How this page was prepared: CyanBuild publishes this page and is one of the products discussed. The product facts below come from the linked vendor pages, each checked on October 29, 2026. No controlled, independent benchmark of these products was run for this page. The order is a reading order, not an accuracy or speed ranking, and published prices change — verify the current terms before you buy.
The unit is the count
Most door take-off arguments are not about counting ability. They are about unit confusion. One door in a corridor is one opening. It is also one leaf, one frame and one hardware set — but a pair of doors is one opening and two leaves, and a bifold pair is one opening with two panels. Hardware sets and installation labour are counted per opening. Door slabs and paint are counted per leaf. So the same set of doors produces different integers depending on which unit the take-off line uses, and a number without a unit is not a quantity.
There is a second discipline, which is that the plan governs how many instances there are and the schedule governs what each one is. A door tagged D-101 might appear three times on the plan — three units of the same type — and once in the schedule. Or the plan might show a door that the schedule tags differently. Reconciling the two is the work; neither source is the answer on its own.
| Item | Unit | Where it comes from on the drawing | What you reconcile it against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door opening — the scope count | Each | The swing arc, sliding, pocket or bifold symbol on the floor plan | The door schedule, matched on opening identifier. The schedule governs type and properties; the plan governs instance count. Every tagged opening should appear once on the plan and once in the schedule. |
| Door leaf | Each leaf — a pair is 2 | Leaf lines drawn at right angles to the wall, with a quarter-circle swing arc | The door schedule's single-leaf-versus-pair column. A pair is one opening but two leaves; a bifold pair is one opening with two panels. |
| Door frame | One frame per opening | The wall opening itself; frames are dimensioned on the door sheet, not the plan | The frame type elevation and the frame material, head and jamb detail keys in the door schedule. |
| Hardware set | One set per opening — not per leaf, not per type | Not on the floor plan; it comes from the door schedule hardware group and the hardware legend | The door schedule hardware group and the hardware schedule, at MasterFormat 08 06 70 and 08 06 71. Groups such as HW01. |
| Window unit | Each scheduled unit | A glazing rectangle or a parallel-line symbol in an exterior wall | The window schedule at 08 06 50. A mulled assembly drawn as one frame may be several scheduled units. |
| Sidelight, transom or borrowed light | Each, as a separate item | A glazed panel beside or above the door opening in the wall | Called out by type on the door or frame elevation. It carries its own frame and glazing. |
| Glazing or vision lite area | Square feet, or each lite | The glazing callout on the door elevation or the glazing schedule | The glazing schedule at 08 06 80. |
| Rough opening | Per opening, in the frame or opening size | The opening dimension on the door and frame elevations | The unit size plus the manufacturer's rough-opening allowance, usually 2 inches wider and 2 inches taller than the unit size. That allowance varies by manufacturer. |
| Fire-rated opening | Each opening, grouped by rating in minutes | The rating is not legible on a plan symbol; it is carried in the schedule | The door schedule fire-rating column. IBC 716.1 requires opening protectives to be installed in accordance with NFPA 80, and IBC Table 716.1(1) marks a fire door assembly tested to NFPA 252, UL 10B or UL 10C with the letter D. US rating buckets are 20, 45, 60, 90 and 180 minutes. |
| Out-of-scope symbols | Not counted | Plain cased wall openings with no door, cabinet and casework doors, overhead and coiling doors, existing-to-remain and not-in-contract doors, and demolition-sheet doors drawn dashed for removal | The demolition legend, which separates existing door to remain from existing door to be removed. MasterFormat treats demolition as its own scope line at 08 05 05. |
What an opening takeoff counts (checked October 29, 2026). The unit choice is the single most consequential decision on this page. The opening count seeds hardware sets and installation labour, which are per opening; the leaf count seeds door slabs and paint, which are per leaf. The same opening yields different integers depending on which is stated. Sources include the Rutgers University Design Standards Manual for Division 08, the 2021 International Building Code Chapters 7, 10 and 24, and two independent MasterFormat section indexes.
