Full Construction Takeoff & Estimate with Manus

We are going to use Manus 1.5 to do a full construction takeoff and estimate based on an attached set of plans.

So I already put together here a prompt with Claude.

Okay, so we're going to plug that into Manus and then what I'm going to do is I'm going to take this plan set and I'm going to attach it.

Okay.

And essentially what we want to do here is.

Whoa, where is the rest of my other.

Okay, so please perform a comprehensive construction, takeoff and cost estimate for this LA apartment building.

We went pretty detailed with the prompt.

We could do a little bit of a better job, but let's just go ahead and hit send.

So watch how quickly it's going to do this for us.

it'll first review the set of plans.

Suggested new knowledge.

That's fine, accept that.

All good.

Cool.

So it's going to review those sets of plans.

They're not too detailed.

It's just a schematic design.

No CDs, aka construction documents.

so nothing too complicated here.

It's actually quite basic.

But let's just see, Let's just see what it comes up with here.

So it's going to spend a few minutes just reviewing and analyzing it.

Looks like it's going through every page.

1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, Yep.

have our task list right here.

So first review like we've said a couple times, then extract quantities for all construction divisions, research LA construction costs and labor rates, calculate detailed cost estimate with unit pricing, compile comprehensive estimate spreadsheet and then deliver the final estimate.

So we got a few things that we're going to do here.

As you can see, it's completed the review.

Now it's going to extract the specific quantities for each CSI division.

excuse me, Sorry guys, I'm just a little bit sick today.

Unfortunately something's going around but let's see what it does to extract all those quantities.

That's awesome.

Saying an 18 month construction timeline, which it's a little aggressive but because it's an affordable building with no parking.

I think, I think that's right.

Wow.

It's getting like really granular.

Look at this.

8 inch CMU for elevator stair shafts, grout filled cells.

Okay.

Division five metals.

Structural steel, if any.

It's making some estimates there.

Miscellaneous metals, Exterior stairs, male railings have balconies.

Wonderful roof deck railings, stair railings, interior.

Cool.

Yeah, that all sounds right.

Framing.

Wow.

This is like very detailed.

Notes and clarifications.

Cool.

So it did, our quantity extraction here.

And then it's going to research LA construction cost and labor rate.

Sorry for the sniffling, guys.

I'm just All right.

This thing is getting really, really detailed.

Awesome.

I'm excited to see this.

I mean, it's going through every division.

And look within each division, two water closets.

It's counting everything.

4.

44.

Bathtub, showers.

44.

So it appears these are all studios and one bedrooms.

This This is going to be awesome.

I'm really excited.

Look how thorough this takeoff is.

Dimmer switches, GFCI receptacles, IV outlets, smoke detectors, security system, Rough and intercom system.

This is insane.

Wow, I'm really fired up.

Site improvements.

Yeah.

So this is all your.

Okay.

Concrete paving, curbs, parking striping, wheel stops.

Yep.

The bar is really, really high right now.

We're into this for almost 12 minutes now, but I'm assuming it's 12 minutes well spent.

Okay.

It's compiling a spreadsheet.

It's now been created.

Now it's going to create a detailed summary document to accompany the estimate.

Sort of like an executive summary.

Okay, I got a quick glimpse.

The number does feel high, especially because it's affordable.

I.

I wonder.

Look, it's only the schematic design set.

We don't have CDs, so we're making assumptions for a lot of these.

And I think with our prompt, what we should have done, now that I'm looking back on it, I think we should have made it clear that it's an affordable apartment building.

And with that we want builder grade finishes.

Yeah.

So this estimate summary report is like insanely comprehensive from what I could tell.

wish I could fast forward a little bit, but we cannot.

That's okay.

Again, we're going to be high on this estimate for a market rate apartment building.

Sure, I think it's more reasonable, but because it's affordable, because we're being very thoughtful with the types of finishes, in the overall building, it should be a lot cheaper.

So I wouldn't be surprised if we're off by like a hundred bucks a foot here.

Good practice though.

I think we know what to do for next time.

Wow, there's a really thorough estimate.

This is insane.

Look, here's all of our soft costs too.

We didn't even ask for that.

But it's giving it to us.

Brilliant surveying.

There's a lot of that.

We're going to need to do insurance.

Dang, this is cool.

Items requiring clarification.

Look at this.

Yeah, again, we only have a 15 page, plan set.

So we're just making a tremendous amount of assumptions.

Look at this though.

It's qualifying everything.

Assumptions, exclusions, recommendations, all the questions.

Value engineering.

This.

my God, this is like never ending.

Might even be overkill.

I could see how this could be so useful coming into the conclusion here.

my God, it's never ending.

Appendices.

I wonder how many of these we'll have.

Appendix D.

Let me ask efg.

Jesus.

Give us all of our sources.

Okay, that was actually.

That was crazy.

Okay, now we're getting our final.

Now we're getting our final report here.

Coming up on 16 minutes.

And here we go.

Yeah, so I mean, this.

Price per foot too high.

So here's our spreadsheet.

Let's just take a look at this.

Wow, look how nuts this is.

my God.

This is crazy.

I'm gonna show you guys something.

Check this out.

Look full like division by division breakout.

my God.

Check this out.

So here's our, Okay, that's strange.

It looks like there's some errors there, but we'll skip that for now.

Yeah, so division one.

So it's got all of our impact fees in there.

Interesting.

So project manager at 18 months.

Cool.

Also a project super.

And it's saying both full time for 40.

I mean, look, that there's a little bit of overkill.

But look how it broke everything down.

Site work, Concrete, metals, wood and plastics, thermal and moisture.

Division 8 openings.

That's your doors and windows.

Finishes, specialties, Fire protection, plumbing, H vac, electrical, site improvements.

Holy crap.

Yes.

This went X Games mode.

I mean, that is as detailed as it gets.

Guys.

Really impressive stuff.

Now let's take a look at our little markdown summary here.

So we got this full summary and this is where it shows us the detailed breakdowns.

Look at this.

Division by division.

Holy nuts.

Check this out.

Specific cost factors.

Building code, permits, cost escalation, current market conditions.

my God, there's so much here.

Additional project costs.

All of our soft costs contingency.

Here's our items requiring clarification.

Look at all these questions.

Confirm floor joist sizes and spacings.

my God.

Assumptions, exclusions, recommendations, Unit cost summary, total cost per unit square foot, price breakdown.

Okay, interesting.

So this is actually, this also includes all of our soft costs, which I didn't realize, so we're closer to that number.

And it's got its permit fees, so.

Permits and fees.

Wow.

Okay.

So permits and fees and the soft costs.

Okay, so this includes all of our soft costs as well.

Interesting.

We're a lot closer than I thought initially, so.

Good.

Okay.

Wow.

Very cool.

I mean, with the more developed plan and a better prompt, we could create something beautiful.

Very excited about that.

Great use case.