AI HVAC & Mechanical Takeoff Software
Upload mechanical drawings and get duct linear footage, fitting and diffuser counts, and SMACNA sheet-metal weight — a bill of materials in minutes, not a day of tracing.
AI HVAC takeoff software scans mechanical drawings and automatically measures the linear footage of duct runs, counts fittings, diffusers and dampers, and extracts duct sizes into a bill of materials. It turns a manual, hours-long tracing job into a review pass — every quantity linked back to the sheet it came from, and sheet-metal weight derived from gauge using SMACNA conventions.
Duct linear footage by size, measured on a real mechanical plan
One mechanical plan sheet (two floor levels at 1/8" = 1'-0") run through Aginera. The route report shows 850.8 LF of duct, with a printed size attached to every run that carried a readable size label. Insulation area assumes 1½" duct wrap; change the thickness in the route report and it recalculates.
| Printed size | System | Length (LF) | Insulation (SF) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18×16" | Duct | 17.1 | 114 |
| 18×14" | Duct | 17.3 | 110 |
| 18×12" | Duct | 39.7 | 238 |
| 16×12" | Duct | 26.0 | 147 |
| 10×10" | Duct | 19.1 | 83 |
| 10×8" | Duct | 35.0 | 140 |
| 8×8" | Duct | 35.5 | 130 |
| 8×6" | Duct | 14.8 | 49 |
| 6×6" | Duct | 68.0 | 204 |
| Size not printed | Review | 578.3 | — |
Fittings found at run junctions: 9 × 90° elbows · 2 × 45° elbows · 6 tees · 4 crosses · 1 reducer.
272.5 LF carried a readable printed size; the other 578.3 LF did not, so it lands on its own “size not printed” line for the estimator to assign instead of being guessed. Lengths come from the drawing's own scale, and every run links back to the sheet it was traced on. Project and client details are withheld. When we checked this sheet against the drawing, the unsized line also held about 85 LF of thermostat control wiring drawn as curves. That is exactly the kind of thing the review line is there to catch.
What takeoff software costs — per seat, per year
Published list prices, September 2026. Most vendors charge per estimator, per year, before training.
- STACK$2,988–3,588 / seat / yr
- Togal.AI$1,999–2,999 / seat / yr
- PlanSwift~$1,749–2,000 / seat / yr
- On-Screen Takeoff~$995–1,500 / seat / yr
- Bluebeam Revu$260–590 / seat / yr
Aginera
No seat licence. No monthly plan required.
- Free to start: 200 AI credits — enough to read your first plan set.
- Credit packs: $25 for 500 credits · $50 for 1,100 (+10% bonus) · $100 for 2,400 (+20% bonus). Credits never expire.
- Per drawing page: 2.5 credits, every trade on the page included. The advanced AI review of a full set is paid from the same credits — no add-ons.
A three-estimator shop pays $6,000–9,000 a year on STACK or Togal before anyone has counted a fixture. On credits, the same shop pays for the sets it actually bids. Full comparison and sources →
How AI HVAC Duct Takeoff Works
Four steps from a mechanical plan set to a priced, SMACNA-ready duct BOM.
Upload the mechanical drawings
Import PDF mechanical plan sets, addendums, and duct schedules. Aginera reads every sheet — floor plans, sections, and schedules — with no manual page setup.
AI detects ductwork
The hybrid text-and-vision engine identifies duct runs and shapes (rectangular, round, oval), sizes, insulation, and tags, plus terminal devices like diffusers, grilles, dampers and VAV boxes.
Quantities are extracted
Duct linear footage is measured by size and system (supply, return, exhaust), fittings and terminals are counted, and sheet-metal weight is derived from gauge using SMACNA conventions.
Review, price and export
Every line carries a confidence score and a reference back to the sheet it came from, so review is a spot-check. Export the bill of materials to Excel or push it into your estimating workflow.
What the AI Extracts from Mechanical Drawings
Full sheet-metal and ductwork scope — measured, counted, and priced by the pound.
Duct linear footage
Rectangular, round and oval duct measured by size and by system — supply, return, exhaust.
Sheet-metal weight (SMACNA)
Gauge, reinforcement and weight in lbs / kg by material — galvanized, stainless, aluminium.
Fittings
Elbows, transitions, tees, taps, offsets and end caps, counted per size.
Terminal devices
Supply / return diffusers, grilles, registers, and VAV boxes.
Dampers & accessories
Fire, smoke and volume dampers, access doors, flex connections and insulation.
Equipment schedules
AHUs, RTUs, fans and coils — tags like AHU-1 resolved to real units and sizes.
An 80% head start, then a targeted review
Experienced estimators are clear about what AI takeoff is and isn't: it gives you a fast first pass — a large head start — and a human verifies complex dimensions, fitting types and specifications before the numbers are priced.
Aginera is built for exactly that workflow. Every duct run, fitting and diffuser carries a confidence score and a reference back to the sheet and location it came from, so verification is a targeted spot-check rather than a recount. Vector PDFs with legible duct tags and schedules extract more reliably than dense or scanned sets — and we'd treat any vendor quoting one accuracy number across all drawing types, ourselves included, with caution.
Works in your market
Duct, equipment and terminal counts come from the drawings; sheet-metal weight and the bill structure follow the local ductwork standard. Quantities are exported in metric or imperial units, grouped to the local bill of quantities convention, and priced in local currency at checkout where supported.
US estimators
SMACNA duct construction and ASHRAE conventions; MasterFormat Division 23.
CSI MasterFormat estimate · imperial (LF, SF, EA) · priced in USD
Canadian estimators
SMACNA and ASHRAE conventions as adopted under the NBC; MasterFormat Division 23.
