Strip Footing Concrete Ordering: From Measured Runs to Supplier Quantities

A strip footing order is a run-by-run record, not one perimeter number. The layout is split into compatible runs, each run gets its own line with checked dimensions, the corners where runs meet are counted once, and blinding travels on a separate line with its own mix.

The measured run total then moves through the same quantity states as any concrete order: measured volume, planning volume with a documented allowance, and the supplier-rounded order. Keep those states on separate lines so each change is traceable.

What does a strip footing concrete order actually include?

It includes the net volumes of every strip run in one compatible group, the shared-corner treatment, a documented planning allowance, the supplier's stated selling increment, and the supplier's stated delivery terms. The compatible group is what one pour and one mix code can serve. A different mix, a different placement day, or a different acceptance record starts a new order line.

Strip run volume = net run length × width × depth

Ordered quantity = ceiling(planning quantity ÷ supplier increment) × supplier increment

Blinding is a lean mix with a stated thickness under the footing plan. It belongs on the worksheet because it consumes concrete, but on its own line and usually in its own delivery. The footing excavation ordering guide explains why excavation volume never enters this worksheet.

How do you split the strip layout into order segments?

Walk the approved layout and mark every place the quantity record must change: a corner or intersection, a step in width or depth, a mix change, a different placement day, or a separately tested lot. Each marked portion becomes one worksheet row with its own length, width, depth, and volume.

Use one length convention for the whole layout. When run lengths are measured to the outside ends, the shared corner solid appears in both runs, so deduct one corner block of width × width × depth per corner. When lengths are net of the corner, no deduction is needed. Never mix outside and net lengths in the same total. The concrete footing volume guide shows the corner arithmetic in full.

Worked example: an L-shaped strip footing order

An approved layout has two strip runs that meet at one corner. Run A is 20 ft long to the outside end. Run B is 12 ft long to the outside end. Both runs are 2 ft wide and 1 ft deep.

1. Net run B: 12 − 2 = 10 ft, so the shared corner is counted once.
2. Run A volume: 20 × 2 × 1 = 40 ft³.
3. Run B volume: 10 × 2 × 1 = 20 ft³.
4. Measured structural volume: 40 + 20 = 60 ft³.
5. Convert: 60 ÷ 27 = 2.2222 yd³.
6. Stated 5% planning allowance as a named fixture: 2.2222 × 1.05 = 2.3333 yd³.
7. Supplier increment 0.25 yd³: ceiling(2.3333 ÷ 0.25) × 0.25 = 2.50 yd³ ordered.

Reverse check: 2.3333 ÷ 1.05 = 2.2222 yd³ returns the measured total, and 2.50 − 2.3333 = 0.1667 yd³ is the supplier-rounding addition. The same layout in metric gives (6.096 + 3.048) × 0.6096 × 0.3048 = 1.6990 m³, which matches 60 ft³ through the NIST conversion. Both routes agree.

The blinding line sits below the structural total. The L-shape plan area is (20 + 10) × 2 = 60 ft². With a stated 3 in (0.25 ft) blinding thickness: 60 × 0.25 = 15 ft³ = 0.5556 yd³. Record it as its own line with its own lean mix. It does not enter the structural order arithmetic.

When should you split the order instead of combining runs?

Combine runs into one order only when they share the mix, the placement plan, and the acceptance record. Split the order when any of those differ. The common split points on a strip footing are:

• Blinding versus structural concrete: different mixes, usually different deliveries.
• Stepped runs with different reinforcement or mix codes.
• Runs poured on different days or into different inspection lots.
• A long run where truck spacing and placement rate put the concrete into more than one delivery sequence.

Sequenced deliveries do not change the order total; they change the dispatch plan. The NRMCA and ASCC ordering checklist covers truck spacing and placement rate as coordination fields, and the values are confirmed with the producer, not assumed. Match each delivery ticket to its worksheet line so a split order stays reconcilable.

Bagged concrete or ready-mix for a strip footing run?

Short runs can fall below a ready-mix supplier's practical delivery size. For those runs, convert the allowed volume to whole bags using the named product's stated yield, then round up. A yield figure belongs to one product and one data sheet edition. It is not a universal conversion.

Fixture: a short 8 ft run at 2 ft wide and 1 ft deep measures 8 × 2 × 1 = 16 ft³. With the stated 5% fixture allowance: 16 × 1.05 = 16.8 ft³. Using the named 80-lb QUIKRETE Concrete Mix No. 1101 approximate yield of 0.60 ft³ per bag: 16.8 ÷ 0.60 = 28.0, so 28 bags. Reverse check: 28 × 0.60 = 16.8 ft³ covers the allowed volume exactly.

Small ready-mix loads carry commercial terms that change the decision. Ask the supplier for the minimum delivered quantity, the minimum billed quantity, and the short-load fee threshold, and confirm which one applies. A short-load fee changes the invoice, not the physical volume. The ready-mix ordering guide separates those states.

What supplier terms belong in the strip order?

NRMCA CIP 31, Ordering Ready Mixed Concrete, lists the information the purchaser should provide: the mixture designation, the nominal maximum aggregate size, the required slump or slump flow, the quantity in cubic yards or cubic metres, the placement method, and the delivery schedule. The same document notes truck mixers hold 8 to 12 yd³ (5 to 9 m³), that concrete is sold by volume under ASTM C94/C94M, and that the quantity ordered should be 4% to 10% more than an estimate calculated from plan dimensions to account for contingencies.

All seven terms are answered by the supplier's current quote or confirmation. A guide cannot set them.

How do you check the order against the delivery?

1. Match each delivery ticket to one worksheet line: mix designation, quantity, and run or pour location.
2. Record rejected loads, washout, and testing samples against the line they were drawn from.
3. Compare the delivered total with the ordered quantity and note the variance with its cause.
4. Keep the worksheet, the tickets, and the variance note together as the quantity record.

A difference between ordered and delivered needs review. Do not rewrite the measured run volumes to make the records agree; the worksheet is the quantity history of the pour.

Common strip footing ordering mistakes

• Ordering from the excavation instead of the concrete geometry.
• Mixing outside lengths and net lengths in one total.
• Counting a shared corner twice, or deducting one that the lengths already exclude.
• Combining blinding and structural concrete into one undifferentiated order.
• Rounding each run before the compatible rows are added.
• Applying one unexplained percentage to cover corners, overbreak, spillage, and contingency.
• Treating a short-load fee threshold as delivered concrete.
• Using a published truck capacity to change the order quantity.
• Converting to bags with an unverified or generic yield.
• Changing the takeoff after delivery without a dated change line.

Build each run in the Concrete Footing Calculator after the geometry is checked, confirm the measurement method with the strip measurement guide, and return to the Concrete Planning hub for the related calculators and guides.

Safety and scope limits

This ordering guide does not select the mix, footing dimensions, reinforcement, slump, placement method, joints, curing, or weather practice. Those follow the drawings, specifications, permits, codes, supplier instructions, and qualified professional direction. Excavation work follows its own safety rules; the strip footing safety guide covers the trench profile that controls earth-formed quantities.

OSHA states that wet portland cement can cause caustic burns and dermatitis. Use the product safety data sheet and applicable controls for skin, eyes, access, equipment, lifting, traffic, and washout.