Fire protection estimating software for sprinkler and fire alarm contractors. Heads counted by hazard classification and coverage area, pipe measured by size and system type, standpipes and pumps taken from the risers, and alarm devices counted from the plans — all priced against your own labor units.
Fire protection is one of the few trades where the specification determines the quantity before anyone measures anything. The hazard classification — light, ordinary group 1 or 2, extra hazard — sets the design density, and the density sets the maximum coverage area per sprinkler head. Change the classification of a storage area and the head count in that area changes with it, along with the pipe sizes feeding it. An estimator who counts heads off a drawing without checking the classification against the specification is counting somebody else's design.
BidcoreAI reads the specification and the design criteria alongside the drawings. Head counts are derived from area and hazard classification where a layout is not yet drawn, and counted directly where it is, with the basis shown either way. Head types are separated — pendant, upright, sidewall, concealed, dry, extended coverage — because their costs and their installation times differ materially, and because a concealed head in a finished ceiling is a different job from an upright in a warehouse.
Pipe is measured by system and size: wet, dry, pre-action, deluge and antifreeze loops each carry their own material, fittings and labor. Risers, standpipes, control valve assemblies, inspector test connections, drains and fire department connections are counted as assemblies rather than reduced to feet of pipe. Fire pumps, jockey pumps, controllers and tanks are counted from the schedules with their power, structural and start-up interfaces noted.
The alarm side is estimated by device count — initiating devices, notification appliances, panels, annunciators and the wiring between them — with the interface to the electrical contractor stated explicitly. That interface is where fire protection scope most often falls between two bidders, and writing it down at estimate time is considerably cheaper than discovering it at the coordination meeting.
Sprinkler plans, riser diagrams, the fire alarm drawings and the design criteria in the specification.
Counted by type and derived by coverage where the layout is design-build.
Measured by system and size, with fittings, hangers and seismic bracing quantified.
Counted as assemblies rather than dissolved into linear feet of pipe.
Equipment from the schedules with the interfaces that come attached to it.
Devices counted from the alarm plans, with the electrical interface stated.
The end-of-job scope and the systems that fall outside a standard wet layout.
Design criteria, head counts and system types — carried as data, not held in the estimator's head.
Sprinkler heads recognised and counted by type across every level, reconciled against the legend and the design criteria.
Design density and coverage area read from the specification, so head counts can be derived where the layout is design-build.
Wet, dry, pre-action and deluge measured separately by size and material, since each carries its own labor and fittings.
Control valve assemblies, test connections, drains and FDCs counted as assemblies rather than reduced to pipe length.
Support spacing by pipe size, with sway bracing quantified where the seismic design category requires it.
Fire pumps, controllers and tanks counted from the schedules with their power, structural and start-up interfaces noted.
Initiating devices, notification appliances, panels and wiring counted, with the electrical interface written down.
Install hours per head, per fitting and per hundred feet of pipe from your own productivity, by ceiling condition.
Finished ceiling, open deck and rack storage each carry their own productivity, applied as visible factors.
A re-issued sprinkler or alarm plan compared against the last, so added devices are flagged rather than missed.
Head schedules, pipe by size, device counts and priced estimates exported with sheet references.
Heads, pipe, fittings and hangers in order units, ready for a supplier or fabrication quote.
Division 21 with the Division 28 alarm sections that are usually bid alongside it.
Warehouses, healthcare, high-rise, education and industrial — where hazard classification varies room to room.
Read the criteria first. Everything downstream depends on it.
Mostly, that the design basis is checked before the count is trusted.
Deriving head counts from hazard classification catches the case where the drawn layout does not match the specification — before it becomes a rework item.
A concealed head in a finished ceiling and an upright over racking are different installations. Applying separate productivity is what stops one subsidising the other.
Riser and valve assemblies counted as assemblies means the labor that lives in them is priced instead of vanishing into feet of pipe.
Writing down what the electrical contractor is carrying is the cheapest possible way to avoid a gap in coverage at the coordination meeting.
Sway bracing quantified where the seismic category requires it rather than remembered during installation, when it is a change order.
Hydrostatic testing, flushing, inspection and commissioning are real hours, and counting them at bid is the only time it costs nothing.
Because the specification is part of the takeoff, not background reading.
Hazard classifications and design densities are extracted with page citations and mapped to the areas they govern.
Pendant, concealed, upright, sidewall and dry heads counted separately, each with its own cost and install time.
Risers, control valves, test connections and FDCs priced as assemblies rather than reduced to pipe.
The interface with the electrical contractor is stated in the estimate, where it can still be negotiated.
No workstation licence; measure and price from anywhere.
Fire protection packages can be measured for you through MEP estimating services.
Send the sprinkler and alarm drawings with the specification, and have the package measured for you: heads by type checked against the hazard classification, pipe by system and size, riser assemblies, pumps and alarm devices — priced against your own labor units.
One platform, one cost database, one set of drawings — whichever scope you are pricing today.
Bring a set where you know the head count. See whether the specification agrees with the drawing.
