CONSTRUCTION INTELLIGENCE / PIPING TAKEOFF
Piping takeoff software: from isometrics to MTO and BOM
Mirage is piping takeoff software of a different kind: an AI agent, deployed by engineers, that reads isometric drawings (ISOs), P&IDs, piping layouts and line lists and returns the piping material take-off (MTO) and the fabrication bill of materials (BOM), with every line traced to its drawing and every doubt flagged. In production at John Cockerill, where piping takeoff takes 80 to 90% less time. Send us a set from a live project: we reply within two business hours.
Piping takeoff in production at John Cockerill.
THE REALITY
Before Mirage, takeoff on 2D drawings at John Cockerill took 3 to 4 days per project, and up to 15 once suppliers were brought into the costing. A fabrication bill of materials took longer still: the 3D model had to be rebuilt first.
WHAT IT COUNTS
What goes into the piping MTO
Built for EPC contractors (engineering, procurement and construction), piping fabricators and the estimators who price their work. Piping estimation starts from the MTO, so every line below arrives with its line number, its size, its spec and the ISO sheet it was read from.
- Pipe
- Lengths read line by line, then summed by nominal size and piping spec for purchasing.
- Fittings
- Elbows, tees, reducers and caps, by size, spec and end type.
- Flanges
- By type, size, pressure rating and facing, with blind and open flanges kept apart.
- Valves
- By type, size and rating, with the tag read from the isometric or the P&ID where one is shown.
- Supports
- Counted per line from the support symbols and tags drawn on the isometric.
- Welds
- Counted drawing by drawing for the fabrication BOM, with shop welds and field welds kept apart.
- Weight and paint surface
- Totalled from the pipe and fittings counted, for costing.
- What the drawing does not say
- A missing spec break, a support without a tag, a size that differs from the line list: returned as a flag, never filled in by assumption.
The quantities and the attributes behind them (line number, size, spec, rating, insulation, tag, sheet) are what we call the information take-off (ITO). The MTO and the BOM are both built from it.
WHAT MIRAGE DOES
Piping takeoff software that reads the drawings
Reads the ISO against the P&ID and the line list
Each isometric is read with the documents around it: the P&ID for valves and tags, the line list for size, spec and insulation, the piping layout for routing. Scanned sheets, vector PDFs, DWG and IFC go through the same pass, and no 3D model has to exist first.
Every line traced to its sheet
Each MTO line carries its line number and the ISO sheet it was counted on. Where the isometric and the line list disagree on a size or a spec, the line comes back flagged for the piping engineer instead of picking one. When a revision comes in, Mirage returns what changed and on which sheets.
Two outputs, in the formats you already use
The MTO for purchasing and costing and the BOM for the fabrication shop come out separately from the same drawings. Export to Excel, to the import format of your estimating system, or a write into your cost database or ERP. Your catalogue, rates and supplier quotes stay where they are.
THE OUTPUT
One isometric set, every line traced to its sheet
An illustrative example of the MTO format, not client data: six lines from two isometrics, two of them flagged before anything is priced.
| Line number | Size | Spec | Item | Qty | Unit | ISO sheet | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6"-P-1201-A1A | 6" | A1A | Pipe, carbon steel, seamless, SCH 40 | 42.8 | m | ISO-1201-01 | None |
| 6"-P-1201-A1A | 6" | A1A | Elbow 90° long radius, butt weld | 7 | EA | ISO-1201-01 | None |
| 6"-P-1201-A1A↳ The isometric shows Class 300 flanges at the pump nozzle, but A1A, the piping spec the line list gives this line, is rated Class 150. Flagged for the piping engineer before it is priced. | 6" | A1A | Flange, weld neck, Class 300, RF | 2 | EA | ISO-1201-02 | Spec conflict |
| 6"-P-1201-A1A | 6" | A1A | Gate valve, flanged, tag HV-1203 | 1 | EA | ISO-1201-02 | None |
| 4"-P-1202-A1A↳ Two of the six supports on this sheet carry no support tag. The type is read from the symbol and the line is flagged for confirmation. | 4" | A1A | Pipe support, shoe | 6 | EA | ISO-1202-01 | Tag missing |
| 4"-P-1202-A1A | 4" | A1A | Butt weld, field | 3 | EA | ISO-1202-01 | None |
MTO AND BOM
What the piping MTO and the fabrication BOM each hold
Two outputs from the same isometrics, built for two readers. The MTO is grouped for purchasing and costing; the BOM is grouped for the shop. At John Cockerill the BOM used to need a 3D model rebuilt first.
| Material take-off (MTO) | Fabrication bill of materials (BOM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Grouped by | Nominal size and piping spec, across the whole set | Drawing, then spool or assembly |
| Pipe | Total length by size, spec and schedule | Cut lengths per spool, with the line number |
| Fittings, flanges, valves | Counts by size, spec, rating and end type; valves with their tag | Per spool, in fabrication sequence |
| Welds | Not listed | Shop welds and field welds counted separately, by size |
| Supports | Counts by type from the support symbols and tags | Per drawing, with the tag where one is shown |
| Weight and paint surface | Totals for costing and transport | Per spool, for handling and coating |
| Traceability | Line number and ISO sheet on every line | Drawing and revision on every line |
| Flags | Spec conflicts with the line list, missing tags, size mismatches | The same flags, carried to the spool they affect |
CHOOSING
How do you choose piping takeoff software?
Seven questions to put to any tool or vendor, Mirage included. Each one has an answer you can test on one of your own isometric sets before anything is signed.
What does it read?
Vector PDFs only, or scanned sheets, DWG and IFC in the same pass; the ISO alone, or the ISO with the P&ID and the line list, so valves, tags, specs and insulation are resolved rather than guessed.
Does it need a 3D model first?
Model-based MTO tools need a current model. A tool that reads the 2D deliverables as issued works on the sets that actually arrive, including subcontracted and legacy work.
Is every line traced?
Line number, size, spec and the ISO sheet it was counted on, on every row, so an engineer checks a line by opening its sheet instead of recounting the set.
What happens to a conflict?
An ISO that shows Class 300 flanges on a line the line list rates Class 150, a support without a tag: flagged for a person, or silently resolved one way. Ask to see a flag.
Two outputs or one?
The MTO for purchasing and the BOM for the shop are grouped differently. A single list means someone regroups it by hand.
Where does it land?
Excel, the import format of your estimating system, or a write into your cost database or ERP, with your catalogue, rates and supplier quotes staying where they are.
What happens on revision 2?
A full recount, or a list of what changed and on which sheets, with the previous figure kept beside the new one.
The one answer that cannot be read off a feature list is time: at John Cockerill, takeoff on 2D drawings took 3 to 4 days per project before Mirage and up to 15 with supplier costing. Ask any vendor for a figure like that from a named client, with the definition behind it.
PROOF
Piping takeoff in production at John Cockerill
John Cockerill's estimating team uses the piping (ISO) takeoff module directly, and its engineers review the output before it is used.
John Cockerill
80 to 90% less time spent on piping takeoff
Fabrication BOM ten times faster, no 3D model required first
Separate MTO and BOM outputs from the same drawing
Send us a set of isometrics from a live project
Not a sample file: ISOs, P&IDs or a line list from a job you are estimating now. We reply within two business hours, run the proof of concept on your own drawings one week after the first meeting, and walk you through the MTO, the BOM and every flag.
How a deployment runs: Observe, Map, Build, Run, Expand. See the method
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