Division 10 specialties takeoff
Specialties are small items in large numbers: grab bars, dispensers, partitions, signs, lockers, extinguisher cabinets and corner guards. They're counted from enlarged plans, elevations and schedules, and they're easy to miss. Accessibility rules and code-required items add quantities the plans don't always draw.
- Toilet partitions and accessories
- Signage
- Lockers and cabinets
- Wall protection
What's in Division 10
| Item | Typical source | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Toilet compartments | Enlarged restroom plans | EA compartment by type; urinal screens EA |
| Toilet accessories | Accessory schedule, interior elevations | EA by type and mounting |
| Signage | Signage schedule, door schedule | EA by type |
| Lockers | Plans, elevations | EA or per tier, by configuration |
| Fire extinguishers and cabinets | Architectural or life-safety plans | EA by type |
| Corner guards, wall protection | Plans, finish schedule | EA or LF by height |
| Visual display boards | Elevations | EA by size |
Section numbers follow CSI MasterFormat, but project manuals vary by edition (the 2026 edition is current) and by specifier. Group your takeoff by the project's own section numbers so supplier quotes map cleanly to quantities.
Takeoff steps, room by room
- Read the accessory schedule. It defines types, mounting and responsibility.
- Count per restroom from enlarged plans and elevations. Elevations often show items that aren't on plans.
- Identify accessible and ambulatory compartments separately; they have different grab bars and partition sizes.
- Multiply typical rooms carefully, noting mirrored and exception rooms.
- Check the signage schedule for room, code and wayfinding signs.
- Note blocking and backing: who provides it, and where.
- Separate owner-furnished items with installation labor only.
Accessibility items that add quantities
The 2010 ADA Standards (and ICC A117.1 where the IBC applies) drive several counts:
- Grab bars at accessible water closets: side wall 42 in minimum, rear wall 36 in minimum (24 in allowed where a recessed fixture limits wall space), mounted 33 to 36 in above the floor and able to resist 250 lb. ICC A117.1 adds an 18 in vertical bar, which the ADA Standards don't require. Check which applies.
- Ambulatory compartments: required in addition to the wheelchair compartment where a toilet room has six or more water closets and urinals combined. Each gets parallel grab bars.
- Toilet paper dispensers 7 to 9 in in front of the water closet (to the dispenser centerline), outlet no higher than 48 in. Large-roll units can make that hard; recessed dispensers help.
- Mirrors: where one is over a lavatory, the bottom of the reflecting surface can be no more than 40 in above the floor. At least one mirror in the room must comply.
- Room identification signs with raised characters and braille. Pictograms, where used, sit on a field at least 6 in high with the text below.
These are dimensional rules, not quantity rules. The quantity effect is that accessible rooms need more and different items, and that the designer may not have drawn every one.
Fire extinguishers and cabinets
NFPA 10 and OSHA set placement, which can add units the plans don't show:
- Maximum travel distance to a Class A extinguisher is 75 ft (NFPA 10; OSHA 1910.157(d)(2) for workplaces).
- Mounting: extinguishers of 40 lb or less with the top no more than 5 ft above the floor; heavier units no more than 3.5 ft; bottom at least 4 in above the floor.
- Cabinets in fire-rated walls need rated cabinets or a rated enclosure.
- Semi-recessed or surface cabinets in corridors must respect the ADA's 4 in protrusion limit for objects between 27 and 80 in above the floor.
Confirm whether the extinguishers themselves are in your scope or furnished by the owner or the fire protection contractor.
Worked example: one men's room (illustrative)
Typical floor restroom with 3 water closets and 3 urinals (6 fixtures total, so an ambulatory compartment is required), repeated on 4 floors:
| Item | Per room | × 4 floors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toilet compartments: standard | 1 | 4 | Enlarged plan |
| Toilet compartments: wheelchair accessible | 1 | 4 | Enlarged plan |
| Toilet compartments: ambulatory | 1 | 4 | Enlarged plan |
| Urinal screens | 2 | 8 | Enlarged plan |
| Grab bar 42 in (accessible side) | 1 | 4 | Elevation |
| Grab bar 36 in (accessible rear) | 1 | 4 | Elevation |
| Grab bars, ambulatory pair (verify length) | 2 | 8 | Accessibility details |
| Toilet paper dispensers | 3 | 12 | Elevations |
| Paper towel / waste units, recessed | 1 | 4 | Elevations; needs framed opening |
| Soap dispensers | 2 | 8 | Elevations; often owner-furnished |
| Mirrors | 2 | 8 | Elevations, size by schedule |
| Room sign, tactile | 1 | 4 | Signage schedule |
| Baby changing station | 1 | 4 | Plan or elevation; blocking |
If the drawings show only one accessible compartment and no ambulatory compartment, that's an RFI, not an assumption.
Common misses
- Accessories on elevations only and not on plans.
