Fulton · Cobb · Gwinnett · DeKalb · Forsyth · Henry
Construction estimating services in Atlanta
Takeoffs and priced estimates for metro Atlanta general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from Downtown and Midtown to the counties around the Perimeter.
- Atlanta, Marietta, Alpharetta, Lawrenceville
- Offices, hotels, retail, childcare
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Atlanta at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects in Atlanta and the surrounding area. Every trade on the drawings is measured, priced to the project's ZIP code and checked twice, and the package is typically delivered in 24 to 48 hours. Metro Atlanta is one of the markets we estimate in most: an office tower renovation, hotels, a self-storage building, bank branches, childcare centers, medical office shells and restaurants.
- Area covered
- Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Clayton, Forsyth, Cherokee, Henry, Paulding and Newton counties
- Recent Atlanta work
- Office tower renovation, hotels, self-storage, bank branch, childcare center, senior center, restaurants
- Atlanta cost drivers
- Rock and red clay, a tight labor market, redevelopment inside the Perimeter, fast retail growth outside it
- Our Atlanta volume
- Dozens of metro Atlanta estimates delivered, most of them storefront and glazing
- Turnaround
- 24 to 48 hours on most projects
- Checked by
- A separate QA team, twice on every job
- Team
- 20+ in-house estimators, typically 7 to 10 years in the trade
- Quote
- Free, usually back in about 20 minutes
Inside the Perimeter · Bid day
Atlanta builds two ways at once: up in the core and out at the edges.
Inside the Perimeter, the work is renovation and density: an office tower stripped and expanded, a hotel on a tight lot, storage where a warehouse stood. Outside it, the same week brings a bank pad, a childcare center and three restaurants along one highway.
We price both. Four things decide whether an Atlanta estimate holds.
Four things an Atlanta estimate has to get right
01 · The tower
Renovation priced level by level
An office tower renovation and expansion we estimated carried $33.4 million in trade cost across demolition, concrete, structural steel, drywall and glazing. Each level had its own floor area and its own scope.
What changes
Quantities are taken off by level and by trade, so each floor's cost can be read on its own.
02 · The glass
Glazing that swings with the building
On our Atlanta jobs, glazing ran from $2.95 per square foot of building on a self-storage building to $46.38 on a small senior center. No allowance covers that range.
What changes
Every frame is taken off by mark, with glass sizes, doors and hardware listed under it.
03 · The ground
Granite under the clay
Piedmont rock sits close to the surface across much of the metro area. A pad that looks simple on the plan can need rock removal and retaining walls.
What changes
Earthwork is calculated from the grading plan, and rock is flagged where the soils report shows it.
04 · The pace
Several bids a week
Retail and restaurant work comes in batches, each with a deadline a few days out.
What changes
Most packages are returned in 24 to 48 hours, with several estimators working in parallel when a week is heavy.
Atlanta submarkets
Four parts of metro Atlanta, priced separately
Labor, access and suppliers differ across the region.
Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead
Office renovation, hotels, apartments and retail fit-outs on tight urban sites.
The northern suburbs
Cobb, north Fulton, Forsyth and Gwinnett: banks, medical offices, childcare, restaurants and retail centers.
South of the city
Clayton, Henry and Fayette counties and the airport area: hotels, travel centers, convenience stores and distribution.
East and west
Newton, Rockdale, Paulding and Douglas counties: town centers, auto parts and service buildings, retail shells.
Real Atlanta figures
What recent Atlanta projects cost, by trade
Trade costs from estimates we delivered in metro Atlanta.
A bank branch carried more glazing than a childcare center three times its size, which is why we count frames and not floor area.
Figures are trade cost before overhead, profit, contingency and tax, from the delivered estimates. Per-square-foot figures are per square foot of building, or of site for site work. They are specific to those projects and are not a price guide.
Real jobs, not a price list. Each figure comes from one project, priced for its own ZIP code and that client's wages, overhead and profit. Prices change by region and over time. Yours will be priced for your location.
| Atlanta project and trade | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Office tower renovation and expansion: demolition, concrete, structural steel, drywall and glazing | $33,448,303 | $107.82 |
| Hotel, 60,500 sq ft: glazing | $536,080 | $8.86 |
| Self-storage building, 112,500 sq ft: glazing | $332,199 | $2.95 |
| Childcare center, 10,750 sq ft: glazing | $171,786 | $15.98 |
| Bank branch, 3,540 sq ft: glazing | $145,502 | $41.15 |
| Senior center expansion, 2,460 sq ft: glazing | $114,041 | $46.38 |
Full sample
Read a full sample, page by page
We do not have a sample for exactly this scope online yet. This is the closest one. Storefront and glazing, from a finished job: a equipment rental building, 10,500 sq ft in North Carolina. Open it full screen, scroll through all 4 pages and zoom in on any line.
