Load Takedown Software and Spreadsheets for UK Engineers: An Honest Comparison

Hand calcs, spreadsheets, Tekla Tedds, Calcs.com, analysis packages or LoadTakedown? Six ways to do a UK load takedown, and when each one fits.

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What is the best software for a load takedown?

There is no single best tool. For one wall or one house, a hand calculation or a spreadsheet is usually quickest. For several walls across several levels, a dedicated takedown tool saves repetition. For frames and lateral stability, you need a proper analysis package. Pick by the size and type of job.

This post is written by the team behind LoadTakedown, so we have a stake in the answer. We have tried to be fair: where we describe someone else's product, we have checked it against that company's own website, and where we could not check something we left it out.

The options at a glance

Sources for the third-party rows are listed under each tool below. Check current licensing and features with each vendor before you buy.

Is a hand calculation still the right answer?

Often, yes. If you only need the load on one wall and one foundation, marking up a plan and working out the line load takes about as long as setting up any software. It is also how you check everything else. Our step-by-step hand method and the worked example show how it goes.

The weakness is repetition. A house with eight walls over three levels means the same arithmetic dozens of times, and one slip in a loaded width carries all the way to the foundation.

What about building your own spreadsheet?

Most UK engineers have one. It is transparent, it matches the way you think, and your checker can read it. That is a real strength, and it is why spreadsheets are still the most common takedown tool in small practices.

The costs are quieter. Someone has to build it, someone has to check the formulas, and layouts tend to fit the last job rather than the next one. Tributary widths still come from you, by hand, for every wall and every level.

If you do not want to start from a blank sheet, the free LoadTakedown spreadsheet does the accumulation for you: enter loads and loaded widths per element and it carries them down level by level. You can read every formula. It does not know where your walls are, so you still set out the geometry yourself. The free tributary area calculator helps with that step.

Does Tekla Tedds do load takedowns?

Tedds is design and documentation software from Trimble. Its own product page describes a library of code-compliant calculations (including Eurocodes, with the UK listed) for beams, columns, foundations, retaining walls, floors and roofs, and a way to produce calculation documents. It is sold as a subscription with a free trial.

We could not find the phrase "load takedown" on the Tedds product page. Its closest category is "structural load analysis", which covers things like wind loading. Tedds is a strong choice when you have your loads and want a stamped-looking calculation for a lintel, a beam or a footing. It is not built around drawing a plan and watching loads accumulate from the roof down, and you would normally bring your own line loads to it.

Source: Trimble's Tekla Tedds product page (listed at the end).

And Calcs.com (formerly ClearCalcs)?

Calcs.com is a browser-based platform of code-referenced structural calculators. Its site describes load linking: when the reaction from one member changes, the member it bears on updates. That gives you a traceable path from, say, a beam down to the column or wall below it. The site lists Eurocode among the standards it covers, plus a free trial and subscription plans. The old ClearCalcs web address now redirects to Calcs.com.

That is a different model from a plan-based takedown. You build the chain member by member, which suits a job with a handful of key elements. It does not start from a PDF plan with every wall on it. Its site does not spell out UK-specific coverage, so check the UK National Annex values you need before relying on it.

Source: Calcs.com site (listed at the end).

When do you need a full analysis or BIM model?

Sometimes the answer is that a takedown is the wrong question. If the building has a steel or concrete frame, transfer structures, lateral stability to check, or irregular geometry, you need a whole-structure analysis package.

Robot Structural Analysis, for example, has a Load Take Down results view that shows the resultant loads on each element, such as distributed loads on walls and beams and concentrated loads on columns, cumulatively or by storey. SCIA Engineer is described by its maker as an integrated, multi-material analysis and design package, with a free trial offered. Other analysis packages offer similar results.

The trade-off is the model. You build the whole structure before you read a single reaction, which is a lot of work for a four-wall extension. Engineers on the Eng-Tips thread asking for takedown software recommendations also point out that analysis models treat the structure as built in one go, so they do not reflect construction sequence. Whether that matters depends on the job.