- The ambulatory compartment's grab bars.
- Code signage: exit, tactile and room identification.
- Blocking and backing, and who provides it.
- Owner-furnished items that still need installation.
- Extinguishers required by travel distance but not drawn.
- Corner guards specified by note ("at all outside corners in corridors") rather than drawn.
Pricing
Specialties are usually priced from supplier quotes per item, plus installation labor per item. Labor varies with mounting method (surface, recessed, semi-recessed), substrate and height. Include receiving, storage and protection, because specialties often arrive before rooms are ready and get damaged or lost. Confirm whether the supplier's quote includes freight to site and whether items arrive assembled. Toilet partitions vary by material and mounting; ceiling-hung and overhead-braced units need support above the ceiling.
Coordination
Many Division 10 items need in-wall blocking, recessed openings or electrical connections from other trades (hand dryers, automatic dispensers). Confirm who provides blocking, who installs owner-furnished items, and whether rated walls need rated recessed units. Write the answers into your qualifications.
Where RenderDraw fits
RenderDraw's AI takeoff proposes specialty counts from plans, elevations and schedules with the source sheet on every row, and holds uncertain items for estimator review. Responsibility splits, code-driven additions and pricing stay with you.
Spend your hours on scope and price, not re-counting.
RenderDraw's AI takeoff reads drawings, schedules and specs, proposes quantities with the source sheet attached, and holds uncertain items for estimator review before anything is priced.
- Source on every quantity. Each count, length and area keeps its source sheet and location.
- Lowest confidence first. The review queue puts the items most likely to be wrong at the top.
- Addenda through the same review. Send the changed sheets through takeoff and estimator review, then reprice what moved.
- Approval before pricing. Nothing moves on to pricing until an estimator accepts it.
Send one plan set
Pick a real job with an addendum. Sample files stay private while RenderDraw assesses the request, and there is no obligation to proceed.
RenderDraw does not publish accuracy percentages or time-saved claims. Test it on your own plan set.
Questions estimators ask.
What is Division 10 in construction?
Specialties in CSI MasterFormat, including toilet compartments, toilet and bath accessories, signage, lockers, fire protection specialties such as extinguisher cabinets, wall and corner protection, visual display units and similar items. Check the project manual, because section numbers vary by MasterFormat edition.
How do you take off toilet accessories?
From the accessory schedule and enlarged plans and elevations, room by room. Count by type and mounting (surface, recessed, semi-recessed), separate owner-furnished items, and multiply typical rooms carefully.
What grab bars does an accessible water closet need?
Under the 2010 ADA Standards, a side-wall bar at least 42 in long and a rear-wall bar at least 36 in long, mounted 33 to 36 in above the floor. The rear bar can be 24 in where a recessed fixture limits wall space. ICC A117.1, referenced by the IBC, also requires an 18 in vertical bar, so check which standard the project follows.
When is an ambulatory accessible compartment required?
Under the ADA Standards, in toilet rooms with six or more water closets and urinals combined, in addition to the wheelchair accessible compartment. That adds a pair of grab bars and often a different partition layout.
What specialties are often missed?
Items shown only on elevations, accessible-compartment grab bars and the extra ambulatory set, tactile room signs, extinguishers required by NFPA 10 that aren't drawn, blocking and backing, and owner-furnished items that still need installing.
How do I price fire extinguisher cabinets?
Count by type from the plans, confirm rated or non-rated and recessed, semi-recessed or surface-mounted, and check whether extinguishers are included. Recessed cabinets in rated walls need rated cabinets or a rated enclosure.
How are toilet partitions priced?
Usually per compartment by material (powder-coated steel, stainless, solid plastic/HDPE, phenolic) and mounting type (floor-mounted, overhead-braced, floor-to-ceiling or ceiling-hung), plus urinal screens per each and installation labor per unit. Ceiling-hung units need structural support above.
Can RenderDraw count specialties?
It proposes counts from plans, elevations and schedules with the source sheet on every row and flags uncertain items for review. Get a free sample takeoff at renderdraw.com/trial.
Counts from plans and elevations.
RenderDraw proposes counts with sources and flags items it could not confirm.
- Upload the plans, specs and schedules, plus an addendum if you have one.
- RenderDraw reviews the set and the scope you want tested.
- We follow up with extracted quantities, flagged items and next steps.
Related tools and guides
Keep reading on renderdraw.com
Sources and further reading
- U.S. Access Board: Guide to the ADA Accessibility Standards, Chapter 6: Toilet Rooms
- NFPA: Fire extinguisher location and placement fact sheet (PDF)
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.157 Portable fire extinguishers
- CSI MasterFormat 2026
Figures marked as rules of thumb are starting points, not standards. Check the current edition of any code or standard your project specifies, and use your own historical production rates where you have them. Sources checked 2026-11-01.