What Is a Material Takeoff in Roofing? (And How a Measurement Report Does It in 1–3 Hours)
Reviewed by roofing measurement engineers · References NBC 2020, IRC 2021, FBC 8th Ed. · Roof Manager is the roof measurement & CRM platform trusted by 5,000+ contractors across the US & Canada · Editorial policy.
TL;DR
A material takeoff (or BOM) calculates exactly how much material you need for a roofing job. Learn what's included, how to do one manually, and how a satellite measurement report now builds it for you.
What Is a Material Takeoff?
A material takeoff — also called a material bill of materials (BOM), material list, or take-off — is a complete inventory of every material needed to complete a roofing job. It translates roof measurements into purchase quantities, accounting for waste factors, overlap requirements, and manufacturer specifications. Terms like squares, starter strip and waste factor are defined in the roof measurement glossary.
What a Complete Roofing Material Takeoff Includes
- Shingles: Calculated in "squares" (1 square = 100 sq ft of coverage). A standard 3-tab shingle requires a 10% waste factor for a simple gable; up to 15% for complex hips.
- Underlayment: Typically 15 or 30 lb felt, or synthetic. One roll covers approximately 400 sq ft.
- Ridge cap shingles: Calculated in linear feet of ridge. A bundle covers approximately 20 linear feet.
- Starter strip: Linear feet of eave + rake edges
- Ice and water shield: For cold climates — typically 3 ft up from eave, plus valleys
- Drip edge: Linear feet of eave + rake edges (two separate products)
- Roofing nails: Approximately 320 nails per square for standard 3-tab
- Pipe boot flashing: Count of roof penetrations
- Step flashing: Linear feet of wall intersections
How Manual Material Takeoffs Work
Traditionally, a contractor measures the roof (manually or with a tape measure), converts measurements to surface area with pitch adjustment, applies waste factors per material type, and calculates quantities. This process takes 20–45 minutes per job and is where most estimate errors occur — a wrong pitch factor or a missed valley can throw off a shingle order by 2–3 squares.
How a Measurement Report Automates the Material Takeoff
Modern satellite measurement reports generate a complete material BOM from the roof geometry. When you order a report for a property address, a member of our team traces the roof and the measurement engine calculates: total area per segment with pitch adjustment, all edge lengths, penetration count where detectable, and outputs a ready-to-order material list with quantity recommendations including waste factors.
The practical gain: because the BOM is derived from the measured quantities rather than manual estimation, there is no re-typing step for order errors to creep into.
Further Reading
Further Reading
Read next: How to build a roofing proposal in minutes — attach the roof report, let it price itself from your per-pitch template, and send it for online signature.