This article explains what Information Takeoff (ITO) is in Solibri and what the tools related to the feature are. The Information Takeoff layout is available in all Solibri products, but you can extract and report information from the model only in Solibri Site and Solibri Office. In Solibri Anywhere, you can view ITO results saved in the .smc file, but editing and reporting are not possible.
The article covers the following topics:
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During a construction project, there are several occasions when you need to extract and report information, such as quantities, from a model. You may need the information for, for example, one or more of the following:
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Gross area analysis at the start of a project: Architectural design has conditions and limitations for used areas (m2)/ floor and requirements for different types of usage. Most typical numbers evaluated at the start of the project are gross area against plot or contract requirements, net area to evaluate effective space usage and space program requirements to meet the services reqired within the building.
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Providing list of spaces or supplies: Spaces and supplies are widely used before tendering, especially in interior design and finishing of spaces. Material quantities are essential in measuring and evaluating the amount of goods and costs.
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Quantity surveying for contract packages or tendering design: Quantity estimation for tendering and distinguished contract packages has a direct effect on contractor and material prices. Detailed lists for bidding the costs for construction are required. This type of listing also serves the contractor's logistics, material deliveries and installations on site.
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Verifying the content of the BIM model: The simplest way to verify the data content of a model is with ITO. Listing the necessary components per row, along with the required properties, will show the missing information as an empty cell on the list.
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Coordinating quantities and masses on site: When construction is ongoing on site, it's important to coordinate the constant material and installation flow. On some sites, there's no space for heavy traffic, storage or lifting areas, which makes a scheduled delivery process vital. This can be supported with ITO reports.
Information Takeoff can be used for all the above. It allows you to see components in the 3D view and analyse quantities, properties and locations at the same time. In ITO, you can use templates created by Solibri to report the extracted information in a spreadsheet. For more information, see the article on ITO reports.
Solibri includes a number of pre-defined ITO definitions, but you can also create new ones based on your individual requirements. You can save ITO definitions externally and use them in other projects or machines. Each ITO definition can have one or several different Excel reporting templates to create the reports formatted the way you require. With small tweaking and saving with a new name, an existing ITO can be easily set as project-specific ITO for your next project.
The Information Takeoff view is located in the Information Takeoff layout. The view includes a table of data and tools for ITO handling.
The columns of the ITO table are defined by the active ITO definition. You can re-organize the data by dragging the column heading into new location. Note that the returned data is related to the content on the left side of the column. If you click a row in the ITO table, the components are visualised in the 3D view:
The color of the component is defined by the Color column in the ITO. If this column is not present, default component colors are used. You can also set the color with a certain column value.
The Information Takeoff view toolbar has the following tools:
Icon |
Functionality |
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Drop-down menu |
ITO table update options:
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Drop-down menu |
ITO definition selector: Use the drop-down menu to select the active ITO definition |
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Create New: Create a new ITO definition |
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Duplicate ITO(s): Creates a copy of a previously created ITO. You can also duplicate multiple selected ITOs. Note that the same functionality is available in the context menu, when you right click an ITO. Available in v9.13.3 and newer. |
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Save: Save changes to the active ITO definition |
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Save As: Save the modified ITO definition with a new name |
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Close: Close the active ITO definition. |
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Edit ITO definition: Edit the attributes of the active ITO definition |
Report |
Create spreadsheet reports from ITO definitions |
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Selection Basket tools: You can pick components from the table and set them to the Selection Basket. |
Tip
To search similar components or find the same value, right click in the Information Takeoff view and select Show Equal from the context menu.
Tip
In v24.5.0 and newer, there's a total row at the bottom of the ITO table. The total row shows the sum of either the whole column or the active selection, when the function in the column is Sum. If the function used in the ITO column is Minimum or Maximum, the total row shows the minimum or maximum of the whole column (or of the currently selected rows). Total row values can be copied (by clicking the cell with the value) and they can also be included in the export report.
To include the total row in your existing report templates, you'll need to recreate the templates with 24.5.0. To do this: