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Are Outsourced Roofing Takeoffs Confidential? What Happens to Your Plans and Pricing
Disclosure: Sharp Pencil sells commercial roofing takeoffs. This page describes our own commitments. It is not legal advice.
Last updated: 2026-10-29. Live facts checked on 2026-10-29.
Short answer
Sending plans and pricing to an outsourced takeoff service is a real risk. Treat it as safe only when the vendor does not bid roofing work, your cost data prices your jobs only, your plan set is never used to compete with you, and plans are deleted whenever you ask. Sharp Pencil publishes those commitments on Your data, your bids, and they are written into the terms of service. Drawings go through the AI provider under no-training business terms. We never promise anything stricter than that.
Five commitments in plain language
The right answer to "is my data safe?" is structural, not a line about taking privacy seriously. Here are the commitments on Your data, your bids, in plain language:
- We never bid your work. Sharp Pencil is not a roofing contractor.
- Your cost data prices your jobs only. It is never pooled, benchmarked, shown to another customer, or sold.
- Drawings go through the AI provider under no-training business terms. We never promise anything stricter than that.
- Delete it whenever you want. One email usually gets it done the same business day, with written confirmation. Delivered packages stay until you ask us to delete them.
- The commitments are in the terms of service, not just on a marketing page.
The full wording lives on Your data, your bids. For the legal detail and how to ask for deletion, see the privacy policy.
What is yours: plans vs pricing
A bid-set drawing package is usually issued to every contractor bidding that job. Your material pricing, labor rates and bidding strategy are the sensitive part.
That split gives you a simple option. You can send the drawings and keep the price book. Take the quantity takeoff and price it yourself. If you do send cost data, it prices your estimates and nothing else.
What to ask any outsourced takeoff vendor
Before you upload a set, ask every vendor the same confidentiality questions. Sharp Pencil's answers are in the right-hand column as one worked example.
A working trust checklist for owners. It is not legal advice, not an NDA form, and not a full copy of Your data, your bids.
| Question to ask any vendor | What a structural answer sounds like | Sharp Pencil's answer | If the vendor is vague |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do you bid roofing work? | No bidding, no contracting | We never bid your work. We are not a roofing contractor. | Walk away if they also compete as a contractor |
| What happens to my unit prices and labor rates? | Used only to price my jobs | Your cost data prices your jobs only. Never pooled, benchmarked, shown to another customer, or sold. | "Industry averages" or "benchmarking" without a hard no |
| Do you train on my drawings or prices? | Written terms that limit use | Drawings go through the AI provider under no-training business terms. Our terms also say uploaded drawing sets may help improve how the system reads drawings, but never your cost data, your prices, or anything that identifies you or your company. See the terms of service. | "The AI improves over time" with no detail |
| Who sees my files? | Named roles and providers under limiting terms | Our system, the people who review and support your job, and the providers that host and process files under limiting terms. See Your data, your bids. | "Our partner network" with no limits |
| Is anything shared, sold, or turned into reports? | A hard no, including "anonymized" resale | Not sold, shared or published. No aggregate reports and no "anonymized" resale. | "Anonymized insights" products |
| How do I get my files deleted? | Delete on request, with written confirmation | Delete whenever you want. One email, usually the same business day, with written confirmation. | A fixed auto-delete clock as the only option |
| Are the commitments in the contract? | In the terms of service | Written into the terms of service, from the free first takeoff onward. | Only on a blog or marketing page |
This table covers confidentiality only. For the full list of questions to ask before hiring a takeoff service, see how to vet an outsourced roofing estimating service.
NDAs, certifications, and what not to assume
Owners often ask for an NDA. Whatever a vendor offers, ask what written agreement actually covers your files. What Sharp Pencil publishes today is structural: we do not bid, your cost data stays on your jobs, delete on request, and all of it in the terms of service.
Do not take security claims on faith from anyone, us included. Ask to see where a claim is written down. Our privacy policy says plan sets upload directly to secure storage, never through an inbox, and that files travel over encrypted connections. It also says no system is perfectly secure.
