AI takeoffs let you identify and measure elements on a plan page without drawing each measurement by hand. You describe what to find, and AI locates matches, creates symbols, and places measurements on the canvas. The takeoff reads every drawn area, run and symbol on any sheet, in the sheet's own words, for every trade alike: ventilation ducts, pipes, cables, paving, finishes, steel, concrete and fixtures included. To get a calculated figure from the result, such as a weight or a per-floor quantity, see Ask the assistant to calculate it.

Click Start a takeoff. With a page open, it sits above the message box in the Exa chat. In a project it is also at the top of the Sheets section of the project page and in the + menu of the takeoff list beside an open sheet, and on the Home page it sits under the message box and asks for your plans first. The composer becomes a takeoff form with a What do you need measured? prompt box.

Type a description of what to measure (e.g., "duplex receptacles and light fixtures") and submit. The AI reads your description, finds the matching elements on the page, and places measurements on the canvas in one step.

Detection uses your company's AI usage. A takeoff starts whenever any usage is left, and no price is shown before it runs.

For more control, the takeoff form groups elements by measurement type. Use the Count, Linear, and Area tabs at the top to switch between them. Each tab gives you rows to fill in: type an element name into a row, like "light fixture" or "wall." A new blank row appears as you fill the last one, so you can add as many as you need.

The run uses AI usage for the work it does on each sheet, reading and tracing it, whether or not it finds the items. The number of items on your list does not change that. A sheet that was already read is not read again.

Lengths and areas need a page scale. On a sheet with no scale, Linear and Area elements are held: they do not run and use no AI usage. Count elements on that sheet still run. Set the scale, then run the held elements.

On a Count row, you can give the AI a visual example to improve detection. Click the sample button on the row, draw one or more boxes around matching symbols on the canvas, then click Done. The clips attach to that row. This works on count elements only.

The page selector sits in the form footer next to the run button. It defaults to Current page, which runs on the page you're viewing. Choose Select pages... to pick specific pages from an overlay, or Auto to let Exa pick the relevant pages for you.

To run, click the round arrow button in the footer. Detection starts in the background.

A Takeoff card appears in the Exa chat with a status badge: Pending, then Analyzing, then Complete (or Failed if something went wrong). When a run spans several pages, the card shows a line like Processing: 2 of 5 runs complete. If some pages fail but others succeed, the card warns you that results may be incomplete.

When the run ends, the card says what was measured and lists each item and sheet that got nothing with the reason (for example, the sheet has no scale, or we looked and found none). The email that tells you the takeoff finished carries the same summary. Settings > Usage shows what each run used.

If this month's AI usage is used up during a run, the takeoff pauses. Sheets already being read finish, and the rest wait. The card shows a line like "Paused at 3 of 8 sheets. This month's AI usage is used up."

On Free, admins see Add extra usage and Choose a plan instead, and members see Ask an admin.

Admins also get a note in Exayard and a short email that the takeoff is paused.

The takeoff picks up where it stopped by itself as soon as usage is available again: when your monthly usage refills, when an admin turns on extra usage, when an admin adds extra usage, or when an admin chooses a plan. Sheets already read are not read again. Steps that cover the whole run, like the line items and the bid, wait until every sheet is done.

With extra usage on, a takeoff only pauses if it reaches the monthly limit an admin set.

AI measurements land on a new takeoff layer named for the run date and time, for example AI analysis (Jun 3, 2026, 2:14 PM). You can rename it. Each run is saved as a version you can revert to from the layer history. AI-detected symbols are marked with (AI) in the sidebar so you can tell them apart from manual measurements.

The measurements behave like any other takeoff. Select, move, resize, or delete individual shapes, and adjust symbol properties, rename elements, or add cutouts just as you would by hand. When a run completes, the card offers a Generate bid button to turn the results into a proposal.

When a page has a legend, you do not have to describe its symbols yourself. Leave the takeoff form empty and click the run button: Exa measures everything on the selected sheets and counts every symbol the legend defines. Exa reads each symbol in the legend and finds its instances across the drawing. The Legend banner on the page shows what it read from the legend.

AI analysis works best on clearly drawn plans with distinct symbols. If a sheet has no scale, Exa works one out from the dimensions printed on it. When it can't find one it trusts, the lengths and areas on that sheet are held and use no AI usage, so setting your page scale first gives the most reliable results. Use descriptive prompts: "duplex receptacles" rather than "outlets" helps the AI produce more precise results.