Hello Abdulrahman Ba Jaman ,

To find the elements of the structure, if there are no signs on the drawings, you should go on several visits and find the signs in the building itself. for example, look for beams signs or hidden lines of time passing on the ceiling, then you can estimate the columns' place.

Thank you Horre Toodekharman for answering the question. To clarify, it will be difficult to place columns, footings to any structural elements arbitrarily without their plans (ie, column plan), right?

Hi

All architectural drawings, if drawn by an architect, must have a scale associated with them. Look carefully in them, as at least one of them must have the scale at which they were drawn. When you get the scale, then automatically you get the approximate actual measurements. If you can't find any indication of a scale on the drawings, then you take one relatively accurate measurement per drawing, then you can by calibration obtain any other measurement on any given drawing.

Good luck!

Yes, it's not accurate.

Thank you both Horre Toodekharman and Dimitrios S. Dendrinos !

For accurate material take-off you will need the structural drawings, which are typically separate series of drawings in a set. For example the architectural drawings will indicate the general size of foundations and footings, but won't give you the information on reinforcing. Steel framing drawings will have structural shape designation, which will give you material weight. Don't forget things people don't usually think about, like excavated material leaving the site, and added crushed stone, topsoil, and asphalt. (Many job sites will bring in tons of crushed stone to create temporary roadways, and remove it afterward.)

You may consider talking to an estimator for a large general contractor or construction manager about efficient ways to take off materials form .pdf's

Try to export the cad file to Rivet