Construction estimating FAQ

A takeoff measures what is on the drawings. An estimate puts money on it: material prices, labor hours and rates, equipment and subcontractor costs, then overhead, profit, insurance and contingency. Contractors usually need both. Material suppliers usually need the takeoff alone, in the units they sell in.

It does the measuring and pricing that would otherwise take an in-house estimator, or your own evenings. You send the drawings and scope. The service returns measured quantities, priced line items, labor hours and marked-up plans showing where each quantity came from. You keep control of the markup, the strategy and the final number.

General contractors who need every trade priced for a bid, subcontractors who need their own trade isolated, material suppliers who need quantities to quote from, and developers and owners checking a budget. Many clients use us when their own estimators are full, or to bid more work than their team could cover alone.

CSI MasterFormat is the standard numbering system for construction scope: Division 03 is concrete, Division 26 is electrical, Division 31 is earthwork. Estimating to MasterFormat means the cost breakdown already lines up with how owners and general contractors structure their bid forms, so nothing has to be re-sorted before the bid goes in.

Usually twice. A preliminary estimate at concept or schematic stage shows whether the project is feasible and what to budget. A full estimate from the construction documents gives the number you bid. A budget problem found at concept stage costs a redesign. Found after award, it costs margin.

Yes. The monthly plan starts at $1,499 and covers 10 to 15 projects a month. It suits contractors who bid every week and want a set cost for estimating. For firms that want one estimator assigned to them full time, a dedicated estimator is priced on request.

Yes. Send the drawings and we reply with a price and a delivery date, usually within about 20 minutes. There is no charge and no obligation, and each project is quoted on its own.

No. Every revision is free, including addenda, scope changes and pricing updates, however many times you come back, and there is no time limit. They are included in the price you were quoted.

No. The quoted price covers the takeoff, the priced estimate, the marked-up plans and unlimited free revisions. If the scope changes enough to change the price, we tell you before doing the work.

Payment details come with your quote. You see the price and the terms before you approve anything, and work starts on your approval.

Because you pay for the project, not for a salary, software licences and idle time between bids. A team of more than 20 estimators also means a job is done by someone who works in that trade every day, which is faster than a generalist.

Usually in about 20 minutes during working hours. We look at the drawing set, count the sheets and trades, and reply with a price and a delivery date.

Call or text (832) 356-4237 straight away. We will look at the set and tell you honestly whether the deadline can be met and what can be delivered by then. If it cannot be done properly in the time, we will say so.

Revisions are handled on priority and are typically returned within an hour to a few hours, depending on the size of the change. You can also change any number yourself in the Excel workbook and the estimate recalculates at once.

Our office is in Houston, on Central Time. Projects come in from every US time zone, and delivery dates are given in your local time.

Because material and labor prices change from region to region, and over time. Concrete, lumber, drywall and copper do not cost the same in Houston as in San Francisco, or the same this month as six months ago. Pricing to the ZIP code means a Phoenix project is priced at Phoenix rates and a Miami project at Miami rates.

The vendors who supply the prices update them when they change. Access is limited to our administrators, our estimators and the team that builds and maintains the database, so the data stays controlled and is checked by the people who use it every day.

Yes. Tell us whether the job is union or open shop and labor is priced at the matching rates for each trade in that market. The same wall can carry very different labor costs depending on who builds it, so this is one of the first questions we ask.

Yes. For federally funded work we price labor at the Davis-Bacon wage determination for the county and trade, with fringe benefits added to the base rate. State prevailing wage projects are handled the same way from the state's determination. Send the determination with the bid documents if you have it.

Yes. If you have negotiated material prices or subcontractor quotes, send them and they replace ours on those lines, so the estimate reflects your real costs.

Each is its own line, not buried in unit prices. Tax is carried at the rate for the project's location, and overhead, profit, insurance and contingency are set to the percentages you give us, so you can change any of them and see the bid recalculate.

