Greater Boston · MetroWest · Worcester · Springfield · Cape and South Coast
Construction estimating services in Massachusetts
Takeoffs and priced estimates for Massachusetts general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from Boston to the Pioneer Valley, priced to the ZIP code the job is built in.
- Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge
- Priced by ZIP code
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Massachusetts at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects across Massachusetts. 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 Massachusetts work includes plumbing for a Boston apartment building, painting for a mixed-use building, door and access control replacement at a federal medical center, and four trades on a senior living community renovation.
- Markets
- Greater Boston, MetroWest and Route 128, Worcester, Springfield and the Pioneer Valley, Cape Cod and the South Coast
- Recent Massachusetts work
- Apartment building, mixed-use building, federal medical center, senior living renovation, retail store
- Massachusetts cost drivers
- Union labor in Greater Boston, prevailing wage on public work, renovation of old buildings, winter conditions
- Public bidding
- Filed sub-bids for the listed trades on public building projects
- 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
Greater Boston · Bid day
Massachusetts is a renovation market with some of the highest labor rates in the country.
Much of the work here is inside a building that already exists: a triple-decker lot in Dorchester, a town hall wing, a hospital floor. The drawings come in phases and alternates, and the labor is among the most expensive in the United States.
Public work adds its own rules, with prevailing wages and sub-bids filed trade by trade. Four things decide whether a Massachusetts estimate holds.
Four things a Massachusetts estimate has to get right
01 · The phases
Base bid, phases and alternates
A senior living renovation we estimated was drawn in a base bid, an alternate and three later phases. Priced as one lump, none of them could be awarded on its own.
What changes
Each phase and alternate gets its own sheet and its own total, added up on the summary.
02 · The wages
Union and prevailing wage labor
Greater Boston is a union market, and every public project in the state carries prevailing wage rates. An open-shop rate from another state badly underprices both.
What changes
Labor is priced as union, open shop or prevailing wage with fringes, whichever the job calls for.
03 · The sub-bid
Filed sub-bids, trade by trade
On public building projects, trades such as plumbing, HVAC, electrical, masonry, roofing and painting file their own bids on their own section of the specifications.
What changes
The takeoff is limited to the filed section, with inclusions and exclusions listed against the specification.
04 · The building
Old construction and tight sites
Renovation in brick and timber buildings means selective demolition, patching and work in occupied space, on streets with no laydown room.
What changes
Demolition, protection and patching are taken off as their own items, not buried in the new work.
Massachusetts markets
Four Massachusetts markets, priced separately
Each prices on its own labor and supplier base.
Boston and the inner core
Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Quincy: life science, hospitals, universities, apartments and renovation at union rates.
MetroWest and Route 128
Newton, Waltham, Framingham and the office and laboratory parks around the ring roads.
Worcester and Springfield
Central Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley: healthcare, colleges, schools, retail and manufacturing.
Cape Cod, the South Coast and the North Shore
Housing, hospitality and municipal work, with coastal exposure and seasonal schedules.
Real Massachusetts figures
What recent Massachusetts projects cost, by trade
Trade costs from estimates we delivered on Massachusetts projects.
Plumbing on a small Boston apartment building came to $78.20 per square foot of building, more than many whole buildings cost per square foot elsewhere, because apartments pack kitchens and bathrooms into little floor area, at Boston labor rates.
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.
| Massachusetts 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 |
| Retail store, western Massachusetts, 5,330 sq ft: painting | $61,453 |
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 cities
Services with Massachusetts work to show
Plumbing
A Boston apartment building, fixture by fixture and pipe by size.
Plumbing estimatingPainting and wall covering
A mixed-use building and a retail store, by paint tag.
Painting estimatingDoors, frames and hardware
A phased renovation and a medical center, by opening.
Door and hardware estimatingDrywall and ceilings
Partitions by type and acoustical ceilings on a renovation.
Drywall estimating
Massachusetts cities we price
- Boston
- Cambridge
- Worcester
- Springfield
- Lowell
- Quincy
- Newton
- Somerville
- Brockton
- Lynn
- Framingham
- Waltham
- Medford
- New Bedford
- Fall River
- Plymouth
- Salem
- Amherst
- Pittsfield
- Hyannis
Pricing data
How a Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts.
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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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.
Massachusetts 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
Massachusetts construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We estimate projects in Boston, Cambridge, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, the South Coast, Cape Cod and the rest of the state, each priced to the project's ZIP code.
On a 13,300 square foot Boston apartment building we estimated, plumbing trade cost was $1,036,815, or $78.20 per square foot of building. Small apartment buildings run high per square foot because every unit has a kitchen and at least one bathroom.
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. A 5,330 square foot retail store in western Massachusetts came to $61,453.
Yes. The takeoff follows the filed section of the specifications, and inclusions and exclusions are listed against it, so the sub-bid matches what the section requires.
Yes. Labor on public projects is priced at the prevailing wage rates issued for that job, with benefits included. Federal projects are priced at Davis-Bacon rates with fringes.
Yes. On a senior living renovation west of Boston, doors, frames and hardware were priced as a base bid, an alternate and three further phases, each with its own total, $645,999 in trade cost in all.
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 Massachusetts, 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 service areas and services
Bidding a Massachusetts project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Massachusetts ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.