No jargon left unexplained. If a term used elsewhere on this site isn't clear, it's probably here.
The process of measuring a construction drawing to produce a material quantity list — how many linear feet of wall, how many sheets of drywall, how many studs. The starting point for any bid.
A vector PDF stores a drawing as real lines and shapes with exact coordinates — exported directly from design software like AutoCAD or Revit. A raster or scanned PDF is just a flat image (like a photo), with no underlying geometry a computer can measure. ReadMyBlueprint reads vector PDFs only — see why that distinction matters.
One continuous vertical layer of masonry (CMU block, brick) one unit thick. A wall spec note like "8" CMU, single wythe" describes a wall built from one layer of 8-inch block.
A standard concrete block, most commonly 8"×8"×16" (nominal). Wall length and height convert to a block count using the block's face area — see the CMU takeoff page for how ReadMyBlueprint computes this automatically.
The thickness of steel used in a metal stud, expressed as a gauge number — a lower number means thicker, stronger steel (20-gauge is thinner/lighter than 16-gauge). Read from the wall-type legend, not guessed from the drawn line weight.
The spacing between framing members measured from the center of one to the center of the next — e.g. "16" O.C." means studs spaced 16 inches apart, center to center. Determines how many studs a given wall length needs.
A schedule or set of notes on a plan sheet defining what each wall-type tag (e.g. "W1", "W2") actually means — stud size, gauge, spacing, board layers. See how wall-type matching works.
The total floor area of a building measured to the outside face of exterior walls, including all floors — a whole-building measurement, not a single room's usable space.
The usable floor area inside a space, excluding walls, structure, and shared circulation — the number a tenant actually occupies, smaller than GFA for the same building.
ReadMyBlueprint's own term for how every result is tagged: matched (a specific spec found in the document), ambiguous (more than one possible spec fits), or needs confirmation (no spec found at all). See the full explanation.
A tool that measures from real geometry and flags anything it can't verify for a human to confirm — as opposed to "automatic," which implies no verification step at all. See the one rule this site is built around.
The final material quantity list, usually exported as a spreadsheet (CSV/Excel), used to price a job and submit a bid.
Your first plan set is free — see exactly how a real drawing turns into a labeled material list.
Get startedNew guide: How to read a wall type legend on construction drawings, with a real example.
More references: Types of drywall · Metal stud sizes & dimensions · Metal stud gauge chart