MasterFormat estimate / Bill of Quantities · metric or imperial as drawn · priced in CAD
UK estimators
DW/144 ductwork specification and CIBSE conventions; NRM2-aligned measurement.
Bill of Quantities (BoQ) · metric (m, m², nr) · priced in GBP
Australian estimators
AS 4254 ductwork and AIRAH conventions; ANZSMM-aligned measurement.
Bill of Quantities (BoQ) · metric (m, m², nr) · priced in AUD
UAE estimators
SMACNA/ASHRAE conventions as adopted under Dubai Municipality; FIDIC-style BOQ line items.
Bill of Quantities (BOQ) · metric (m, m², nr) · priced in AED
Saudi estimators
SMACNA/ASHRAE conventions under the Saudi Building Code; FIDIC-style BOQ line items.
Bill of Quantities (BOQ) · metric (m, m², nr) · priced in USD (SAR shown as a guide)
HVAC Duct Takeoff — Frequently Asked Questions
Is there AI software that measures duct linear footage automatically?
Yes. Aginera traces each duct run on the mechanical plan, measures it against the drawing's own scale, and reads the printed size label on the run (for example 18×12" or Ø300). The route report then lists linear footage per size and system, the fittings found where runs meet (elbows, tees, crosses, reducers) and insulation area for the wrap thickness you choose. Runs with no readable size go on a separate "size not printed" line for you to assign — they are not guessed. On one real mechanical sheet the route report showed 851 LF of duct, 272 LF of it sized across nine duct sizes.
What's the fastest way to do an HVAC duct takeoff without manual counting?
Upload the mechanical PDF and let the software trace and size the runs, then review instead of tracing. In Aginera the route report gives duct LF by size, fitting counts and insulation area per sheet, and every run links back to where it was drawn, so the estimator checks the unsized and flagged lines rather than redrawing every run. Section, elevation, detail and riser views are kept out of the plan length so the same duct is not counted twice.
Can it calculate duct insulation or duct wrap quantities?
Yes, from the measured runs. For rectangular duct the insulated surface is 2 × (W + H + 4t) per foot of run, and for round duct π × (D + 2t), where t is the wrap or liner thickness. Aginera applies that per printed size and lets you change the thickness in the route report. On a real sheet with 1½" wrap, 272 LF of sized duct came to about 1,215 SF of insulation.
Does it work on flattened PDFs where the duct has no layers or line types?
Partly, and only where it can be checked. On flattened vector sheets Aginera anchors on the printed duct size labels, finds the two duct walls at that width at the sheet scale, and follows them. Those runs are always marked for review. On a test set of 100 flattened duct sheets it traced 34 sheets; in a hand check of 36 random runs, 31 were correct. Sheets with no printed scale and no readable size labels are left for manual takeoff rather than guessed.
What is HVAC duct takeoff software?
HVAC duct takeoff software uses AI to scan mechanical (HVAC) drawings and automatically measure the linear footage of duct runs, count fittings and terminal devices, and extract duct sizes and specifications into a structured bill of materials. Instead of manually tracing every run and counting every diffuser on a PDF, the estimator reviews AI-generated quantities that trace back to the drawing.
How does AI duct takeoff work?
It works in four steps. (1) Upload the mechanical plan set and duct schedules. (2) The AI vision engine detects duct shapes — rectangular, round and oval — along with sizes, insulation and tags. (3) It measures duct lengths by size and system, counts fittings, diffusers and dampers, and derives sheet-metal weight from gauge. (4) Quantities export to Excel or an estimating database for final pricing. Every quantity is linked back to the sheet and location it came from.
Does it follow SMACNA standards?
Yes. Duct gauge, reinforcement and sheet-metal weight are derived using SMACNA conventions, so the takeoff speaks the language a sheet-metal shop prices in — pounds of galvanized or stainless by gauge, per duct size class.
What does it measure and count on a mechanical drawing?
Duct linear footage by size and system (supply / return / exhaust), rectangular / round / oval duct, duct insulation and lining, fittings (elbows, transitions, taps), and terminal devices — supply and return diffusers, grilles, registers, VAV boxes, fire and volume dampers. It also reads equipment schedules to resolve tags (AHU-1, VAV-3) to real units and sizes.
How accurate is AI sheet-metal / duct takeoff?
The honest answer estimators give is that AI provides a fast first pass — roughly an 80% head start — and a human verifies complex dimensions, fitting types and specs before pricing. Accuracy is highest on clean vector PDFs with legible duct tags and schedules, and lower on dense or scanned sheets. Aginera scores every line with a confidence value and a sheet reference so verification is targeted, not a recount, and treats any single accuracy figure quoted across all drawing types — including our own — with caution.
What file formats can I use?
PDF mechanical plan sets and CAD files (DWG, DXF). Most HVAC estimators receive multi-page PDF bid sets; upload the file and Aginera processes all sheets, including the duct and equipment schedules.
Can it produce sheet-metal weight for pricing?
Yes. From duct sizes and SMACNA gauge, Aginera derives sheet-metal weight (lbs / kg) by material — galvanized, stainless, aluminium — so you can price by the pound alongside linear footage and fitting counts.
How is this different from PlanSwift or on-screen manual takeoff?
Traditional tools require you to trace every duct run and click every diffuser by hand. AI duct takeoff reads the drawing itself — recognising duct, measuring runs, and reading schedules — so you review a populated takeoff instead of building one from a blank sheet. It reduces a multi-hour manual duct takeoff to a review pass.
Does Aginera handle the whole mechanical scope, or just duct?
The whole mechanical scope, and the rest of MEP. One upload covers ductwork, hydronic and refrigerant piping, equipment, and controls, plus electrical and plumbing — with quantities aggregated across every sheet and duplicate detection.
Upload your drawing → get takeoff + BOM in minutes
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