Reading the symbols
The symbol table below covers the door and window types that appear on architectural plans, with the counting caveat for each. One rule covers most of the errors: read the project's own legend sheet. There is no universal door and window plan-symbol legend — the conventions are office standard, and the same letter can mean different things in different disciplines.
| Symbol or type | How it appears in plan | Quantity unit | Counting caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single swing door | The leaf is a line at right angles to the wall, with a quarter-circle arc showing the space the door sweeps | 1 opening, 1 leaf | The arc can be confused with a casement window arc. Door arcs extend into the room; casement arcs stay within the wall thickness. |
| Double or pair swing door | Two arcs from the centre | 1 opening, 2 leaves | A pair is one opening but two leaves, and pairs are routinely drawn as a single arc, so a plan count can under-report leaves against the schedule's pair column. |
| Sliding door | An arrow shows the slide direction | 1 opening | Not an egress door type under IBC 1010.1.2, which allows side-hinged swinging, pivoted and balanced doors, unless an exception applies. |
| Pocket door | Slides into a wall pocket | 1 opening | The symbol is small within the wall line and easy to miss at small scale. The pocket wall is still counted as wall, not as an opening. |
| Bifold door | An accordion pattern | 1 opening, 2 panels | A bifold pair is one opening with two panels. |
| Revolving door | A circle with partitions | 1 opening | IBC 1010.1.1 Exception 4 does not limit the maximum width of revolving door leaves. A revolving door requires a side-hinged swinging door complying with Section 1010.1 in the same wall within 10 feet of it, and that swinging door is a separate count. |
| Fixed window | Parallel lines in the wall opening — three parallel lines, the outer two being the wall surfaces and the centre line the glass | Each window unit | A mulled or combination assembly drawn as one frame may be several scheduled units. Count the scheduled units and flag the assembly. |
| Operable window | A cross indicates the movable sash | Each window unit | Fixed and operable must be grouped separately. A fixed window gives light but no ventilation, and the two carry different performance and price. |
| Casement window | A diamond shows the hinge side, with a small arc inside the wall thickness | Each window unit | Commonly confused with a door because both use an arc. |
| Awning or hopper window | A triangle shows the swing direction | Each window unit | Typically found in bathrooms, basements and clerestory applications. |
| Double-hung or single-hung window | A single line in the wall opening, sometimes with a slight offset for the overlapping sashes | Each window unit | Window symbols are not all drawn to the same scale, so labelled dimensions decide. Operation types group as fixed, casement, awning, double-hung and slider. |
| Clerestory window | A band of upper-wall windows above eye level | Each window unit, on its own schedule line | A clerestory is distinct from a transom directly above a door. Do not fold the two together. |
| Skylight or roof window | A rectangle with an X on the roof plan, sometimes a dashed rectangle on the floor plan ceiling | Each, on a separate schedule line at 08 06 60 | Does not appear on the floor plan at all, so a floor-plan-only count misses every skylight. It belongs to 08 60 00 Roof Windows and Skylights. |
| Door or window tag | A door identifier on VA drawings is a number in an oval set in the door swing; a hexagon marks a keynote. A window type tag carries a number identifying the window or glass type | Not a counted item — it is the join key | The tag shape belongs to the office standard and is not universal. Always read the project's own legend sheet. |
Door and window symbol types on architectural plans (checked October 29, 2026). There is no codes body, standards body or owner that publishes a canonical universal door and window plan-symbol legend. These conventions are standard practice, drawn from secondary references that each attribute their conventions to a specific office standard. The tag shapes in particular vary by office, so any automated counter must read the project's legend sheet rather than assume a letter or shape.
