Construction glossary · Concrete and masonry
What is footing in construction?
A footing is the widened concrete base at the bottom of a foundation that spreads the building's loads out to the soil. The two main types on commercial work are continuous footings, which run in a strip under walls, and spread footings, which are individual pads under columns. The structural engineer sizes footings from the soil bearing capacity in the geotechnical report, and they are typically the first structural concrete placed on the job.
Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by the Ruh construction team
Spread footing cross section
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Book a walkthroughA footing is the lowest structural element of a shallow foundation, a reinforced concrete pad or strip that distributes loads from walls and columns to soil that can carry them. You will find footings on the structural foundation plan, in the footing schedule, and in wall sections, with concrete and reinforcing requirements in Division 03 of the specs. The geotechnical report sets the allowable soil bearing pressure that drives footing sizes. The two workhorses on commercial jobs are continuous footings (also called strip or wall footings) that run under bearing walls and foundation walls, and spread footings (isolated or column footings) placed under individual columns. You will also see combined footings under closely spaced columns and step footings where grade changes. New estimators commonly miss three things: footing sizes live in the schedule, not the plan view, so verify every mark; a footing line item is more than concrete (excavation, formwork, reinforcing, keyways, dowels, and backfill all ride along); and continuous footings that pass through column pad locations can get double counted if you are not careful with linear feet.
Footing concrete is measured in cubic yards (cy), calculated as length x width x depth from the footing schedule. Continuous footings are taken off in linear feet (lf) along their centerline and converted to cy; spread footings are counted each by schedule mark, then extended by pad volume. Supporting quantities ride on the same takeoff: formwork in square feet of contact area (sfca), reinforcing steel in pounds or tons from the bar callouts, excavation and backfill in cy with working room added, and fine grading in square feet (sf). Estimators typically add 5 to 10 percent waste on footing concrete because trench bottoms are rarely neat. Pull dimensions from the footing schedule and verify against wall sections; plan view linework is not reliable for width or depth.
Worked example
Take a continuous wall footing that runs 120 lf at 16 in wide by 12 in deep. Convert to feet: 16 in = 1.33 ft and 12 in = 1.0 ft. Volume is 120 lf x 1.33 ft x 1.0 ft = 159.6 cf, call it 160 cf. Divide by 27 cf per cy: 160 / 27 = 5.93 cy neat. Add 5 percent waste for trench irregularity: 5.93 x 1.05 = 6.22 cy, so you order 6.5 cy. At an illustrative $185 per cy for a 3,000 psi mix, the concrete is 6.5 x $185 = $1,202.50, call it $1,200 for material only. The same 120 lf drives the rest of the line item: edge forms on two sides at 1 ft deep give 240 sfca, and three #5 continuous bars run 3 x 120 lf x 1.043 lb per ft = 375 lb of rebar before laps.
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How Ruh handles footing
Ruh reads the foundation plan and footing schedule from the contractor's drawings, takes off continuous footings by the linear foot and spread footings by count and mark, and converts everything to cubic yards of concrete, sfca of forms, and pounds of rebar. It prices those quantities against the contractor's own price book, their real unit costs for mix, forming, and steel, then hands the estimator a line-item draft. The estimator reviews the footing marks, adjusts waste and lap assumptions, and signs off before anything goes into the bid.
See concrete estimating softwareFooting: frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a continuous footing and a spread footing?+
A continuous footing carries a distributed load along the full length of a wall, so estimators take it off in linear feet and convert to cubic yards. A spread footing carries the concentrated load of a single column, so it is counted each, with sizes pulled from footing schedule marks such as F4.0 or F6.0. Spread footings usually carry heavier reinforcing mats, so price them as their own line rather than blending them into the wall footing unit cost.
What are the main types of footings in commercial construction?+
The common shallow foundation types are continuous (strip) footings, spread (isolated) footings, combined footings that support two or more closely spaced columns, and mat or raft foundations where one thick slab carries the whole building. Step footings drop the bearing elevation in increments on sloped sites. When soils cannot carry shallow footings, the design moves to deep foundations such as drilled piers or driven piles, with pile caps and grade beams replacing conventional footings.
How deep does a footing need to be?+
Footings must bear on competent soil below the local frost depth, which the governing code and the geotechnical report establish for each site. Frost depth varies widely across the US, from minimal in the Gulf states to 4 ft or more in the northern tier, so identical buildings can carry very different excavation quantities by region. For the estimator, footing depth drives trench excavation volume, form heights, and how much working room and backfill to carry.
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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.