Plumbing takeoff for supply houses. Fixtures counted, pipe measured by size.
Plumbing takeoff for supply houses turns a contractor's plumbing plans into the material a counter quotes: fixtures by tag with their trim and rough-in, water and waste pipe by material and size, and the fittings, hangers and joining materials that go with every foot. On this page: the plumbing recipes in a calculator you can run, a table of what a plumbing order holds, our take on fittings, and a CSV of the recipes.
Try the order-list calculatorClients include
Can a plumbing supply house get a material list from the plans?
Yes. Ruh counts fixtures and equipment by tag, measures water, waste and gas pipe by system and size, and turns each into its material lines: the fixture or its trim, the rough-in pipe and fittings, hangers, and solder or cement, plus waste wherever a recipe applies one. You start from 30 plumbing recipes, all editable, and we run your first set for free.
- plumbing recipes to start from, yours to edit
- 30
- material lines behind those 30 recipes
- 168
- one plumbing set taken off at no cost
- 1st takeoff free
How many fittings does a run of copper need?
The app's starting recipe for 3/4 inch type L copper carries 0.4 fittings and about 0.17 hangers per foot of pipe, plus solder. Enter a fixture count or a pipe run to see each line it brings, as quantities only.
1. Pick a starting recipe
Water closet, floor-mount, flush valve, with rough-in
Order list for 12 each of Water closet, floor-mount. A sample input: change it to the quantity on your set.
| Material | Per EA | Quantity | Waste | With waste |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Water closet, floor-mount, elongated (by supplier quote)Priced by your quoteHow it is builtPriced from the fixture package quote | 1 EA, whole units | 12 EA | None | 12 EA |
| Flush valve, manual, 1.28 gpf | 1 EA, whole units | 12 EA | None | 12 EA |
| Seat, open front | 1 EA, whole units | 12 EA | None | 12 EA |
| Wax ring and closet bolts | 1 EA, whole units | 12 EA | None | 12 EA |
PVC DWV pipe 3"How it is builtStub to the branch | 10 LF | 120 LF | 5% | 126 LF, incl. 5% waste |
| PVC DWV fittings 3" | 4 EA, whole units | 48 EA | None | 48 EA |
| Copper type L 1" | 8 LF | 96 LF | 5% | 100.8 LF, incl. 5% waste |
Each line is the measured quantity times the recipe’s factor. Lines the recipe marks as whole units, such as sheets, boxes and hangers, are rounded up before waste, the way the app rounds them. Round the with-waste figure up to whole pieces when you build the order.
What this cannot tell you: vertical runs the plans do not dimension, or a fitting-by-fitting count. Risers and drops are measured where the set gives a height and flagged where it does not, fittings are a starting rate per foot of pipe, and fixture models come from your own quote.
What does a plumbing order carry?
Plumbing is half counting and half measuring. The rows show where each part lives on a plumbing set, how it gets taken off, and the order lines that follow.
| Part of the order | Where it is on the plans | How it is taken off | What it becomes on the order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixtures | Plumbing plans and the fixture schedule | Counted per tag | Fixture by your quote, flush valve or trim, seat, wax ring, rough-in pipe and fittings |
| Domestic water | Plans and riser diagrams | Linear feet by material, size, above or below ground | Copper or PEX by size, fittings, hangers, solder or expansion fittings |
| Drain, waste and vent | Plans and isometrics | Linear feet by size | PVC or cast iron by size, fittings, hangers, primer and cement |
| Water heaters | The equipment schedule | Counted per tag | Heater, expansion tank, drain pan, valves, unions and connecting pipe |
| Drains and cleanouts | Plans and plumbing details | Counted per type | Drain body, strainer, trap, cleanout and cover |
| Gas piping | Plans and the gas riser | Linear feet by size | Black steel pipe, fittings and hangers |
Typical practice, not a standard. Pipe materials and joining methods change job to job with the specification, so they are read from the set.
What do supply houses get wrong about plumbing takeoffs?
Our opinion: Fittings are where plumbing quotes slip, and a percentage on the total hides them. The app's starting recipe for 3/4 inch type L copper carries 0.4 fittings for every foot of pipe, plus a hanger every six feet and solder. That rate is still an estimate, but it is set by pipe size and moves with the pipe it belongs to, which a lump percentage on the order does not. We would rather see fittings on their own lines, by size, where the counter can see the rate and adjust it for the job.
What it does and does not do
What it does today
- ✓Counts fixtures by tag and measures pipe by system and size from drawing PDFs
- ✓Turns each count and run into material lines, with waste shown
- ✓Flags vertical lengths the set does not give, instead of guessing them
- ✓Prices from your own price list first, with the source on every line
- ✓Exports as PDF, CSV or JSON
What it does not do
- Fitting-by-fitting counts. Fittings are a rate per foot
- Purchase orders
- Reading a reply or a quote back into the list
- Links to your ERP or point-of-sale system
Your first plumbing takeoff is free.
Choose a plumbing set already on your counter and we do the takeoff for free. To test the numbers first, download the recipes as a CSV.
In a customer’s own words
“Ruh helped us win a job during the demo, so we saw value before we even became a client.”
Ben MorlinJ&S Excavation- takeoffs delivered to 29 contractors across 15 trades
- 45
- US, Canada and the UK, Jun to Oct 2026
- starting recipes in this supply line, yours to edit
- 30
- 168 material lines between them
- for every output, the material list included
- PDF, CSV
- and JSON for your own systems
Questions plumbing supply houses ask
Plumbing supply questions, answered from the product.
What is plumbing takeoff for supply houses?
Plumbing takeoff for supply houses is counting the fixtures and measuring the pipe on a contractor's plumbing plans so the supply house can quote the whole order. Ruh handles the counts, runs, conversion and first pricing, and the counter has the final word.
Does it count fittings?
What happens with risers the plans do not dimension?
What plumbing drawings does the free takeoff use?
Send a set. Check the fixtures and pipe.
Send a plumbing set and put the free material list next to your own count of fixtures and runs.