Keeping the divisions apart
Division 08 is doors, frames, windows, hardware and glazing. Everything else on the sheet is somebody else's count, and the most common error on a combined sheet is letting one absorb the other. A plumbing fixture symbol sits next to a door symbol on the same plan; a wall switch sits beside every door; and a door frame perimeter is a finish area, not an opening.
| Division | Number | Trade | Why it is not a door count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Openings | 08 | Doors, frames, windows, hardware and glazing | This is the door and window count scope itself. MasterFormat organises it as 08 10 00 Doors and Frames, 08 11 00 Metal Doors and Frames, 08 14 00 Wood Doors, 08 50 00 Windows, 08 71 00 Door Hardware and 08 80 00 Glazing, with separate schedules at 08 06 10, 08 06 50, 08 06 70 and 08 06 80. |
| Finishes | 09 | Gypsum board, plaster, painting, flooring, tile and coatings | Measured as area, with lengths for base and trim, rather than enumerated openings. A door frame perimeter belongs to the finishes takeoff, not to the opening count. |
| Plumbing | 22 | Plumbing fixtures and piping | Counted as fixtures — each water closet, lavatory, shower and drinking fountain — not as openings. Fixture symbols sit next to door symbols on the same plan and must not be read as openings. |
| Electrical | 26 | Electrical devices, lighting and power distribution | Counted as devices, luminaires and circuit quantities. Wall switches and card readers sit beside every door on the plan, so an electrical device on the same sheet as a door is a Division 26 count, not a Division 08 count. |
CSI divisions to keep separate from a door count (checked October 29, 2026). Division names were verified against the MasterFormat division list and independently against two third-party section indexes that agree with each other. Note that 08 11 00 is Metal Doors and Frames while 08 10 00 is Doors and Frames. CSI does not publish the MasterFormat section index free, so the section titles here rest on those two independent indexes rather than on a CSI page.
A repeatable procedure
- Fix the scope first. Which sheets, which revision, and are demolition, existing and not-in-contract doors in or out?
- Read the legend. Match the symbol and tag shapes to the project's own key before counting anything.
- Count openings on the plan. Count per opening, and note where a door is drawn on a reflected ceiling plan or an elevation instead.
- Reconcile against the schedule. Match every plan opening to a schedule row on the tag, and record the exceptions in both directions — plan openings with no schedule row, and schedule rows with no plan opening.
- Derive the other units. From the reconciled opening count, derive leaves from the pair column, hardware sets from the hardware group, and frames from the opening count.
- Separate the exclusions. Record demolition and not-in-contract doors as their own scope line, not as silently dropped items.
- Then measure the rest. Counts of doors and windows do not give you glazing area, wall area or frame perimeter. Those need the dimensions from the schedules.
One caution about the code references above: they are the 2021 edition of the International Building Code, which is the edition the published source served. Your locally adopted edition may renumber these provisions, so check the current one before quoting a section number in a bid document.
What this does and does not tell you
No price, unit cost or labour rate appears on this page, because no source we checked publishes them — Division 08 material costs and installation rates are commercially sourced and were deliberately left out rather than estimated. If you need those numbers for a bid, take them from your own supplier quotes and your own productivity history.
For the practical software question, read AI door takeoff from a PDF and what happens on a scanned drawing. For the wider method, see manual, digital and AI takeoff methods.
What does CyanBuild software cost?
These are CyanBuild’s published software plans as checked on October 6, 2026. Each allowance is for PDF pages per month. You review the quantities; an outsourced takeoff service is a separate purchase.
| Plan | Monthly price | PDF pages / month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 |
| Starter | $29 | 30 |
| Pro | $99 | 120 |
| Enterprise | $299 | 400 |
Paid subscriptions renew according to their terms. A page allowance does not guarantee the completeness of a takeoff, and unused capacity does not turn the subscription into a per-project service. Check current features and terms before choosing a plan.
What else should you check?
- Should a door count be one per door or one per leaf?
- It depends on what the count is for, and that is the point. A pair is one opening and two leaves. Installation labour and hardware sets are per opening; door slabs and paint are per leaf. State the unit on the take-off line, because the same set of doors produces different integers depending on the choice.
- Why does my plan count not match the door schedule?
