Construction glossary · Envelope and finishes
What is casework in construction?
Casework in construction is factory-built or shop-built cabinetry: base cabinets, upper (wall) cabinets, countertops, tall units, and similar boxes installed in offices, labs, classrooms, healthcare, and break rooms. It is largely modular and built to standard cabinet dimensions, which separates it from custom millwork. The estimator takes it off the interior elevations and the casework drawings, measuring base and upper runs in linear feet and counting discrete units such as tall cabinets and sinks.
Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by the Ruh construction team
Casework counted by cabinet units
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Book a walkthroughCasework is the cabinetry scope on a commercial interior: base cabinets, wall (upper) cabinets, full-height storage and wardrobe units, countertops, and the associated fillers, end panels, and hardware. It is typically modular, built from standard box sizes (commonly 24 in deep base, 12 in deep upper, in widths stepping by a few inches), and may be plastic laminate, wood veneer, or metal, often to a standard such as the AWI grades. Casework differs from millwork in that it is repetitive, catalog or standard-size cabinetry rather than one-off architectural work, though the two scopes overlap and are sometimes bid together. The estimator reads the interior elevations to see cabinet layout and heights, the casework or cabinet plan for locations, and the schedule or details for material, grade, and countertop type. Counts of sinks, appliances, and tall units come off the plans and schedules. Common misses: pricing countertops by the same linear foot as the cabinet run when the counter overhangs and returns differ, forgetting fillers and scribe pieces, and not separating base from upper runs, which carry different unit prices.
Casework is measured two ways at once. Continuous runs of base cabinets and upper cabinets are measured in linear feet (lf) along the interior elevations, base and upper kept on separate lines because they price differently. Discrete items (tall cabinets, sink bases, corner units, appliance cabinets) are counted in each (ea). Countertops are measured in lf of run, or in square feet (sf) when slab material like solid surface or stone is priced by area, with sink cutouts and backsplashes noted. Read the interior elevations for heights and configuration, the casework or cabinet plan for plan locations, and the casework schedule and details for material, AWI grade, and countertop spec. Fillers, end panels, and hardware are tallied from the same elevations.
Worked example
Take a break room and a lab bench off the interior elevations. Break room elevation shows a 14 lf base cabinet run with a continuous countertop, plus a 22 lf upper cabinet run above part of it. Lab elevation shows a 14 lf base run, no uppers, plus one tall storage cabinet counted as 1 ea. Base linear footage: 14 + 14 = 28 lf. Upper linear footage: 22 lf. Tall units: 1 ea. Countertop: the break room counter runs the full 14 lf base plus a 10 lf return shown on the adjacent elevation, so 14 + 10 = 24 lf of countertop, with one sink cutout. Now price illustratively: base at $300/lf x 28 = $8,400; uppers at $220/lf x 22 = $4,840; the tall unit at $900 ea; countertop at $75/lf x 24 = $1,800. Each quantity traces to a specific interior elevation.
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How Ruh handles casework
Ruh reads the interior elevations, the casework plan, and the casework schedule, then does the takeoff: lf of base and upper runs kept separate, counts of tall units and sink bases, and lf or sf of countertop with cutouts noted. It prices each line against the contractor's own price book and returns a line-item draft. The estimator reviews the base versus upper split, the countertop returns, and the unit counts, then signs off.
See construction estimating softwareCasework: frequently asked questions
What is the difference between casework and millwork?+
Casework is modular, repetitive cabinetry built to standard box sizes, base and upper cabinets, tall units, countertops, often to an AWI grade. Millwork is custom architectural woodwork, reception desks, paneling, and one-off built-ins fabricated to the specific drawings. They overlap and are sometimes bid together, but casework prices closer to per linear foot of standard cabinet while millwork prices as engineered, made-to-order work.
Why measure base and upper cabinets separately?+
They carry different unit prices. Base cabinets are deeper, often hold sinks and appliances, and support countertops, while uppers are shallower and lighter. Running them on one combined linear foot rate skews the estimate, especially in rooms where the upper run is shorter than the base run. Keep them on separate lines off the interior elevations.
Is the countertop included in the casework linear foot price?+
Usually not, because the countertop run, overhangs, returns, and material differ from the cabinet boxes below. Measure countertops on their own line in linear feet, or in square feet when the material is priced by area, and note sink cutouts and backsplashes. A counter can be longer than the base run when it returns along an end or wraps a corner.
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Figures on this page are illustrative. Construction estimates depend on project-specific conditions, source documents, market pricing, and professional judgment. Ruh's AI assists the estimator and does not replace professional review: your team reviews, validates, and approves every estimate, bid, and pricing decision.