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How to Read Concrete Plans and Specifications for Accurate Bidding
A bid is only as good as the plan reading behind it. I have watched two contractors price the same concrete package from the same drawing set and land tens of thousands of dollars apart, not because one of them was careless, but because one of them read every sheet the drawings actually required and the other worked mostly off the plan view. Concrete drawings hide information in general notes, section cuts, schedules, and specification sections that never show up if you only look at the floor plan.
This guide walks through how I actually read a concrete drawing set before I price a bid, where the numbers that matter are hiding, and where the written specifications quietly override what the drawings appear to say.
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Start With the General Notes, Not the Plan View
Every structural sheet set opens with general notes, usually on the first S-sheet, and I read these before I look at a single dimension. General notes include the concrete compressive strength, use, rebar grade and cover requirements, applicable design codes, special inspection requirements, and often the waterproofing or vapor barrier standard for the whole project. Skip this page, and you will price the entire job based on assumptions rather than the actual project requirements.
These notes govern every other sheet in the set. If the general notes call out 4,000 PSI for all foundations and a structural detail elsewhere does not repeat that number, the general note still applies. Estimators who skip straight to the foundation plan miss this every time.
The Three Places Concrete Quantities Actually Live
A complete concrete quantity rarely comes from one sheet. It comes from cross-referencing three different types of information, and missing any one of them leaves a gap in your bid.
|
Drawing Type |
What It Tells You |
What You Miss Without It |
|---|---|---|
|
Plan Views (foundation, framing) |
Layout, element locations, overall dimensions |
The physical extent and location of every pour |
|
Sections and Details |
Thickness, reinforcement placement, formwork depth, thickened edges |
Hidden depth changes and connection details that add volume |
|
Schedules (footing, column) |
Exact size and reinforcement per mark number |
Element-specific quantities that vary even within one plan |
I treat these three as one document, not three separate ones. A footing shown on the plan as an F1 mark means nothing on its own until you find F1 in the footing schedule and confirm its dimensions against the detail sheet referenced from that same mark.
Reading a Footing Schedule Without Guessing
A footing or column schedule looks intimidating the first few times you read one, but it follows a consistent format. Each row lists a mark number that corresponds to a symbol on the foundation plan, followed by the element dimensions and reinforcement callout.
|
Mark |
Size |
Reinforcement |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
F1 |
3'-0" x 3'-0" x 12" |
(4) #5 EW |
Typical isolated footing |
|
F2 |
5'-0" x 5'-0" x 16" |
(6) #6 EW |
At interior columns, see 3/S-401 |
|
CF1 |
24" wide x 12" deep continuous |
(2) #5 top and bottom |
Perimeter foundation wall footing |
The abbreviation “EW” means each way, meaning the reinforcement runs in both directions at the stated spacing. A note like “see 3/S-401” is a cross-reference to detail 3 on sheet S-401, and that detail is often where a thickened edge, a step, or an additional dowel requirement is hiding. If you price straight from the schedule without opening that detail, you will miss it.
Division 03 Specifications: Where the Real Requirements Hide
Concrete specifications typically live in CSI MasterFormat Division 03, Concrete, and this is where requirements appear that never show up as a line on any drawing. Mix design submittal requirements, minimum cementitious content, air entrainment percentages, curing compound type, testing frequency, and finish tolerance classifications are all specification-driven costs. A structural drawing might simply say 4,000 PSI, while the specification section dictates a specific admixture package, a slump range, and a testing schedule that adds cost the drawing never mentions.
When drawings and specifications conflict, the specification generally governs. I have seen a plan note call out a finish that the specification section contradicts with a stricter flatness tolerance, and the specification is the one that determines your actual scope and cost.
Concrete Symbols and Abbreviations You Need to Know
|
Symbol / Abbreviation |
Meaning |
|---|---|
|
EW |
Each way, reinforcement runs in both directions |
|
EF |
Each face, reinforcement placed on both faces of a wall |
|
T&B |
Top and bottom reinforcement |
|
OC |
On center, the spacing between bars or joints |
|
SOG |
Slab on grade |
|
CJ |
Control joint, a planned crack-control cut |
|
EJ |
Expansion joint, allows movement between sections |
|
TOC / TOF |
Top of concrete / top of footing elevation reference |
|
#4, #5, #6... |
Rebar size in eighths of an inch diameter (a #5 bar is 5/8 inch) |
Cross-Referencing: Catching the Detail That Changes Your Price
The single habit that separates an accurate concrete estimate from a rough guess is cross-referencing every plan note back to its detail before pricing. A slab shown as a flat 5 inches on the plan view might carry a thickened edge at the perimeter, called out only in a small section bubble elsewhere on the sheet. That thickened edge adds volume that never appears if you take your quantity straight from the plan dimension.
I work through a drawing set the same way every time: plan view first to establish layout, then every referenced detail and schedule entry for each element type, then back to the specifications for anything the drawings defer to written language instead of a dimension.
|
Field Tip If a plan note says “see spec” and you do not have that specification section in front of you, stop and get it before you price that line item. That phrase almost always means there is a cost sitting in the written spec that will not show up anywhere on the drawing. |
Red Flags That Should Stop You Before You Price the Job
-
A revision cloud on one sheet without a matching addendum or updated date in the title block
-
A dimension on the plan view that does not match the same element's schedule entry
-
A note referencing a detail number that does not exist anywhere in the set
-
Reinforcement called out on the plan but no matching entry in the schedule, or the reverse
-
A specification section that conflicts with a drawing note and neither one is marked as governing
Any of these is worth a clarifying question before you finalize a number. Pricing around an unresolved conflict almost always means someone eats the cost later, and it is rarely the person who wrote the drawings.
How I Read a Set Before I Price a Bid
I start with the structural general notes, work through the foundation and framing plans against their schedules, open every referenced detail for each element type, and check Division 03 for anything the drawings defer to written language. Only after that full pass do I start pricing. This is the process behind my concrete takeoff services, built for contractors and general contractors who need a bid based on what the drawings actually require, not what the plan view seems to show at a glance.
If your team needs the measured quantities pulled from a set like this before pricing begins, my quantity takeoff services follow this same cross-referencing process across every trade.
Final Thoughts
Reading concrete plans and specifications is not a formality before you open a spreadsheet. It is where the accuracy of your entire bid gets decided, long before the first number gets typed into an estimate.
|
If you would rather have a full cross-referenced read of your drawings and specifications than risk pricing off the plan view alone, I would rather build that estimate from every sheet in your set. |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Architectural drawings show layout, finishes, and room-by-room scope. Structural drawings show the engineering behind concrete elements, including reinforcement, PSI requirements, and load-bearing details. Estimators need both, but the quantities themselves come primarily from the structural set.
Written specifications generally govern drawings when the two conflict, since specifications typically contain more detailed performance requirements. When you find a real conflict, it is worth confirming with an RFI rather than assuming which document wins.
EW stands for each way, meaning the reinforcement bars run in both directions at the stated spacing, most commonly seen on slab and footing reinforcement callouts.
Compressive strength (PSI) by element is usually listed in the structural general notes or a concrete schedule. Mix design details such as admixtures, slump, and air entrainment percentages are typically found in the Division 03 specification section.
Drawings show geometry and layout. Specifications control material quality, testing requirements, submittal procedures, and finish tolerances that directly affect labor and material cost but never appear as a dimension on any sheet.