SJQS

Built by a practicing quantity surveyor who hit the same wall as everyone else: the industry-standard tools are good, but the shift to annual subscriptions means smaller firms, sole operators, and subcontractors are paying enterprise rates indefinitely. SJQS is the pragmatic alternative.

What it does: Measure linear lengths, areas, and volumes directly from PDF construction plans. Calibrate to any scale, organise measurements by trade and label, apply deductions, pitch factors, and per-annotation units. Export your takeoff to Excel or a marked-up PDF report in one click.

Key features:

• Measurement tools; length, polylength, area, deduct, count, length by center, volume, volume by length, area by length
• Scale calibration directly from the plan — works across mixed-scale drawing sets
• Organise by trade and section with searchable labels
• Deductions, pitch factor, and convert-to-weight built in
• Markup tools — callouts, lines, arrows, text boxes alongside your takeoff
• One-click Excel and PDF export, organised by trade
• Auto-save and session restore — pick up exactly where you left off
• Handles large drawing sets natively — 50, 100, 200+ pages without lag
• Dual rendering engine for broad PDF compatibility
• Your data stays local — no account, no cloud, no internet required

Pricing: One-time purchase — $449 AUD. Includes all 1.x updates. 14-day free trial available, no credit card required, full functionality unlocked from day one.