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Glossary

How an electrician talks about the sheet. Same words the takeoff uses.

AFF: Above finished floor. Used when a device height is noted on the sheet. Drop = ceiling height minus AFF.
Assembly: The kit behind a counted device: whip, hangers, T-bar clips, box, connectors, fittings — not just the fixture.
Bid letter: The recap you stamp and send. Overhead, profit, allowances. Not a second copy of the BOM.
BOM: Bill of materials. Excel-style grid of every line: qty, unit, material, hours, extension.
Branch: Device-to-device pipe on a circuit, after the homerun lands.
Calibrate: Set feet-per-drawing-point on a known dimension or the graphic scale bar. No scale, no footage.
Connector: EMT connector at a box. Typically two per homerun (into the box and into the panel).
Takeoff: Devices and fixtures on the plan sheets. One type across lighting and power plans.
Coupling: Joins 10 ft sticks of EMT. Count = footage / 10, plus waste.
Demo: Removal. (E) on a demo sheet is labor to take out, not new material.
Derived: Fittings, drops, and footage calculated from counted devices and measured pipe. Not a glyph on the plan.
Drop: Plan-hidden vertical: typically 8.5 ft at a receptacle, 6.5 ft at a switch, unless AFF is noted.
EA: Each. Unit for devices, boxes, fittings sold as pieces.
Elbow: 90° EMT bend. Conduit is pulled on 90s, not curves.
EMT: Electrical metallic tubing. Raceway. Sized 1/2", 3/4", 1", 2" and up.
Existing-to-remain: Drawn but not new work. (E) is excluded from new-work quantities.
Feeder: Pipe and wire from a distribution board to a panel. One-line callouts stay open until you measure the riser.
Fill: Conductors in a pipe. 3#12 + ground in 3/4" EMT is a typical lighting homerun.
Fixture quote: Package price from the lighting vendor. Paste it. We do not invent a troffer price.
GFCI: Ground-fault receptacle. Counted as its own type when the legend says so.
Hanger / strap: Support for conduit. Typical 3/4" EMT strap every 10 ft.
Homerun: Pipe from the last device back to the panel. Loops between fixtures are the circuit, not extra EMT.
J-box: Junction box. Some marks are column bubbles — confirm vs the legend before you count them as boxes.
Kind: BOM column: counted (on the sheet) vs derived (from the recipe).
Labor rate: Your $/hr. Hours come from assemblies. You set the rate. Occupied / demo can apply a factor.
Legend: The project symbol list. It wins over a generic catalog. Teach a missed mark once.
LF: Linear feet. Raceway, wire, track, cable.
Luminaire schedule: Catalog (type and description). The lighting plan is the takeoff. Fixture dollars stay open until quoted.
MC whip: Metal-clad fixture whip. Usually 6 ft on a T-bar hang, fixture to box.
Named revision: A snapshot of the takeoff. Original vs this takeoff stay. Re-run does not wipe edited cells.
OFCI: Owner-furnished, contractor-installed. Material may be $0. Labor still exists. Do not hide it.
One-line: Riser diagram. Gear and feeder spec. It does not invent pipe length on the floor plan.
Panel schedule: Breaker and load list. Catalog, not a device count on the floor.
Raceway: The pipe: EMT, PVC, GRC. Plus couplings, connectors, straps, elbows, wire.
Recap: Bid summary: material, labor, quoted fixtures, misc, overhead, profit.
RFQ: Request for quote. Export the BOM in a file a distributor can upload.
Scale: Feet per drawing point. Confirm on the title-block scale and the bar.
Shop book: Your labor rate, vendor nets, and cell edits saved for the next job. Restore catalog defaults any time.
Stamp: Marks the letter as the print version. Cells stay editable. Change a qty and the stamp drops.
Strap: Conduit support. See hanger.
T-bar: Lay-in grid ceiling. The fixture is the box. Extra hangers only when the spec asks. Earthquake clips when the note says so.
Takeoff: The count: devices by type, measured raceway, derived fittings. Not the priced letter.
Teach: Click a missed glyph, name it, reuse that type on this job.
THHN: Building wire. Sized with the circuit tag (#12, #10, #8…) plus ground.
UNKNOWN: A blank material price. It stays open. It is not $0. Stamp is blocked until the quote is pasted.
Waste: Raceway only, typically 10%. Not applied to counted devices.
Whip: MC or FMC from the fixture to the box. Usually 6 ft on T-bar.