IFC Quantity Takeoff

Per-element quantities (length, area, volume) for any class, grouped with subtotals.

Take quantities off an IFC model in the browser: per-element lengths, areas and volumes for any class, grouped with subtotals, exported to Excel or CSV. No desktop takeoff seat, no measuring from drawings, no re-keying numbers into a spreadsheet.

A takeoff from the model instead of from drawings is faster and auditable — every row carries the element's GlobalId, so a number in the bill can be traced back to the element it came from and re-checked on the next revision. That traceability is what makes a model-based takeoff worth doing; a spreadsheet of totals with nothing behind them is just as unverifiable as a hand measure.

Need more than one number? [Estimate](/estimate) is this tool with the ceiling taken off — custom columns, multi-level grouping, your own rates, and a priced bill of quantities as Excel or a report-grade PDF.

When to reach for it: When you need door/wall/slab schedules or BoQ-ready quantities from an IFC without a desktop takeoff tool.

What you get: An Excel workbook (detail rows + grouped summary with subtotals and a project total) and/or CSV. Every row carries the element's GlobalId, and says whether each value came from authored Qto sets or was computed from geometry.

Example: Pull a grouped wall/slab quantity schedule to Excel for BoQ prep without a desktop takeoff tool.

Authored quantities first, geometry to fill the gaps

The engine reads each element's authored quantity sets and takes the value from the most appropriate quantity name it finds — for an area, NetArea before NetSideArea before NetFloorArea before the Gross variants, and so on down a defined preference order per column. That ordering matters: a wall carrying both a net and a gross area should report the net one in a takeoff, and an engine that took whichever it hit first would give you different answers on different models.

When an element has no authored quantity, the value is computed from its geometry — on by default, because a takeoff with holes in it is worse than one with a mixed provenance. Authored values always win, and every row records which source it used, so a QS can see at a glance how much of the schedule came from the model's own numbers and how much was measured.

Group the way the bill is structured

By IFC class — the classic walls / slabs / columns / beams breakdown.
By storey — quantities per level, for a floor-by-floor bill or a phased programme.
By type — grouped by element type, so each door or wall type gets its own subtotal.
By material — for a material schedule, or to price by what things are made of.
No grouping — flat detail rows, when you want to pivot in Excel yourself.

Units handled properly, not converted hopefully

Choose metric output (m / m² / m³) for a normalised report, or keep the model's own units when you need the numbers to match what the author sees. The conversion is harder than multiplying by a factor, and it is done properly: authored IfcQuantityArea and IfcQuantityVolume values are bound to the project's declared AREAUNIT and VOLUMEUNIT, which are NOT necessarily the square and cube of its length unit, while geometry-computed values do come back in length-unit powers. Both are resolved separately per run, so a model that declares millimetres for length and square metres for area doesn't produce areas out by a factor of a million.

Excel with a summary, or CSV to pivot

The Excel workbook carries both the detail rows and the grouped summary, so it opens as something you can hand over rather than something you have to build a pivot table on first. CSV gives you the detail rows alone for your own tooling. Either way every row carries the GlobalId, so the schedule traces back to elements.

Scope a run to specific IFC classes when you only want part of the model, and save the whole configuration as a pipeline step so the same takeoff re-runs itself on every new revision. If the model has no authored quantities at all and you'd rather fix that once than compute on every run, Add IFC Base Quantities writes proper Qto sets into the file.

How to do an IFC quantity takeoff online

Upload your IFC file
Pick the grouping axis (class, storey, type or material) and output units
Click Run to extract quantities
Download the Excel/CSV takeoff

Under the hood

BIMCamel parses IFC files in the browser using the open-source web-ifc engine and renders models with @thatopen/components + three.js. Heavy operations (clean / optimise / validate / convert) run on disposable server-side workers using the same web-ifc stack plus our own .NET pipeline; results stream back to your browser as soon as they're ready. Uploads sit on our servers only as long as your tier's retention window allows and are never used to train AI.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free IFC quantity takeoff tool?

Yes — this page. Upload an IFC, pick the classes and grouping, and export a per-element quantity schedule to Excel or CSV. No desktop takeoff licence and no account needed to run it.

What if my model has no quantity sets?

Quantities are computed from the element geometry instead — that's on by default, and each row records whether its value was authored or measured. If you'd rather fix the model once, Add IFC Base Quantities writes standard Qto_* sets into the file so every downstream tool finds them too.

Can I group quantities by floor?

Yes. Group by storey for a level-by-level breakdown, or by IFC class, element type or material. Choose no grouping for flat detail rows if you'd rather pivot in Excel.

Are the quantities in metric?

Your choice — metric (m / m² / m³) or the model's own units as authored. Authored area and volume quantities are read against the project's declared area and volume units rather than assumed to be powers of its length unit, so mixed-unit models convert correctly.

Can I trace a quantity back to the element?

Yes — every detail row carries the element's GlobalId, so any number in the schedule can be looked up in the model and re-checked on the next revision.

Which IFC versions are supported?

IFC2x3 and IFC4 — the two schema versions exported by essentially every AEC authoring application. IFC4x3, the infrastructure schema, works too: it opens in the viewer, and validation, health reports, property-set editing and georeferencing all run on it. Tools that need geometry processing, such as clash detection and 3D export, aren't verified on IFC4x3 yet.

What's the maximum IFC file size?

Up to 25 MB as a guest, 100 MB with a free account, 500 MB on Pro, and 1 GB on Team. The caps are on upload size only — every tool itself is available on every tier.

What happens to my file after processing?

Your file is uploaded over HTTPS and processed on our servers. Guest uploads are stream-only — the working files are deleted as soon as your download finishes. Free accounts keep results for 7 days; Pro keeps them 90 days and Team 180 days. Files are never shared with third parties or used to train AI.

Is IFC Quantity Takeoff free?

Yes. IFC Quantity Takeoff is free to use — guests get 3 runs a day with 25 MB uploads, and a free account raises that to 10 runs a day with 100 MB uploads. No trial clock, no watermarks.