Electrical takeoff and estimating software that reads your legend first.
For electrical subcontractors and contractors who bid plan-set commercial and TI work in the US and Canada, Bildrix does the electrical takeoff and the estimate from one PDF plan set. Devices are counted against the sheet’s own legend, and every count under 60% confidence is queued for your review. Wire runs drawn or AI-suggested with live footage. Panel schedules read into a Panel Editor you correct circuit by circuit.
With your review call · PDF plan sets
Electrical is the deepest trade in Bildrix AI takeoff software.
Bildrix vs Togal.AI: the full comparison →
Watch the full electrical walkthrough, 6:45 →
Counts become the division-26 estimate.
Devices and wire land in their own ledger rows. A built-in electrical catalog prices counted devices until your own price book replaces it; where your library is silent, the AI drafts a price for the job site’s market and tags it. Every line says which, and the client signs the exact revision, sealed and revision-bound.
Your legend’s marks, not a generic symbol library.
Symbols are counted against the sheet's own legend (recessed cans, GFCI outlets, three-ways), not a generic symbol library. Counts land as EA quantities with the mark they came from.
Draw a run, or let AI suggest the whole circuit.
Wire runs snap to devices and elbow orthogonally, with a live footage readout as you draw. AI drafts switch legs, receptacle chains, and homeruns; you review them A, X, Tab, and drag any accepted route like you drew it yourself.
Electrical estimating software that starts from the takeoff.
Electrical takeoff software counts and measures the electrical scope on a plan set: devices, fixtures, wire runs and panels. Electrical estimating software puts prices on those quantities and turns them into a bid. Bildrix does both in one thread, so the counts you review become the estimate without retyping.
The takeoff: what is on the drawings.
Quantities, not prices: receptacles, switches and fixtures counted by legend type, wire runs by length, panel schedules as circuits. Each count keeps the mark it came from, so you can check it against the sheet.
The estimate: what it costs.
Each quantity meets a price: your assemblies and price book first, the built-in electrical catalog for devices you have not priced yet, and, where neither has the item, an AI price for the job site’s market, tagged for you to confirm with your vendor.
The bid: what goes to the client.
A division 26 estimate where every line shows its source: a library price, an AI-estimated price or an AI-estimated quantity. The client signs the estimate on a share page, sealed to the plan revision, and a later revision becomes an AIA G701 format change order.
From PDF plan set to priced electrical estimate, in eight steps.
Every step is in the app today. What it doesn’t do is listed right below them.
Upload the PDF plan set.
Every sheet comes back named and scaled, free and with no card. The AI takeoff then runs on credits or on Pro.
Devices counted from your legend.
Bildrix reads the sheet’s own legend first and counts every symbol against it: recessed cans, GFCI outlets, three-ways. A house symbol that pairs with nothing is flagged, and counts land as EA quantities with the mark they came from.
Review only what it doubts.
Every count under 60% confidence waits in a review queue, lowest first: keep it with A, delete it with X, Tab to the next. Everything at 60% or above was counted without you, and stays editable. We publish no accuracy percentage, and the research says why. How accurate AI takeoff really is →
Wire runs with live footage.
Draw a run and it snaps to devices and elbows orthogonally while the footage reads live, or let the AI suggest switch legs, receptacle chains and homeruns. You accept, reject or drag each one like you drew it.
Panel schedules read into an editor.
Panel schedules are read after upload into a Panel Editor: circuit, description, breaker trip and poles, load. Devices link to circuits on the sheet, homeruns group by panel, and the panel exports to XLSX. Watch panels wired and priced (2:51) →
NEC or CEC, by job site.
Catalog names and reference tables follow NEC 2023, CEC 2024 or Québec’s Chapitre V. A Canadian job site sets it from its address, and you can change it per project. These are conventions; it checks no code.
Priced through your assemblies.
Counts price through your own assemblies and price book first, then a built-in electrical catalog. Where your library is silent, the AI looks up a price for the job site’s market and tags the line as an AI-estimated price to confirm with your vendor.
Estimate, e-sign, invoice.
The client signs the estimate on a share page, sealed to the plan revision. A revision becomes an AIA G701 format change order, and invoices cover deposit, progress, final and retainage, with a QuickBooks-ready CSV export.
What it does on an electrical sheet, and what it doesn’t.
What an electrical estimator asks before trusting it, and our answers.
Does it count from my legend or from a library?
From your legend. A house symbol that exists only on your sheet is recognized from the legend, or flagged when it doesn’t pair.
Is wire counted or just drawn?
Measured. Every run carries a live footage readout, and AI-suggested runs are reviewed one by one.
Does it apply the NEC or the Canadian Electrical Code?
It follows their conventions and checks nothing. The code is chosen per project or workspace (NEC 2023, CEC 2024 or Québec’s Chapitre V), a Canadian job site infers it from its address, and reference tables, catalog names (NMD90, AC90, T90 on Canadian jobs) and exports name it. Your judgment and your price book stay yours.
Does it size conductors?
No. No conductor or breaker sizing; the Panel Editor records what the schedule says, and you correct it.
Is the price catalog local?
The built-in catalog is a starting point; your price book always wins. For an item neither covers, the AI suggests a price for the job site’s market and marks the line as AI-estimated, to confirm with your vendor.
Is there a free way to try it on my own electrical sheets?
Yes. Book the review call and send a plan set: we run the first takeoff free and walk it with you. Or upload it in the app free, no card: every sheet named and scaled, then the AI takeoff once you buy credits or pick Pro.
What is an electrical takeoff?
Counting and measuring the electrical scope on the drawings (devices, fixtures, wire runs, panels) so it can be priced. Electrical estimating is the next step: pricing those quantities into a bid. Bildrix does the first pass of both from your PDF plan set, and you review it.
Can it do an electrical takeoff from PDF plans?
Yes. PDF plan sets are what it reads, in imperial or metric; it takes no DWG files or photos. Uploading is free and every sheet comes back named and scaled; the AI takeoff then counts the electrical plans against their own legend, on credits or on Pro.
Can AI do electrical estimating?
It can do the first pass, not the sign-off. Bildrix counts and prices from the plan set, tags every AI-estimated price and quantity, and queues the counts it is least sure of for your review. No unreviewed AI number should go into a bid, and the tags show you which ones to check.
How much does it cost?
Two ways to pay, both on the pricing page: pay as you go with credits, which never expire and are shared by the whole workspace, or Pro, priced per seat and billed annually, with all AI and no credits. Uploading a plan set is free and needs no card. See pricing →
What happens to your documents.
Bid sets are competitively sensitive.
Your plan sets stay in your workspace, stored in Amazon S3. Remove a project from your workspace whenever you choose.
Detection runs through enterprise AI APIs under terms that exclude training on your data. Your plans never train AI models.
Client view structurally hides cost and margin columns. The shared page and PDF render from it, so margin can't leak.
The signed PDF is rendered once at signing, sealed and SHA-256 fingerprinted, bound to the exact revision signed. Every later download serves those same bytes.
No SOC 2 audit yet, and we’d rather say so than imply one. Ask us anything about data handling at support@bildrix.com.
See it on your plans, not ours.
The thread ends with a sealed, revision-bound estimate your client signed. Yours starts with one plan set and a call.
With your review call · PDF plan sets
