Drywall Estimating Software Built for Subbies

The quantities come off the drawing, not a spreadsheet. Wall areas from measured wall lengths × heights, per wall type from the schedule (single, double, fire-rated, acoustic); Ceiling areas as calibrated polygons per ceiling type — flush set, grid, bulkheads measured separately; Framing derived per m² by system, with stud spacing carried in the rate rather than re-measured; Openings deducted honestly — doors and windows over the threshold size, with reveals counted where they return; Access panels, control joints, and cornice runs counted or measured as their own lines — each one measured or counted on the calibrated sheet, each one a line in a live Bill of Quantities that stays tied to the markup that produced it.

An office fit-out level: partition plan plus ceiling plan, calibrated against the 2,700 mm ceiling grid noted on the sheet. Partition runs total 214 m across three wall types, which at 2.7 m height gives 578 m² of wall lining per side with type splits kept; ceiling polygons total 640 m² of grid and 85 m² of flush-set bulkhead; the AI counts 14 access panels — every quantity visible on the sheet before it enters the bill. The BoQ prices lining per m² by wall type, ceilings per m² by system, bulkheads per metre, panels per item — and when the tenant moves a wall, the polygon moves and the bill follows. Every number traces back to a markup on the sheet, so when the scope changes the estimate follows.

The AI agent can count the repetitive items, measure runs, and set the drawing scale, with every result reviewed before it commits. Then the rate side: ask for a rate on "supply and fix 13 mm plasterboard, fire-rated wall, per m²" and it proposes one with reasoning — interpretation, labour-and-material split, your market — against the lining rates already in the bill. Never a bare number — a proposal you accept, revise, or dismiss.

PlanSwift — Windows desktop takeoff with drywall assemblies and a per-seat licence an established office already owns. STACK — cloud plan rooms and multi-estimator pipelines for interior contractors bidding at volume. On-Screen Takeoff — long-established desktop takeoff workflows a commercial drywall office has built its process around. ContractorCounter wins on the other side of that trade-off: speed to a priced quote, working anywhere, and a price a drywall outfit can carry (US$14/month) instead of an enterprise licence.