Davidson · Williamson · Rutherford · Sumner · Wilson · Montgomery
Construction estimating services in Nashville
Takeoffs and priced estimates for Nashville-area general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from Downtown to Franklin, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville and Clarksville.
- Nashville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Clarksville
- Retail, restaurants, hotels, apartments
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Nashville at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects in Nashville 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. Our Tennessee work so far is storefront and glazing for small commercial buildings, including a farm supply store in the Nashville area and restaurants, auto parts and service buildings across the state.
- Area covered
- Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Sumner, Wilson, Maury and Montgomery counties
- Recent Tennessee work
- Farm supply store near Nashville, restaurants, auto parts and oil change buildings, coffee shops
- Nashville cost drivers
- Limestone close to the surface, a decade of heavy demand for labor, hillside sites, fast suburban growth
- Licensing
- Tennessee requires a contractor license for projects of $25,000 or more
- 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
Williamson County · Bid week
Nashville is built on rock, and it has been building without a pause.
Middle Tennessee sits on limestone, often only a few feet under the grass. Any job that goes into the ground, from a footing to a storm line, can turn into rock excavation.
Above ground, hotels, apartments, offices and retail have kept every trade busy for years, and labor is priced accordingly. Four things decide whether a Nashville estimate holds.
Four things a Nashville estimate has to get right
01 · The rock
Excavation that is not just dirt
Rock changes the cost of footings, trenches, ponds and basements, and it is not visible on the architectural drawings.
What changes
Earthwork is calculated from the grading plan and footing depths, with rock on its own line where the soils report shows it.
02 · The labor
A market that has stayed busy
Davidson and Williamson counties carry labor rates above the rest of Tennessee. A statewide or regional average underprices a Nashville job.
What changes
Labor is priced for the project's ZIP code.
03 · The front
Glazing by the frame
A 21,700 square foot farm supply store near Nashville came to $2.30 per square foot of building for glazing; a small restaurant elsewhere in the state came to $26.36.
What changes
Every storefront frame is taken off by mark with its glass sizes, doors and hardware.
04 · The slope
Hillside pads and retaining walls
The hills south and west of the city bring stepped foundations, retaining walls and material hauled off site.
What changes
Walls and import or export volumes are measured from the civil and structural sheets.
Nashville submarkets
Four parts of Middle Tennessee, priced separately
Labor and suppliers differ across the region.
Downtown, Midtown and the Gulch
Hotels, high-rise apartments, offices and hospitality fit-outs on tight sites.
Williamson County
Franklin, Brentwood, Spring Hill and Nolensville: corporate offices, retail, medical office and housing.
Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties
Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Mount Juliet and Hendersonville: retail, distribution, schools and apartments.
Clarksville and the outer counties
Military-related, retail and manufacturing work to the north and west.
Real Nashville figures
What recent Tennessee projects cost, by trade
Trade costs from glazing estimates we delivered on Tennessee projects. One is in the Nashville area; the others are in Knoxville, Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities.
They are shown so you can see real figures from the state. Your project would be priced to its own Nashville-area ZIP code.
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.
| Nashville project and trade | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Farm supply store, Nashville area, 21,700 sq ft: glazing | $49,901 | $2.30 |
| Fast-food restaurant, Knoxville, 3,250 sq ft: glazing | $85,583 | $26.36 |
| Auto parts store, Chattanooga area, 7,450 sq ft: glazing | $42,849 | $5.75 |
| Oil change building, Chattanooga, 5,280 sq ft: glazing | $29,440 | $5.58 |
Published market ranges
What building in Nashville costs per square foot
For whole buildings, where our Tennessee work so far is single trades, these are the published ranges for Nashville.
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 | $370 | $610 |
| Office, secondary | $265 | $370 |
| Retail, strip center | $200 | $290 |
| Hotel, three-star | $335 | $445 |
| Hospital | $725 | $1,000 |
| Warehouse | $135 | $210 |
| Multifamily residential | $215 | $375 |
| Single-family residential | $245 | $485 |
| Elementary school | $340 | $495 |
| High school | $420 | $645 |
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. Storefront, doors and windows, from a finished job: a automotive service building, 5,600 sq ft in Kentucky. 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 Nashville contractors ask for
Storefront and glazing
Retail, restaurants and service buildings, frame by frame.
Storefront estimatingEarthwork
Cut, fill and rock from the grading plan.
Earthwork estimatingConcrete
Footings, slabs and walls, with rebar in pounds.
Concrete estimatingCommercial buildings
Every trade on the drawings for general contractors.
Commercial estimating
Places around Nashville we price
- Nashville
- Franklin
- Brentwood
- Murfreesboro
- Smyrna
- La Vergne
- Hendersonville
- Gallatin
- Mount Juliet
- Lebanon
- Spring Hill
- Nolensville
- Goodlettsville
- Clarksville
- Columbia
- Dickson
Pricing data
How a Nashville 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 Nashville.
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 Nashville 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 Nashville 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.
Nashville 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
Nashville construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We price projects in Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville, Mount Juliet and Clarksville, each to its own ZIP code.
Rider Levett Bucknall's second quarter 2026 report puts Nashville at $215 to $375 per square foot for multifamily, $135 to $210 for warehouses, $335 to $445 for a three-star hotel and $370 to $610 for prime offices. Those are published ranges for whole buildings; a bid needs quantities from the drawings.
Yes. Our Tennessee work so far is storefront and glazing for small commercial buildings: a farm supply store near Nashville at $2.30 per square foot of building, a Knoxville restaurant at $26.36, and auto parts and service buildings around Chattanooga at about $5.60 to $5.75.
Where the soils report shows rock, it is carried on its own line with its own unit price. Quantities come from the grading plan and the footing and utility depths; we do not guess at what is underground.
Yes. We estimate every CSI division, from earthwork and concrete to mechanical, electrical and finishes. Samples for each division are on the samples page, from projects in other states.
Yes, for projects of $25,000 or more, with a monetary limit set on each license.
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 (storefront, doors and windows, for a automotive service building, 5,600 sq ft in Kentucky), 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 Nashville, 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 Nashville project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Nashville ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.