Nashville · Memphis · Knoxville · Chattanooga · Tri-Cities
Construction estimating services in Tennessee
Takeoffs and priced estimates for Tennessee general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from Memphis to the Tri-Cities, priced to the ZIP code the job is built in.
- Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga
- Priced by ZIP code
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Tennessee at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects across Tennessee. 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 Tennessee work includes restaurants in Knoxville and the Memphis area, a farm supply store near Nashville, and auto parts, oil change and coffee buildings around Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities.
- Markets
- Middle Tennessee around Nashville, Memphis and West Tennessee, Knoxville, Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities
- Recent Tennessee work
- Restaurants, a farm supply store, auto parts and oil change buildings, convenience stores, coffee shops
- Tennessee cost drivers
- Limestone close to the surface, seismic design in the west, hillside sites in the east, Nashville labor demand
- Licensing
- A state contractor license is required 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
Middle Tennessee · Bid week
Three states in one: the Delta, the limestone basin and the mountains.
Tennessee runs more than 400 miles from the Mississippi River to the Appalachians. Memphis builds on river soils inside an earthquake zone, Nashville builds on limestone, and Knoxville and Chattanooga build on slopes.
Nashville has also been one of the busiest building markets in the South for a decade, which pulls labor from the rest of the state. Four things decide whether a Tennessee estimate holds.
Four things a Tennessee estimate has to get right
01 · The rock
Limestone under Middle Tennessee
Around Nashville, rock is often a few feet down. Footings, utility trenches and detention ponds that would be simple digging elsewhere become rock excavation.
What changes
Earthwork is calculated from the grading plan, and rock is carried on its own line where the soils report shows it.
02 · The west
Seismic design near Memphis
West Tennessee sits in the New Madrid seismic zone. Drawings there carry heavier reinforcing, connections and bracing than the same building in Nashville.
What changes
Structural items are taken off as the engineer drew them, not from a typical detail.
03 · The east
Hillside sites
Knoxville, Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities bring stepped foundations, retaining walls and longer hauls.
What changes
Walls, steps and import or export volumes are measured from the civil and structural sheets.
04 · The labor
Nashville rates across the state
Labor in Davidson and Williamson counties runs above the rest of Tennessee. One statewide rate is wrong almost everywhere.
What changes
Labor and material are priced to the project's ZIP code.
Tennessee markets
Four Tennessee markets, priced separately
Each prices on its own labor and supplier base.
Nashville and Middle Tennessee
Offices, hotels, healthcare, apartments and retail from Nashville to Franklin, Murfreesboro and Clarksville.
Memphis and West Tennessee
Distribution, logistics, healthcare and manufacturing, with seismic design requirements.
Knoxville and East Tennessee
University, federal laboratory, retail and restaurant work on sloping sites.
Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities
Manufacturing, retail and service buildings from Chattanooga to Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol.
Real Tennessee figures
What recent Tennessee projects cost, by trade
Trade costs from estimates we delivered on Tennessee projects, all of them storefront and glazing packages for small commercial buildings.
The same trade ran from $2.30 to $26.36 per square foot of building, depending on how much of the front is glass.
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.
| Tennessee project and trade | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Fast-food restaurant, Knoxville, 3,250 sq ft: glazing | $85,583 | $26.36 |
| Farm supply store, Nashville area, 21,700 sq ft: glazing | $49,901 | $2.30 |
| 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 |
| Drive-through coffee shop, Tri-Cities, 1,215 sq ft: glazing | $15,098 | $12.43 |
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 cities
Services Tennessee contractors send us most
Storefront
Restaurants, stores and service buildings, frame by frame.
Storefront estimatingGlazing
Windows, entrances and glass, each with its own sizes.
Glazing estimatingEarthwork
Cut, fill and rock from the grading plan.
Earthwork estimatingCommercial buildings
Every trade on the drawings for general contractors.
Commercial estimating
Tennessee cities we price
- Nashville
- Memphis
- Knoxville
- Chattanooga
- Clarksville
- Murfreesboro
- Franklin
- Brentwood
- Johnson City
- Kingsport
- Bristol
- Jackson
- Hendersonville
- Smyrna
- Cleveland
- Collierville
- Lenoir City
- Cookeville
- Gallatin
- Mount Juliet
Pricing data
How a Tennessee 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 Tennessee.
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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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.
Tennessee 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
Tennessee construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We estimate projects in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, the Tri-Cities and the rest of the state, each priced to the project's ZIP code.
It depends on how much glass the building has. On Tennessee projects we estimated, glazing trade cost was $26.36 per square foot of building on a 3,250 square foot Knoxville restaurant and $2.30 on a 21,700 square foot farm supply store near Nashville.
Where the soils report shows rock, it is carried on its own line with its own unit price. Quantities are calculated from the grading plan and the footing and utility depths; we do not guess at what is underground.
The reinforcing, connections and bracing shown on the structural drawings are taken off as drawn. We price what the engineer specified; we do not design it.
Yes, for projects of $25,000 or more, with a monetary limit set on each license. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical work are licensed as well. It does not change the estimate, but it shapes who can bid which scope.
Yes. Labor and material are priced to the ZIP code, so a Nashville project and one in rural West or East Tennessee carry different rates.
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 Tennessee, 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 Tennessee project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Tennessee ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.