Accurate lighting estimates you can trust

Countfire is for the people producing lighting numbers for a tender: lighting estimators, quantity surveyors, technical sales teams at lighting manufacturers and suppliers, lighting designers who price their own schemes, and electrical contractors quoting lighting packages.

It is used across the full range of lighting businesses. Manufacturers and suppliers like Dextra Group use it to quote fixture packages at volume. Distributors and solutions providers like CED Fort Worth in the US use it to turn drawings into quotes faster. Design Lighting uses it on projects up to 56 storeys.

Countfire is fully cloud-based, with teams working across the world. Whether you price a handful of large schemes a month or dozens of smaller quotes a week, the workflow is the same: upload drawings, count automatically, price and send.

Here is how a lighting estimate comes together in Countfire:

1. Upload your drawings. Add the full PDF drawing set for the project.
2. Run automated takeoff. Select each fixture symbol once and Countfire counts every instance across all drawings, differentiating fixture types, controllers and accessories in your totals.
3. Measure linear lighting. Use linear measurement for LED strip, extrusion and feature lighting that is made to length rather than counted.
4. Check coverage and refine the design. The coverage area tool checks PIR detection areas, so you can confirm coverage or note design changes. Plan spacing and add fixtures or luminaires as you go; anything added appears on the final estimate.
5. Split quantities with zones. Break counts into sections, so your estimate reflects how the client wants pricing presented, area by area or package by package.
6. Price and export. Intelligent pricing applies figures from your regularly used lighting items. Export a client-ready estimate with a full breakdown, with every version stored in the cloud.

The slowest part of a lighting estimate is the counting. On a big commercial drawing, one estimator can spend hours marking off fixtures with a highlighter, and a multi-level project multiplies that across every floor. It is repetitive, error-prone work, and a single missed fixture type means going back through the whole set. Automated takeoff removes that job almost entirely: select a symbol once, and Countfire counts it across every drawing in the project.

The savings are measurable. For example, Design Lighting cut the takeoff on a 56-storey development from 10 hours to around four.

Time comes back at other points in the workflow too:

• Pricing that remembers. Regularly quoted fixtures are priced automatically from previous estimates, instead of being looked up every time.
• One workflow. Counts flow straight into the estimate, removing the transfer step between takeoff and spreadsheet where errors creep in.
• Fewer re-counts. Built-in accuracy checks replace the second manual pass most estimators do to be safe.
• Faster revisions. When drawings change, you adapt the takeoff rather than starting again.
• Consistency across the team. In-built workflows mean every estimator follows the same process, so estimates are comparable and quality does not depend on who counted.

Less time counting means more tenders submitted, and more attention on the pricing decisions that win work.

• Automated takeoff for every fixture type. Select a symbol once and Countfire counts it across all drawings in the project, distinguishing fixture types, controllers and accessories so your totals are broken down correctly from the start.

  

• Linear measurement. Measure LED strip, extrusion and feature lighting made to any length, with each run itemised on the estimate individually or by total.

  

• PIR coverage area tool. Check detection areas for PIR sensors and lighting controls directly on the drawing, so you can confirm coverage or flag design changes before pricing.

• Zones. Split quantities into sections, useful when one symbol needs to be priced differently by area, or when a client wants the estimate broken down floor by floor.

  

• Design as you go. Review spacing and add fixtures or luminaires while estimating. Everything added shows on the final estimate, so nothing is designed in but left unpriced.

• Intelligent pricing. Prices for your regular lighting items are applied automatically from previous estimates, cutting the gap between finished takeoff and finished estimate.

• Built-in accuracy checks. Uncounted items are flagged before the estimate goes out, protecting your margin and your reputation.

• Fully cloud-based. Every estimate is stored with a digital record of every version, so you can refer back, revise or defend a quantity months later, from wherever you work.

  

Software speeds things up, but accuracy still comes from a good process. A few practices we see in the best lighting estimating teams:

1. Work through the drawing systematically. Whether counting manually or checking an automated takeoff, work through fixture categories in a consistent order: luminaires first, then lighting control and switches (PIRs, dimmers, switch plates), then linear requirements.
2. Use zones to match the client's breakdown. If the client wants pricing by floor or area, split quantities at takeoff stage rather than untangling a single total later.
3. Check symbol legends against every drawing. Symbols can vary between drawings in the same set, especially when multiple designers contributed. Confirm each symbol before counting it.
4. Complete an accuracy check. In Countfire this is built in; done manually, it is the pass most likely to be skipped under deadline pressure, and the one that catches the expensive misses.
5. Standardise the process across your team. When every estimator follows the same workflow, estimates are consistent, comparable and easier to review.

For a fuller walkthrough, read our guide to producing accurate lighting estimates.

Lighting businesses choose Countfire because the results show up in their numbers. Value Lighting reduced count time by 50% and increased quote production by 20%. Craig Reid at Dextra Group calls Countfire integral to the business: without it, they could not deliver the speed of work they do.

The reasons that come up most often:

• Accuracy they can stand behind. The built-in checks are accurate and pick up everything.
• Ease of use. Design Lighting chose Countfire after a week-long trial because its design made it the obvious choice against tools the team had struggled with.
• Built by estimators. The team behind Countfire are former estimators, so the workflow matches how lighting quotes actually get produced.
• Support that shows up. Product specialists are available by live chat, phone or email, backed by Capterra and Software Advice customer support badges and an overall 4.8 star Capterra rating.