This is one real job, shown as an example. It was built to that client's own specification: their wage rates, labor style, type of pricing, and overhead and profit. Prices also change by region and over time, so yours will be priced for your location.
Want a current sample in your own trade or specialty, or have a question? Use the contact form, email [email protected] or call (832) 356-4237.
Trades and places
What Atlanta contractors send us most
Storefront and glazing
Hotels, banks, childcare and retail, frame by frame.
Storefront estimatingDemolition and structure
The office tower: demolition, concrete and steel by level.
Structural steel estimatingDrywall
Partitions by type and height on renovation floors.
Drywall estimatingWhole-building estimates
Every trade on the drawings for general contractors.
GC estimating
Places around Atlanta we price
- Atlanta
- Marietta
- Alpharetta
- Roswell
- Sandy Springs
- Brookhaven
- Decatur
- Smyrna
- Duluth
- Norcross
- Lawrenceville
- Snellville
- Suwanee
- Buford
- Cumming
- Acworth
- Fairburn
- Riverdale
- McDonough
- Covington
Pricing data
How a Atlanta project is priced
Quantities are priced from our own pricing database, built with local vendors across the United States. The estimator enters the project's ZIP code and gets current material prices for that part of Atlanta.
Material prices change from region to region and from month to month, so a price book or a national average is out of date before the bid goes in.
Priced by ZIP code
Current local material prices for the place the job is built, not a national average.
Updated by vendors
Local vendors update their prices in the database as they change.
Labor as you bid it
Union, open shop, or Davis-Bacon and prevailing wage rates with fringes.
How it works
From Atlanta drawings to a finished estimate
Send the drawings
Plans, specifications and addenda, with the project address or ZIP code, the bid date and any bid form or template you have to fill in.
Free quote
We review the set and reply with a quote and a delivery date, usually within about 20 minutes.
Takeoff, pricing and two QA reviews
Quantities are measured on the drawings and priced to the project's ZIP code. A separate QA team checks the quantities against the plans, then the priced estimate.
Delivery and revisions
The package typically arrives within 24 to 48 hours. Addenda and revisions are free, with no limit and no time limit, and are handled on priority.
The work is done in-house by more than 20 estimators, typically with 7 to 10 years of industry experience.
What it costs
Estimating prices for Atlanta projects
- Single project
- From $199. Simple scopes typically run $100 to $250.
- Larger buildings
- Typically $200 to $500. Large or multi-building projects are quoted individually.
- Monthly plan
- From $1,499 for 10 to 15 projects, for contractors who bid every week.
Atlanta contractors who do not keep a full-time estimator use us for outsourced estimating: send the drawings when a bid comes up and pay per project.
Every job is quoted individually from the drawings, and the quote is free. See all pricing
After delivery
An editable Excel estimate workbook and unlimited 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
Unlimited free revisions
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.
Questions
Atlanta construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We price projects in Atlanta, Marietta, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Decatur, Lawrenceville, McDonough and the surrounding counties, each to its own ZIP code. It is one of the markets we work in most.
On an office tower renovation and expansion we estimated in Atlanta, trade cost for demolition, concrete, structural steel, drywall and glazing was $33,448,303, or $107.82 per square foot, before overhead, profit, contingency and tax.
On a 60,500 square foot hotel in Atlanta, glazing trade cost was $536,080, or $8.86 per square foot of building.
Because a bank is mostly glass at the front and has a small floor area. A 3,540 square foot bank branch in metro Atlanta came to $41.15 per square foot of building for glazing, against $2.95 for a 112,500 square foot self-storage building.
Yes. On multi-story renovations, quantities are taken off by level and by trade, so the cost of each floor can be seen and phased.
Where the soils report shows rock, it is carried on its own line with its own unit price. We calculate quantities from the grading plan; we do not guess at what is underground.
Both. General contractors get every trade on the drawings; subcontractors get their own trade isolated and returned in the general contractor's format. Suppliers get quantities only.
Yes. This page shows a full sample from a finished job (storefront and glazing, for a equipment rental building, 10,500 sq ft in North Carolina), which you can open full screen and read page by page. It is the closest sample we have online for this scope. It was built to that client's own specification, so the wage rates, pricing and overhead and profit are theirs. Ask us for a current sample in your own trade.
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 part of Atlanta, and vendors update their prices as they change. Labor is priced as union or open shop, or at Davis-Bacon rates with fringes on government work.
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.
Most packages are delivered in 24 to 48 hours, depending on the size, scope and complexity of the job. The quote is free, usually comes back in about 20 minutes, and states the exact delivery time.
A single project starts at $199, and simple scopes typically run $100 to $250. Larger buildings typically run $200 to $500. Every estimate is built to the client's own specification, and revisions are free.
Other cities and services
Bidding an Atlanta project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Atlanta ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.