Boston · Cambridge · Somerville · Quincy · Newton · Route 128
Construction estimating services in Boston
Takeoffs and priced estimates for Greater Boston general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from the neighborhoods to Cambridge, Quincy, Newton and the Route 128 suburbs.
- Boston, Cambridge, Quincy, Newton
- Apartments, renovation, medical, mixed use
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Boston at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects in Boston 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. Recent Boston-area work includes plumbing for an apartment building, painting for a 121,100 square foot mixed-use building, door and access control replacement at a federal medical center, and a phased senior living renovation west of the city.
- Area covered
- Suffolk, Middlesex and Norfolk counties, inside and around Route 128
- Recent Boston work
- Apartment plumbing, mixed-use painting, medical center doors and access control, senior living renovation
- Boston cost drivers
- Union labor, tight sites, renovation of old buildings, winter, public bidding rules
- Code
- Massachusetts State Building Code, with the stretch energy code in most Greater Boston communities
- 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
Boston · Bid day
In Boston, the drawings are rarely for an empty lot.
The typical job is infill or renovation: a new apartment building squeezed between two old ones, a medical center replacing damaged doors, a senior community renovated in phases.
That kind of work is priced by the opening, the fixture and the phase, at some of the highest labor rates in the country. Four things decide whether a Boston estimate holds.
Four things a Boston estimate has to get right
01 · The wet walls
Plumbing that outweighs the floor area
On a 13,300 square foot Boston apartment building, plumbing came to $78.20 per square foot of building, over $1 million in trade cost.
What changes
Fixtures are counted by type, and pipe is measured by diameter and material on every floor and riser.
02 · The openings
Doors and hardware, one by one
A door replacement project in an occupied medical center is priced by opening: door, frame, hardware set, access control device and the wiring to it.
What changes
Each opening is listed with its own door, frame, hardware and devices from the schedule.
03 · The phases
Work that cannot happen all at once
A senior living renovation we estimated was split into a base bid, an alternate and later phases, each priced on its own.
What changes
Each phase and alternate has its own sheet and its own total.
04 · The labor
Union and prevailing wage rates
Greater Boston is a union market, and public work carries prevailing wages. A rate from another region underprices the job badly.
What changes
Labor is priced as union, open shop or prevailing wage for the project, with benefits added.
Boston submarkets
Four parts of Greater Boston, priced separately
Access, labor and suppliers differ across the region.
Downtown, Back Bay and the Seaport
Office and laboratory fit-outs, hotels and high-rise residential, with the hardest site logistics.
The neighborhoods
Dorchester, Roslindale, Roxbury, East Boston and Jamaica Plain: infill apartments and mixed-use buildings on small lots.
Cambridge and Somerville
Life science, university and residential work, much of it renovation.
Route 128 and the suburbs
Newton, Waltham, Quincy and beyond: senior living, medical office, retail and municipal buildings.
Real Boston figures
What recent Boston projects cost, by trade
Trade costs from estimates we delivered in Greater Boston.
Painting a large mixed-use building came to $2.45 per square foot of building; plumbing a small apartment building came to more than thirty times that. The trade and the building decide the figure, not the city.
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.
| Boston project and trade | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment building, Boston, 13,300 sq ft: plumbing | $1,036,815 | $78.20 |
| Senior living community renovation, west of Boston: doors, frames and hardware | $645,999 | |
| Federal medical center, Boston: door replacement and access control | $513,401 | |
| Mixed-use building, Boston, 121,100 sq ft: painting | $297,033 | $2.45 |
Published market ranges
What building in Boston costs per square foot
For whole buildings, where our Boston work so far is single trades, these are the published ranges for Boston.
These are a cost consultant's published ranges for whole buildings, not our estimates. They are useful for checking a budget; a bid still needs quantities measured from the drawings.
Hard construction cost per square foot of gross floor area, second quarter of 2026. Ranges vary with site conditions, specification and market conditions.
Source: Rider Levett Bucknall, North America Quarterly Construction Cost Report, Q2 2026
| Building type | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Office, prime | $460 | $725 |
| Office, secondary | $285 | $425 |
| Retail, strip center | $175 | $280 |
| Hotel, three-star | $350 | $575 |
| Hospital | $625 | $1,200 |
| Warehouse | $135 | $225 |
| Multifamily residential | $290 | $390 |
| Single-family residential | $300 | $450 |
| Elementary school | $635 | $750 |
| High school | $700 | $850 |
Full sample
Read a full sample, page by page
Painting, from a finished job: a retail store in Massachusetts. Open it full screen, scroll through all 5 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
Services with Boston work to show
Plumbing
An apartment building, fixture by fixture and pipe by size.
Plumbing estimatingPainting
A mixed-use building, by paint tag and surface.
Painting estimatingDoors, frames and hardware
A medical center and a phased renovation, by opening.
Door and hardware estimatingRenovation
Demolition, patching and new work priced separately.
Remodeling estimating
Places around Boston we price
- Boston
- Cambridge
- Somerville
- Brookline
- Quincy
- Newton
- Waltham
- Watertown
- Medford
- Malden
- Everett
- Chelsea
- Revere
- Dedham
- Braintree
- Woburn
Pricing data
How a Boston 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 Boston.
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 Boston 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 Boston 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.
Boston 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
Boston construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We price projects in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Quincy, Newton, Waltham and the surrounding communities, each to its own ZIP code.
Rider Levett Bucknall's second quarter 2026 report puts Boston at $290 to $390 per square foot for multifamily, $460 to $725 for prime offices and $625 to $1,200 for hospitals. Those are published ranges for whole buildings; a bid needs quantities from the drawings.
On a 13,300 square foot apartment building in Boston that we estimated, plumbing trade cost was $1,036,815, or $78.20 per square foot of building, before overhead, profit, contingency and tax.
On a 121,100 square foot mixed-use building in Boston, painting trade cost was $297,033, or $2.45 per square foot of building.
Yes. A door replacement and access control project at a federal medical center in Boston came to $513,401 in trade cost. Federal work is priced at Davis-Bacon rates with fringes, and state and municipal work at Massachusetts prevailing wages.
Yes. Each phase and alternate gets its own sheet and total, so the owner can award them separately.
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 (painting, for a retail store in Massachusetts), which you can open full screen and read page by page. 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 Boston, 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 a Boston project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Boston ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.