Dallas · Fort Worth · Collin and Denton counties
Construction estimating services in Dallas–Fort Worth
Takeoffs and priced estimates for DFW general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, measured from your drawings and priced to the ZIP code the job is built in.
- Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Frisco
- Fit-outs to apartment communities
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Dallas–Fort Worth at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects across Dallas–Fort Worth, from its office in Houston. 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 Dallas work includes a restaurant fit-out estimated at $188 per square foot, a city recreation center's flooring and a mid-rise apartment building's material takeoff.
- Area covered
- Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton, Rockwall and Ellis counties
- Recent Dallas work
- Restaurant fit-out, recreation center flooring, mid-rise apartments, retail flooring
- DFW cost drivers
- Expansive clay, hail, restaurant and retail MEP, fast-growing northern suburbs
- Prepared in
- Houston, Texas, four hours down Interstate 45
- 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
Dallas · Landlord walk-through
A 1,375 square foot restaurant in Dallas: $188 a square foot before the owner's markup.
Dallas–Fort Worth builds more commercial space than almost anywhere in the country, and a great deal of it is small: restaurants, shops and offices fitted into shell buildings from Frisco to Mansfield.
Small jobs are where square-foot guesses go furthest wrong, because kitchens, restrooms and demolition do not shrink with the floor plan. Four things decide whether a DFW estimate holds.
Four things a DFW estimate has to get right
01 · The fit-out
MEP on a small restaurant
On the Dallas restaurant we estimated, electrical, HVAC and plumbing together were $72 per square foot, more than a third of the job. A retail-shell rate misses it entirely.
What changes
Every fixture, hood connection, panel and duct run is counted from the MEP drawings.
02 · The clay
North Texas soil
The Blackland Prairie clay under Dallas moves with moisture. Foundations are commonly piers and void forms or post-tensioned slabs, and paving sections are thicker.
What changes
The soils report is read with the structural drawings and its requirements are priced.
03 · The hail
Roofs specified for hail
North Texas takes more hail than almost anywhere. Owners and insurers increasingly specify impact-rated roofing, thicker membranes and cover boards.
What changes
Roof assemblies are taken off layer by layer as specified, not from a standard build-up.
04 · The map
One rate for a 9,000 square mile metro
Labor and travel differ between downtown Dallas, Fort Worth and the far northern suburbs. One metro rate hides it.
What changes
Labor and material are priced to the project's ZIP code.
DFW submarkets
Dallas–Fort Worth, priced submarket by submarket
Four counties and two downtowns, each with its own labor and supplier base.
Dallas
Downtown, Uptown, East Dallas and the southern sectors: mid-rise apartments, office renovation, restaurants and public buildings.
Fort Worth and Tarrant County
Fort Worth, Arlington, Haltom City and Mansfield: industrial, healthcare, school and multifamily work, with a separate labor pool from Dallas.
Collin and Denton counties
Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Celina and Denton: corporate campuses, retail and the fastest residential growth in the state.
East and south: Mesquite, Garland and beyond
Garland, Mesquite, Rockwall and the Interstate 20 corridor: distribution centers, apartments and retail.
Real Dallas work
Sample takeoffs from Dallas projects
Pages from finished Dallas jobs. Client names, addresses and title blocks are removed; the quantities are as delivered. Click any page to enlarge.
Restaurant fit-out
Demolition takeoff for a Dallas restaurant fit-out
Protects you fromDemolition as a lump sum.
New ceilings
Ceiling takeoff for the same Dallas restaurant
Protects you fromOne ceiling type for the whole space.
Recreation center
Flooring takeoff for a Dallas recreation center
Protects you fromSeven finishes at one rate.
Mid-rise apartments
Subfloor adhesive takeoff for Dallas apartments
Protects you fromAdhesive ordered by the pallet, by guess.
Every estimate is built to the client's own specification, so yours may be laid out differently. To see a past project in your own trade, ask for an example. Examples are finished work for other projects, not an estimate of yours; for pricing on your own job, send your DFW drawings for a free quote.
