Division 8: doors, frames and hardware · last reviewed
Best Bidding Software for Division 8 Doors, Frames and Hardware
A Division 8 bid is not a door count. Each opening carries a leaf, a frame, a hardware set, a rating, a handing and a finish, and the facts that decide the price are spread across the door schedule, the floor plans, the elevations and Section 087100 of the specification. Those documents disagree often, and the disagreements are where bids go wrong.
So the question for this trade is which software reads those documents together, shows the estimator where they conflict, and hands a reviewed takeoff to the system you price in. That is how this list is ordered.
The ranking
Ordered by a Division 8: doors, frames and hardware score: the same six criteria and weights as the main ranking, with trade fit judged for this trade. Where a general tool’s score doesn’t hold for this trade, it is re-scored here and the reason given.
Built only for Division 8 and around the reconciliation itself: it reads the schedule, plans, elevations and 087100 together and turns their disagreements into a review list. It is the one tool here that names a SOC 2 Type 2 audit on its own site, which is what puts it ahead of Bild AI on the scores. Owner-standard hardware sets are not documented on its public site, the same as Bild AI: if your institutional jobs need them, ask to see it in a demo. Its limit is the same as its focus: it does nothing outside Division 8, and it does not price; it exports to the platform that does.
Also built only for Division 8, and close behind: schedule and spec extraction, set splitting by opening size, manufacturer cross-references and addendum diffs are all documented, and it lists the most quoting-system exports. It ranks second only on security: no independent audit is named on its site. Run both on the same job before you choose.
Where a distributor prices: maintained price books, bulk takeoff entry, automatic pricing and proposals. It does not read the drawings, so it pairs with a takeoff tool rather than replacing one.
The system of record for many Division 8 distributors, with estimating, detailing and electronic price books. Takeoff quantities still have to come in from the documents, by hand or from a takeoff tool's export.
A general AI takeoff tool with a doors and hardware trade page. Good at finding and counting openings on plans; it does not document reconciling the schedule with hardware sets and the spec, which is where Division 8 bids go wrong.
Re-scored for Division 8: trade fit 2 (a doors and hardware page, but no hardware-set logic documented), document handling 2 (reads plans, not schedule, plans and 087100 together), takeoff accuracy 3 (counts openings; the hardware on them isn't taken off).
Bluebeam can count and highlight openings on PDFs, and it is precise when you do the clicking, but every cross-check between schedule, plan and spec is still yours.
Re-scored for Division 8: trade fit 1 (nothing specific to doors, frames or hardware), document handling 3 (strong with PDF sets, but every cross-check between schedule, plans and spec is manual), takeoff accuracy 3 (counts are the estimator's clicks, hardware sets aren't taken off).
Scores for this trade
| # | Tool | Accuracy25% | Trade fit20% | Documents20% | Speed15% | Security10% | Small shops10% | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fresco | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 91 |
| 2 | Bild AI | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 87 |
| 3 | eMullion | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 67 |
| 4 | Comsense Enterprise | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 62 |
| 5 | Togal.AI | 3* | 2* | 2* | 5 | 3 | 3 | 58 |
| 6 | Bluebeam Revu | 3* | 1* | 3* | 3 | 4 | 3 | 54 |
What the software has to do
| Tool | Schedule, plan and spec reconciliation | Hardware sets | Owner-standard hardware sets | Export to your quoting system | Pricing and price books |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresco | Documented | Documented | Not documented (vendor says yes) | Documented | Not documented |
| Bild AI | Documented | Documented | Not documented | Documented | Not documented |
| eMullion | Not documented | Partly | Not documented | Not documented | Documented |
| Comsense Enterprise | Not documented | Partly | Not documented | Not documented | Documented |
| Togal.AI | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Bluebeam Revu | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
- Schedule, plan and spec reconciliation
- Reads the door schedule, floor plans and 087100 together and flags openings drawn but not scheduled, scheduled but not drawn, duplicates across match lines, and hardware-set assignments that contradict the spec.
- Hardware sets
- Extracts hardware sets from the spec and maps every opening to its set, keeping quantity per set apart from total quantity.
- Owner-standard hardware sets
- On institutional jobs (universities, hospitals, public owners) the owner's own hardware standard can govern over the project spec. The software should let you author or adjust sets against that standard, not only extract what the spec says.
- Export to your quoting system
- Sends the reviewed takeoff into the estimating platform you price in (Comsense, eMullion, SFH and others) without retyping.
- Pricing and price books
- Prices the takeoff from maintained manufacturer price books and produces the proposal.
Check it on your own documents
Demo files are chosen to work. Run these on a job you already bid by hand:
- Pick a past job with a match line. Count the openings the tool reports along it against your own count: a duplicate there inflates the total.
- Find one door tag on the plans that isn't on the schedule, and one on the schedule that isn't on the plans. See whether the tool finds both.
- Pick a door whose hardware set differs between the schedule and 087100. See whether the tool flags it or silently picks one.
- On an institutional job, give the demo the owner's hardware standard and ask it to build a set from it.
- Export the takeoff into your quoting system and check quantity per set against total item quantity on three sets.
Questions
Can a general takeoff tool do a Division 8 takeoff?
It can count openings on a plan. It won't, on its own, tie each opening to its hardware set, catch a set that contradicts 087100, or tell you which document governs. See General Takeoff Tools vs Trade-Specific Software for checks you can run.
Do I still need Comsense or eMullion if I buy an AI takeoff tool?
Usually yes. The Division 8 takeoff tools here prepare and reconcile the takeoff; they don't price it from manufacturer price books. They export into the platform that does.
What is 087100?
Section 08 71 00, Door Hardware, in the MasterFormat specification: where the hardware sets for a project are written. See the glossary.