What Sharp Pencil sends back
Confidentiality does not mean a black box. You still get a bid-ready quantity package:
- Four files: START HERE, marked-up drawings PDF, Takeoff.xlsx with a Questions tab, and the material order list.
- Every quantity carries its source sheet and its basis.
- Open items go on the Questions tab, not into the number as a guess.
- Usually within one business day. Delivered within 48 hours*.
*Clock starts once any questions we send you are answered.
We cover commercial low slope (TPO, EPDM, PVC, mod bit and BUR) and steep slope in full: standing seam and shingle, with the field areas and every linear item. See the standing seam metal roof takeoff and asphalt shingle roof takeoff guides.
Common trust misses when outsourcing a takeoff
- Hearing "we do not share data" without asking whether the vendor also bids as a contractor
- Sending the full price book on day one when a quantities-only first job would do
- Accepting an automatic delete timer when you want files gone now
- Treating a blog privacy post as a contract
- Skipping written confirmation when you ask for deletion
FAQ
Are outsourced roofing takeoffs confidential?
They can be, if the commitments are structural and in writing. Look for a vendor that does not bid roofing work, uses your cost data only on your jobs, never uses your plans to compete with you, and deletes files whenever you ask. Sharp Pencil's commitments are on Your data, your bids and in the terms of service.
Is it safe to send my plans and pricing to an outsourced estimating service?
It is a real risk, so ask before you send. Bid-set drawings usually go to every bidder anyway. Your prices and labor rates are the sensitive part. You can send drawings, keep the price book, and price the quantities yourself.
Does Sharp Pencil bid my work or reuse my cost data?
No. We never bid your work. We are not a roofing contractor. Your cost data prices your jobs only. It is never pooled, benchmarked, shown to another customer, or sold.
How do I get Sharp Pencil to delete my plans?
Ask. Plan sets are deleted whenever you ask. One email usually gets it done the same business day, with written confirmation.
What does Sharp Pencil send back on a takeoff?
Four files: START HERE, marked-up drawings PDF, Takeoff.xlsx with a Questions tab, and the material order list. Every quantity carries its source sheet and its basis. Usually within one business day. Delivered within 48 hours*. First takeoff free, one per contractor, on a job you're bidding or quoting. After that, $395 per new set of drawings, or monthly plans.
*Clock starts once any questions we send you are answered.
Why send your takeoffs to Sharp Pencil
The expensive miss on outsourcing takeoffs is not only a wrong square footage. It is handing a competitor your prices, or sending a set to a vendor whose privacy page is marketing, not a contract.
- Usually within one business day. Delivered within 48 hours*. A takeoff stuck in a week-long queue does you no good when the bid is due sooner.
- Every page gets read. Send the full set: architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing, and the spec book if you have it.
- Every quantity names its sheet. Every quantity carries its source sheet and its basis, so you can check it against the drawings.
- Questions instead of guesses. If the set leaves something open, it goes on the Questions tab in Takeoff.xlsx, not into the number as a guess.
- Checked before it goes out. Every paid takeoff is checked before delivery.
- Four files, one package. START HERE, marked-up drawings PDF, Takeoff.xlsx with a Questions tab, and the material order list.
- Your plans stay yours. A plan set you send us will never be used to compete with you, and plan sets are deleted whenever you ask. See what happens to your plans.
- First takeoff free, one per contractor, on a job you're bidding or quoting. After that, $395 per new set of drawings, or monthly plans. See what a takeoff costs and how it works.
Commercial roofing takeoffs for low-slope (TPO, EPDM, PVC, mod bit and BUR), standing seam and shingle roofs. Residential is not our focus today, but ask if you have a job in mind. See our commercial roofing takeoff services and where every number comes from.
*Clock starts once any questions we send you are answered.
The Sharp Pencil team
Get your first takeoff free · Download the sample package · See full pricing and plan terms · Or email [email protected]