Real Dallas figures
What a Dallas restaurant fit-out cost, by trade
The largest lines from the estimate we delivered for a 1,375 sq ft restaurant fit-out in a Dallas shopping center, including demolition of the previous tenant's space.
Trade cost came to $258,775, or $188.20 per square foot. For comparison, flooring for an 11,500 sq ft recreation center was $7.57 per square foot.
Figures are trade cost before overhead, profit and contingency, from the delivered estimate. They are specific to that project 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.
| Trade | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical | $36,045 | $26.21 |
| HVAC | $32,583 | $23.70 |
| Plumbing | $30,262 | $22.01 |
| Drywall and framing | $29,908 | $21.75 |
| Demolition | $24,119 | $17.54 |
| General requirements | $23,370 | $17.00 |
| Flooring | $19,742 | $14.36 |
| All other trades | $62,746 | $45.63 |
| Trade cost | $258,775 | $188.20 |
Published market ranges
What building in Dallas costs per square foot
For whole buildings, where we have takeoffs but not yet priced estimates to show, these are the published ranges for Dallas.
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 | $260 | $435 |
| Office, secondary | $160 | $235 |
| Retail, strip center | $195 | $265 |
| Hotel, three-star | $310 | $455 |
| Hospital | $485 | $695 |
| Warehouse | $75 | $150 |
| Multifamily residential | $190 | $280 |
| Single-family residential | $200 | $525 |
| Elementary school | $285 | $405 |
| High school | $320 | $485 |
Full sample
Read a full sample, page by page
General contractor estimate, from a finished job: a restaurant fit-out, 1,375 sq ft in Texas. Open it full screen, scroll through all 8 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 DFW contractors send us most
Tenant fit-outs and remodels
Restaurants, shops and offices, with demolition counted item by item.
Remodeling estimatingFlooring
The recreation center above, measured by finish tag.
Flooring estimatingSupplier material takeoffs
Adhesive, sill sealer, flashing and hardware for apartment builders.
Supplier takeoffsMEP
Electrical, HVAC and plumbing counted from the drawings.
MEP estimating
DFW places we price
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- Arlington
- Plano
- Frisco
- Irving
- Garland
- McKinney
- Mesquite
- Denton
- Richardson
- Carrollton
- Allen
- Celina
- Grapevine
- Mansfield
Pricing data
How a Dallas 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 Dallas.
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 Dallas–Fort Worth 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 Dallas–Fort Worth 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.
Every job is quoted individually from the drawings, and the quote is free. See all pricing
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.
Questions
Dallas–Fort Worth construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We price projects in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Denton and the rest of the metro, each to its own ZIP code. The work is prepared at our office in Houston.
On a 1,375 square foot restaurant fit-out we estimated in Dallas, trade cost was $258,775, or $188.20 per square foot before overhead and profit. Electrical was $26.21, HVAC $23.70 and plumbing $22.01 per square foot, and demolition of the old space added $17.54.
Rider Levett Bucknall's second quarter 2026 report puts Dallas at $260 to $435 for prime offices, $190 to $280 for multifamily, $75 to $150 for warehouses and $285 to $405 for elementary schools. Those are published ranges for whole buildings, not our estimates.
Yes. For a Dallas recreation center of about 11,500 square feet we measured seven floor finishes by tag; flooring came to $86,873, or $7.57 per square foot.
Yes. For a mid-rise apartment building in Dallas we took off sill sealer, subfloor adhesive and every metal flashing profile in order units. Those takeoffs are quantities only; the supplier applies their own prices.
Yes. Foundation requirements from the soils report, and roof assemblies specified for hail resistance, are taken off as designed and priced.
Tax is its own line. The combined rate in Dallas is 8.25%. Because Texas taxes new construction and commercial remodeling differently, the line can be set to match your contract.
Yes. This page shows a full sample from a finished job (general contractor estimate, for a restaurant fit-out, 1,375 sq ft in Texas), 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 Dallas, 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. The quote is free and usually comes back in about 20 minutes.
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.
Other cities and services
Bidding a Dallas–Fort Worth project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's DFW ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.