Cook · DuPage · Lake · Kane · Will · McHenry
Construction estimating services in Chicago
Takeoffs and priced estimates for Chicago-area general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from the Loop to the collar counties, priced to the ZIP code the job is built in.
- Chicago, Schaumburg, Naperville, Aurora
- Renovation, hotels, conversions, roofing
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Chicago at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects in Chicago 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 Chicago-area work includes a full interior renovation for a salon and spa in the northwest suburbs, demolition for an apartment conversion and roof work on a fitness center in the south suburbs.
- Area covered
- Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will and McHenry counties
- Recent Chicago work
- Salon and spa renovation, apartment conversion demolition, fitness center roof work
- Chicago cost drivers
- Union labor, the city's own construction codes, a 42-inch frost line, winter conditions
- Code
- Chicago Construction Codes inside the city; locally adopted codes in the suburbs
- 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
Northwest suburbs · Bid week
A Chicago estimate is mostly a labor estimate.
This is one of the most heavily unionized construction markets in the United States. On interior work the labor in a wall, a ceiling or a run of pipe can cost several times the material that goes into it.
A lot of the work is also reuse: offices turned into apartments, retail space turned into a spa. Four things decide whether a Chicago estimate holds.
Four things a Chicago estimate has to get right
01 · The labor
Rates by trade and by county
Each trade has its own wage and fringe package, and the suburbs do not all price like the city.
What changes
Labor is priced as union, open shop or prevailing wage for the trade and the place, with fringes added.
02 · The fit-out
Interiors priced trade by trade
An 8,020 square foot salon and spa renovation in the northwest suburbs came to $819,430 in trade cost, $102.17 per square foot.
What changes
Demolition, carpentry, finishes, plumbing, mechanical and electrical each get their own sheet.
03 · The conversion
Demolition before anything is built
Converting a building to apartments starts with stripping it: partitions, ceilings, flooring and services, floor by floor.
What changes
Demolition is taken off by material and by floor, with debris volume calculated.
04 · The winter
Frost and cold-weather work
Footings go below a 42-inch frost line, and concrete, masonry and roofing in winter need heat and protection.
What changes
Foundations follow the structural drawings, and winter protection is listed when the schedule needs it.
Chicago submarkets
Four parts of the Chicago area, priced separately
Labor, codes and suppliers differ across the region.
The Loop and the central area
High-rise, office fit-outs, hotels and conversions under the Chicago Construction Codes.
The city's neighborhoods
Mixed-use infill, apartment buildings, schools and renovation of older masonry buildings.
North and northwest suburbs
Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Evanston and Lake County: offices, retail, hotels, healthcare and conversions.
West and south suburbs
DuPage, Kane and Will counties and the south suburbs: distribution, retail, fitness and medical buildings.
Real Chicago figures
What recent Chicago projects cost, by trade
Trade costs from estimates we delivered in the Chicago area and northern Illinois.
The salon and spa is a full general contractor estimate, every trade on the drawings.
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.
| Chicago project and trade | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Salon and spa interior renovation, northwest suburbs, 8,020 sq ft: all trades | $819,430 | $102.17 |
| Dual-brand hotel, northern Illinois, 67,400 sq ft: roofing | $276,069 | $4.10 |
| Fitness center, south suburbs: roof work | $27,066 |
Published market ranges
What building in Chicago costs per square foot
For whole buildings, these are the published ranges for Chicago.
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 | $355 | $580 |
| Office, secondary | $215 | $350 |
| Retail, strip center | $170 | $280 |
| Hotel, three-star | $385 | $515 |
| Hospital | $455 | $925 |
| Warehouse | $155 | $245 |
| Multifamily residential | $220 | $490 |
| Single-family residential | $285 | $570 |
| Elementary school | $320 | $480 |
| High school | $375 | $515 |
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. Office alteration estimate, from a finished job: a first-floor office, 1,580 sq ft in Washington DC. Open it full screen, scroll through all 6 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 Chicago-area work to show
Renovation and fit-out
The salon and spa, trade by trade.
Remodeling estimatingDemolition
An apartment conversion, by material and floor.
Demolition estimatingRoofing
Membrane, insulation, flashing and coping measured separately.
Roofing estimatingWhole-building estimates
Every trade on the drawings for general contractors.
GC estimating
Places around Chicago we price
- Chicago
- Evanston
- Skokie
- Oak Park
- Cicero
- Schaumburg
- Hanover Park
- Arlington Heights
- Des Plaines
- Elgin
- Naperville
- Aurora
- Oak Brook
- Joliet
- Orland Park
- Matteson
Pricing data
How a Chicago 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 Chicago.
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 Chicago 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 Chicago 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.
Chicago 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
Chicago construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We price projects in Chicago and in Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will and McHenry counties, each to its own ZIP code.
Rider Levett Bucknall's second quarter 2026 report puts Chicago at $220 to $490 per square foot for multifamily, $155 to $245 for warehouses and $355 to $580 for prime offices. Those are published ranges for whole buildings; a bid needs quantities from the drawings.
On an 8,020 square foot salon and spa renovation in the northwest suburbs that we estimated, trade cost for all trades was $819,430, or $102.17 per square foot before overhead, profit, contingency and tax.
Yes. Labor is priced as union, open shop or prevailing wage, whichever the job calls for, with fringe benefits added. Tell us which applies when you send the drawings.
Yes. Demolition is taken off by material and by floor, and the new work is priced trade by trade, so the two can be read separately.
Yes. Labor and material are priced to the ZIP code, and the code that applies inside the city is not the one that applies in the suburbs.
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 (office alteration estimate, for a first-floor office, 1,580 sq ft in Washington DC), 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 Chicago, 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 Chicago project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Chicago ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.