by room/zone
- Fire/smoke/heat detectors and small power points where indicated
- Cable tray routes and draft lengths as drawn on plans
- Simple summaries per floor/zone to support pricing
How counts are determined
Everything comes from the plan drawings, legends, and schedules you provide. The system does not “guess” beyond what is shown—your team confirms inclusions/exclusions during QA.
What to Expect (and What Not To)
What you can expect
- A draft electrical takeoff to help your bid
- References back to exact plan pages and schedules
- Faster reviews and fewer back-and-forths with stakeholders
Limitations to note
- Not a 100% automated takeoff—human QA remains essential
- Counts and lengths are strictly based on what’s shown in your PDFs
- No design or load calculations; no inference beyond the documents
- If symbols or routes are unclear, your team will clarify during review
FAQ
Can we include panel or device schedules?
Yes—upload any schedules you want considered. Use your prompt to mention what should be included in the draft.
How are cable tray lengths handled?
Lengths are prepared from the tray routes drawn on the plans. If anything is missing or unclear, your QA team can adjust before release.
Is this useful during busy bid periods?
Absolutely. You get a draft quickly, then your team reviews and finalizes instead of re-counting everything manually.
How do we justify the numbers?
Each line ties back to the source pages and schedules. Share the reviewed set so stakeholders can see where every figure comes from.
Prepare Stronger Electrical Bids with Civils.ai
Upload your plans and schedules, write a prompt, click run—then let your QA team review and release clear, traceable counts and lengths for pricing.
Interested in learning about how you can use AI in your Civil Engineering workflow?