- Common causes: doors drawn on reflected ceiling or elevation sheets rather than the floor plan, demolition doors drawn dashed for removal, doors tagged in a schedule but not shown on the plan, and the same door type appearing on several sheets of a unit. The plan governs instance count and the schedule governs type and properties, so reconcile the two rather than picking one.
- Does the plan symbol show whether a door is fire-rated?
- No. The fire rating is carried in the door schedule, not legible on a plan symbol. IBC 716.1 requires opening protectives to be installed in accordance with NFPA 80, and IBC Table 716.1(1) marks a fire door assembly tested to NFPA 252, UL 10B or UL 10C with the letter D. US rating buckets are 20, 45, 60, 90 and 180 minutes.
- Is there a standard door and window symbol legend I can rely on?
- Not a universal one. The conventions in this guide are standard practice drawn from references that attribute them to specific office standards, and tag shapes in particular vary by office. Every set keys its own symbols in a legend sheet. Read the project's legend before counting, and never assume a letter or shape means the same thing across disciplines.
- What should I not include in a door count?
- Plain cased wall openings with no door, cabinet and casework doors, overhead and coiling doors, doors noted as existing-to-remain or not-in-contract, and demolition doors drawn dashed for removal. MasterFormat treats selective demolition as its own scope line at 08 05 05, so a demolition door is a different line item, not a door to omit silently.
- Do I need to count windows the same way?
- The same discipline applies with one extra trap. A mulled or combination assembly drawn as one frame may be several scheduled window units, so count the scheduled units and flag the assembly. Skylights and roof windows are the hardest case because they do not appear on the floor plan at all and belong to 08 60 00 rather than the window scope.
Where do the figures and product facts come from?
Sources checked October 29, 2026. Published prices can change; verify the actual terms before purchasing. Worked examples on this page are labeled separately from published product or service facts.
- CyanBuild published plans
Monthly software prices and PDF page allowances. These are product terms, not market averages or outsourced service fees.
- Rutgers University Design Standards Manual — Division 08 Openings
The door schedule fields an estimator reconciles: opening identifier, type, opening width and height, single leaf versus pair, thickness, material, frame type, frame material, detail keys, fire rating, hardware group and remarks. Checked October 29, 2026.
- 2021 International Building Code, Chapter 7 — Fire and Smoke Protection Features
IBC 716.1 on opening protectives installed per NFPA 80, and Table 716.1(1) on the D marking for fire door assemblies. Checked October 29, 2026.
- 2021 International Building Code, Chapter 10 — Means of Egress
The permitted egress door types under 1010.1.2, the revolving door provisions under 1010.1.1 and the 10-foot requirement for a side-hinged door near a revolving door. Checked October 29, 2026.
- 2021 International Building Code, Chapter 24 — Glass and Glazing
IBC 2406.3 on safety glazing identification and 2406.4.1 on glazing in swinging, sliding and bifold doors being a hazardous location. Checked October 29, 2026.
- Sweets 3-Part Specifications — 08 Openings
The MasterFormat Division 08 section titles and numbers. Checked October 29, 2026.
- CSI MasterFormat index — 08 00 00 Openings
An independent cross-check of the Division 08 numbering, including the 08 05 05 demolition line and the four opening schedules. Checked October 29, 2026.
- Sweets 3-Part Specifications — 09 Finishes
The Division 09 section numbers kept separate from a door count. Checked October 29, 2026.
- Sweets 3-Part Specifications — 22 Plumbing
The Division 22 section numbers for plumbing fixtures. Checked October 29, 2026.
- Sweets 3-Part Specifications — 26 Electrical
The Division 26 section numbers for devices and lighting. Checked October 29, 2026.
- Helonic knowledge base — architectural plan symbols
The door and window symbol appearance conventions used in the symbol table. Checked October 29, 2026.
- S.F. Johnson Consulting — doors and windows cheat page
The door and window schedule field lists and the rough-opening allowance convention. Checked October 29, 2026.
- University of Michigan AEC — DG 2.4 document standards
That floor plans contain walls, doors, windows, stairs and elevators, and exclude card access control and wiring information. Checked October 29, 2026.
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