Sources: Autodesk Robot help page, SCIA site (listed at the end).

What does LoadTakedown do?

LoadTakedown is a browser app for exactly the job in the middle: gravity load takedown for walls and floors in low- to medium-rise buildings. You upload the architect's PDF plan, set the scale, draw walls and floors over it, and set the floor and roof build-ups and load cases. It works out the tributary area for each wall, accumulates loads level by level, and shows line loads at the foundation, with the working visible so you can check it.

It is free to start.

It follows the same method as the hand calculation: tributary strips, loaded width, self-weight, then summation. The difference is that the geometry comes off the drawing instead of being re-measured and re-typed, and a change of floor span or wall position updates every level below.

Where is LoadTakedown not the right tool?

Plenty of places. It does gravity loads on walls and floors. It does not do:

• Frame analysis, moment connections, continuous beams with moment distribution or anything with bending behaviour that matters.
• Lateral stability, wind bracing or racking checks.
• Whole-building analysis, dynamic behaviour or complex transfer structures.
• Member design. It gives you the load on a lintel or a footing, not the lintel or footing design.

For those, use the analysis or design tools above. A common workflow is to use LoadTakedown first to get the wall and foundation loads, then take those loads into a design tool. The two are complementary.

Whatever tool you use, the output is only as good as the inputs. Values in any of them are typical and must be checked by a competent engineer for design.

How should you choose?

By size and by what you need at the end.

• One wall, one element, or a quick check: Hand calculation, or the tributary area calculator. Do not open anything bigger.
• A single house or extension, you want a transparent sheet: The free spreadsheet, or your own. If you will do this every week, a plan-based tool starts to pay back.
• A multi-wall, multi-level building on an architect's PDF: A plan-based takedown such as LoadTakedown saves the most time here, because geometry and accumulation are the bulk of the work.
• Beam, lintel and foundation design with calc sheets: Add Tedds or Calcs.com on top, using the line loads from your takedown.
• Frames, lateral stability, large or irregular buildings: A full analysis or BIM model. A takedown still serves as an independent check on the model's gravity reactions. See how to check a load takedown.

FAQ

Is there free load takedown software?

Yes. LoadTakedown is free to start, and the free spreadsheet is an Excel template with no charge. A hand calculation costs nothing but time. Most paid design packages offer free trials rather than free tiers, so check each vendor's current terms.

Is a spreadsheet good enough for a load takedown?

For many small jobs, yes. A spreadsheet is transparent and easy to check. The limits are building it, checking it, and entering every tributary width by hand. When you are doing many walls over many levels, the repetition is where mistakes creep in, and a drawing-based tool helps.

Does Tekla Tedds do load takedowns?

Tedds is a library of design calculations and documentation tools, and its product page does not use the term load takedown. It is typically used after you have your loads, to design the member or foundation. Check Trimble's current documentation if you need to know about a specific module.

Can I use full analysis software for a load takedown?

Yes, and some packages, such as Robot, have a dedicated takedown results view. You must model the structure first, which is heavy for a small building. It makes sense when you already have the analysis model for lateral or frame work, and a hand takedown is still a useful check on it.

Is LoadTakedown suitable for UK design?

It is built around UK practice: kN/m² area loads, floor build-ups, and load cases with Eurocode partial factors. It handles gravity load takedown only, so you will need other tools for lateral stability and member design, and values must be checked by a competent engineer. See characteristic vs design loads.

Sources for third-party claims

• Tekla Tedds product page: https://www.tekla.com/products/tekla-tedds
• Calcs.com: https://calcs.com/compare and https://calcs.com/
• Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis, Load Take Down results: https://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/2027/ENU/RSAPRO-UsersGuide/files/GUID-F97A13FE-5E87-4DE4-9B01-225F4AC296E6.htm
• SCIA Engineer: https://www.scia.net/en/scia-engineer/structural-analysis-software
• Eng-Tips thread: https://www.eng-tips.com/threads/software-recommendations-for-load-take-down.426967/