About MassBid Estimation
A construction estimating company in Houston, Texas
Since 2019, more than 1,000 takeoffs and estimates for contractors and suppliers across the United States, each one checked twice before it leaves the office.
In short
MassBid Estimation is a professional construction estimating company in Houston, Texas. Since 2019 it has delivered more than 1,000 quantity takeoffs and cost estimates to general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, developers and owners across the USA, typically within 24 to 48 hours. Contractors use it as their outsourced estimating department.
- Founded
- 2019
- Office
- Houston, TX
- Team
- 20+ in-house estimators, typically 7 to 10 years in their trade
- Work delivered
- More than 1,000 takeoffs and estimates
- Checked by
- A separate QA team, twice on every job
- Coverage
- All 50 states, priced by ZIP code
- Revisions
- Free, unlimited, addenda included, with no time limit
- Deliverable
- Editable Excel workbook with formulas built in
Who we are
Built on repeat work, not advertising
MassBid Estimation started in Houston in 2019 with a simple job: measure what is on a contractor's drawings, price it for where the project is built, and get it back before the bid is due. In practice we work as an outsourced estimating department: the takeoff and pricing a contractor would otherwise need a full-time estimator for, on the days they need it.
For most of the years since, the company put its effort into the work and almost none into being found online. It grew anyway, because contractors who used us once came back, and then told other contractors. Many clients now send projects every month.
That is still how most new work arrives. A concrete contractor in the San Francisco Bay Area wrote to us recently on another contractor's recommendation, needing a takeoff inside three days. A glazing contractor in the Southeast has sent us dozens of storefront packages across several states. We would rather be judged on that than on a slogan. It is why contractors trust us with their bids.
- 1,000+
- Takeoffs and estimates delivered
- 20+
- In-house estimators
- 2
- QA reviews on every job
- 50
- States priced by ZIP code
How we work
Four things behind every estimate
- 01
Estimators who work in one trade
A concrete takeoff is done by someone who measures concrete every day, and a duct takeoff by someone who knows sheet metal. The team is more than 20 in-house estimators, typically with seven to ten years in their trade.
All services → - 02
Two QA reviews by a separate team
The first review checks the quantities against the drawings. The second checks the priced estimate: rates, extensions, totals and scope gaps. The people who check the work are not the people who did it.
How estimates are checked → - 03
Our own pricing database
We built it with local vendors across the United States. An estimator enters the project's ZIP code and gets current material prices for that market, which the vendors update as they change. Labor is priced as union, open shop or Davis-Bacon with fringes.
Where prices come from → - 04
Built to your specification
Your scope, your template, your bid form, your wage rates and your overhead and profit. No two contractors price the same way, so no two of our estimates are laid out the same way.
See the samples →
Accuracy
Why we stand behind our numbers
An estimate is only as good as the quantities under it. Miss a wall type, a floor or an addendum and no amount of careful pricing puts the bid right.
So every job is checked twice by a QA team that is separate from the estimators. One review holds the quantities against the drawings. The other goes through the priced estimate line by line. The marked-up plans go to the client as well, so anyone can see where each quantity was measured.
Those two reviews are the reason clients stay and the reason they refer us. And the work does not stop at delivery. Every revision is free, addenda included, with no time limit: if the drawings change, the scope changes or a quantity is found to be wrong, we update the estimate at no charge.
After delivery
An editable Excel workbook and free revisions
- Formulas built in
An Excel workbook you can change yourself
The estimate arrives as an editable Excel workbook with the formulas built in. Change a quantity, a rate or a markup and every total follows. Move overhead and profit from 25% to 30% and the whole bid recalculates on the spot.
- No waiting
Adjust your bid at the last minute
If something changes just before the deadline, you do not have to send the estimate back and wait. Open the workbook, change the number and submit. The control stays with you.
- Priority turnaround
Free revisions, with no limit
Addenda, scope changes and pricing updates are all free, however many times you come back, and there is no time limit. Revisions are handled on priority and typically come back within an hour to a few hours.
Clients
Who uses our estimating services
General contractors
Every trade on the drawings for a bid, from a 1,375 sq ft restaurant fit-out to a 116,000 sq ft mixed-use building.
GC estimating →Subcontractors
One trade isolated and returned in the general contractor's format: concrete, glazing, mechanical, electrical, flooring, roofing and more.
Trade services →Material suppliers
Quantities in the units you sell in: rolls, tubes, pieces and boxes, with the drawing reference on each line.
Supplier takeoffs →Developers and owners
Budgets at concept and design stage, and a check on the numbers before a contract is signed.
Preliminary estimating →
Recent work has ranged from a $7,702 window package for a school addition to a $34.5 million mixed-use building. Eight states and ten metro areas have their own pages with local jobs and costs, including Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Miami.
The work
See it before you send a drawing
37 finished estimates and takeoffs are on the samples page, one or more for every CSI division. Open any of them full screen and read it line by line.
Where we are
A Houston estimating company, working nationwide
We are a professional estimating firm with our office in Houston, Texas, on Central Time. Houston is our home market, and we estimate for contractors across Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties every week.
Most of our work, though, is somewhere else. Because every project is priced to its own ZIP code from our pricing database, a job in California, Florida or New York is priced at that market's rates, not Houston's. Quotes and deliveries are given in your local time.
Houston construction estimating · Texas · California · Florida · All service areas
Questions
Questions about MassBid Estimation
MassBid Estimation is a construction cost estimating company based in Houston, Texas, founded in 2019. It prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, developers and owners in all 50 states, and has delivered more than 1,000 takeoffs and estimates.
Yes. The work is done by more than 20 in-house estimators, each working in their own trade, typically with seven to ten years of experience. Nothing is passed to outside freelancers.
Every job is checked twice by a QA team that is separate from the estimators. The first review checks quantities against the drawings and the second checks the priced estimate. If a quantity is found to be wrong after delivery, we correct it at no charge, with no time limit.
From our own pricing database, built with local vendors across the United States. An estimator enters the project's ZIP code and gets current material prices for that market, and the vendors update their prices as they change.
Yes. The estimate is delivered as an editable Excel workbook with the formulas built in. Change any quantity, rate or markup and the whole estimate recalculates. If overhead and profit was set at 25% and you want 30%, change that one cell and every total updates, so you can adjust your number minutes before the bid is due without sending it back to us.
As many as you need. Every revision is free, including addenda, scope changes and pricing updates, however many times you come back, and there is no time limit. Revisions are handled on priority and are typically returned within an hour to a few hours, depending on the size of the change.
Through other contractors. Much of our new work comes by referral from existing clients, and many clients send projects every month on a monthly plan. The company was built on that repeat work, not on advertising.
Any size. Recent work has ranged from a $7,702 window package for a school addition to a $34.5 million mixed-use building, across residential, commercial, industrial and public projects.
Our office is in Houston, Texas, on Central Time. We estimate projects in every US state and price each one to its own ZIP code, so the location of the office does not affect the numbers.
Yes. The samples page shows 37 finished estimates and takeoffs, covering every CSI division, that you can open full screen and read page by page. Each service page also shows a sample for its trade.
Try us on one project
Send the drawings for a free quote, usually back in about 20 minutes. Most clients start with one job.