On four buildings we estimated around Orlando, plumbing and HVAC together ran $38.61 to $44.45 per square foot on freestanding fire stations and a medical office, and $11.74 on a clinic floor in a tower served by the building's central systems. HVAC alone on a 93,300 square foot Florida resort hotel was $9.04.

It varies with the structure. On two multi-story buildings we estimated in Los Angeles, concrete was $46.06 per square foot of building on one and $102.52 on the other, which had a mat foundation and a small footprint. On a one-story Florida fire station it was $36.52.

On three San Francisco Bay Area projects we estimated, electrical trade cost was $26.19 per square foot on an apartment building, $30.42 on a large custom home and $41.46 on a home where existing wiring had to be removed. On a small Dallas restaurant it was $26.21.

A 1,375 square foot restaurant fit-out we estimated in Dallas came to $258,775 in trade cost, or $188.20 per square foot. A 1,580 square foot office alteration in Washington DC came to $80.07 per square foot for demolition and architectural work.

Because fixed items do not shrink with the floor area, and structure and site differ on every job. On one Florida project, a 905 square foot scale house cost $467 per square foot and the 33,900 square foot building beside it cost $88. That is why a bid needs measured quantities, not a square-foot rule.

Yes. Coverage is nationwide, in large metros and rural markets alike. Eight states and ten metro areas have their own pages, built around projects we estimated there.

Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Miami, Orlando, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville each have a page with sample takeoffs and real cost figures from jobs in that metro.

Yes. Each project is priced to its own ZIP code, whatever the others are. Contractors who work across state lines often send us several projects in the same week.

We price what the drawings and specifications call for, including local requirements they show: hurricane-rated openings in Florida, seismic reinforcing in California, flood elevation and detention in Houston. We do not design or certify those items. We measure and price them.

Residential, commercial, industrial, public and government work, new construction and renovation. Recent jobs have ranged from a $7,702 window package for a school addition to a $34.5 million mixed-use building.

All three. General contractors get every trade on the drawings. Subcontractors get their own trade isolated and returned in the format the general contractor asked for. Suppliers get material quantities in order units, such as rolls, tubes and pieces.

It depends on what you ask for, because every estimate is built to the client's own specification. A typical package has the quantity takeoff, a priced estimate by CSI division with labor hours and material cost on every line, an editable Excel workbook, and marked-up plans showing where each quantity was measured.

Yes. The estimate is 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 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.

Yes. Send your spreadsheet, your internal format or the owner's bid form and the quantities and prices are returned in it, so nothing has to be retyped.

Yes. Each service page shows pages from finished jobs, with client details removed. If you want to see a past project in your own trade, ask and we will send an example.

Yes. We price Davis-Bacon and state prevailing wage labor, and return quantities against the owner's bid items when a bid form is provided. Recent public work includes fire stations, schools, a road and roundabout project and a building on a military base.

PDF is the most common. We also accept DWG and DXF drawings and Revit models, and links from Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive or a plan room.

The trades you want covered, whether labor is union, open shop or prevailing wage, your overhead and profit percentages, any bid form or template to fill in, and the bid date. If you are not sure about any of these, we will ask.

An estimator who works in that trade. Our team is more than 20 in-house estimators, typically with seven to ten years in their trade. Nothing is handed to outside freelancers.

Twice, by a separate QA team. The first review checks the quantities against the drawings. The second checks the priced estimate: rates, extensions, totals and scope gaps. If a quantity is found to be wrong after delivery, we correct it at no charge.

PlanSwift, Bluebeam Revu and On-Screen Takeoff for measuring, Autodesk Revit for model-based work, and our own pricing database for costs. Estimates are delivered in Excel with live formulas, so any number can be changed and the bid recalculates.

Yes. Drawings, prices and bid strategy are never shared, and samples on this site have every client and project detail removed. We will sign a non-disclosure agreement if you want one.