In short: STAAD.Pro gives you a steel material take-off with the STEEL TAKE OFF command: total length and weight for each section. Add MEMBER for a member-by-member list, and LIST to limit it to some members or a group. The result sits in the analysis output file, not in Excel. For tonnage by member and by section in an Excel workbook, select the members and run MTO Generator.

"What's the tonnage?" is the first question an estimator or a client asks about a steel structure. If you have a STAAD.Pro model, the answer is already in it. This guide shows how to get it out with STAAD's own commands, where to find the result, and a faster route to an Excel bill of materials.

For the wider picture, including what an analysis model leaves out (connections, secondary steel, wastage), read our guide to steel material take-off from a STAAD.Pro model.

What STAAD's take-off gives you

STAAD.Pro calculates weight the simple way: member length × section weight per metre, from its section tables or the properties you assigned. It can report this in two forms:

  • Take-off by section: each section profile with its total length and total weight. This is what you price.
  • Take-off by member: every member with its section, length and weight. This is what you check.

Method 1: the STEEL TAKE OFF command

The command goes in the STAAD input file after the analysis command. The general form, from Bentley's technical reference (TR.51), is:

STEEL (MEMBER) TAKE (OFF) (LIST member-list | LIST group-name | ALL)

Common uses:

STEEL TAKE OFF ALL
STEEL MEMBER TAKE OFF ALL
STEEL TAKE OFF LIST 71 TO 85
STEEL TAKE OFF LIST _RAFTERS
  • STEEL TAKE OFF ALL lists every section with its total length and weight.
  • Adding MEMBER lists each member separately.
  • LIST 71 TO 85 limits the take-off to those members.
  • LIST _RAFTERS uses a member group you created under Utilities → Groups. Bentley's knowledge base has a short note on take-off for a group of members.

Method 2: from the STAAD.Pro interface

If you prefer not to edit the input file, the same commands are in the design commands dialog. Under Design Commands there are Take Off and Member Take Off tabs; pick the members, add the command and run the analysis. Bentley documents the steps in To generate steel take off.

Where to find the output

Run the analysis, then open the output file (the .ANL file, through the analysis output viewer). Scroll to the steel take-off table near the end. That is the first stumbling block for many engineers: the take-off is not in the post-processing tables or the default report, and there is no Excel export button. Users have asked about it on Bentley's own forum.

To get it into a spreadsheet, people usually copy the text table from the output file into Excel and split it into columns. It works, but it has to be redone after every revision.

Limits of the built-in take-off

  • Text output, not Excel. It has to be copied out and reformatted.
  • It updates only when you re-run the analysis. If you change a section and forget to re-run, the take-off is out of date.
  • Plates are not included in the member take-off. Plate weight is worked out separately; see Bentley's note on finding the total weight of plates.
  • It reports by section or by member only. Grouping by type (columns, rafters, bracing) means a group per type and a separate command for each.
  • One model at a time. A project split across several STAAD files needs each take-off added up by hand.

A worked example

Say your frame has 12 columns in ISMB 300, each 6 m long. ISMB 300 weighs 44.2 kg/m, so:

12 × 6 m × 44.2 kg/m = 3,182 kg, or about 3.18 MT.

That is exactly what the take-off does for every section in the model, then sums the result. Where it gets harder is tapered and built-up members, which have no tabulated kg/m; their weight comes from the plates. We cover that in how to calculate the weight of tapered and built-up members.

Faster: MTO Generator in SS Workbench

MTO Generator is a tool in SS Workbench that reads your open STAAD.Pro model through the free STAAD Connector and gives you the take-off directly in Excel.

  1. Select members in the 3D view: click, drag a window, or select all.
  2. Click Extract MTO.
  3. Review the weight of every member and the summary for every section, in kg and MT.
  4. Export to Excel: a summary (weight by section), a detailed list (every member with its weight), or a full report with both, each with a title block and set up for A4 printing.

What it covers:

  • Hot-rolled beams, including cover-plated beams (top, bottom or both plates).
  • Tapered built-up members, broken down into their web and flange plates.
  • Channels, angles, double channels and double angles.
  • RHS, SHS, CHS, pipes, built-up tubes and solid rounds.
  • Several STAAD models in one bill of materials: extract from each and append; the Remarks column shows which model each member came from.

Members it cannot weigh, such as cold-formed Z and C sections or members with no property, are never dropped silently. MTO Generator lists them, lets you select them in the 3D view, and notes them in the Excel file, so the total never looks more complete than it is.

It reads your model only and never changes it. There is no analysis to re-run, so the take-off always reflects the model as it is now.

Try it on your model

Open MTO Generator in SS Workbench, select the members and export the tonnage to Excel. Need a drawing of the same frame? STAAD To CAD turns the selection into a DXF for AutoCAD.