Northern Virginia · Richmond · Hampton Roads · Roanoke · Southwest Virginia
Construction estimating services in Virginia
Takeoffs and priced estimates for Virginia general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from Fairfax County to Hampton Roads and the Southwest, priced to the project's ZIP code.
- Northern Virginia, Richmond, Hampton Roads
- Priced by ZIP code
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Virginia at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects across Virginia. 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 Virginia work includes the site for a county fire station, demolition of a two-building office complex in Fairfax County, concrete for a middle school renovation, a hotel storefront package and mechanical work on a convenience store and a restaurant.
- Markets
- Northern Virginia, Richmond, Hampton Roads, Roanoke and Lynchburg, the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia
- Recent Virginia work
- Fire station site, office complex demolition, school concrete, a hotel, a convenience store, restaurants
- Virginia cost drivers
- Washington-area labor rates, public and federal wage rules, tidal flood zones, mountain sites in the west
- Licensing
- Class A, B or C contractor license, set by the size of the contract
- 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
Northern Virginia · Bid day
Half of Virginia prices like Washington, and the other half does not.
Northern Virginia shares a labor market with the District: data centers, offices, schools and federal buildings bid at some of the highest rates in the South. Three hours southwest, the same trade prices very differently.
Much of the work is also public, which brings wage determinations and bid forms with it. Four things decide whether a Virginia estimate holds.
Four things a Virginia estimate has to get right
01 · The site
Site work that outweighs the building
On a county fire station we estimated, the site alone carried $4.54 million in trade cost on a 2.6-acre lot.
What changes
Site quantities are calculated from the civil sheets, with cut, fill, pipe and paving on their own lines.
02 · The wages
Public and federal wage rules
Federal jobs carry Davis-Bacon rates, and state-funded projects above the threshold carry Virginia prevailing wages. A private-work labor rate underprices both.
What changes
Labor is priced at the wage determination for the job, with fringes added.
03 · The teardown
Demolition by phase
Redevelopment around Tysons and the Dulles corridor starts with taking buildings down. Interior, mechanical and structural demolition have different crews, rates and debris volumes.
What changes
Demolition is taken off by phase and by material, with debris volume calculated.
04 · The water
Tidal flooding in Hampton Roads
Norfolk, Virginia Beach and the Peninsula build in flood zones, with raised floors, piles and flood-resistant materials below the design elevation.
What changes
Raised structure and fill are measured from the structural and civil drawings as designed.
Virginia markets
Four Virginia markets, priced separately
Each prices on its own labor and supplier base.
Northern Virginia
Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington: data centers, offices, schools, public safety buildings and federal work at Washington-area rates.
Richmond and Central Virginia
State government, healthcare, university, apartments and distribution.
Hampton Roads
Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Newport News: military, port, shipyard and coastal work in flood zones.
Roanoke and the Southwest
Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg and Bristol: retail, hotels, restaurants and institutional work on mountain sites.
Real Virginia figures
What recent Virginia projects cost, by trade
Trade costs from estimates we delivered on Virginia projects, across six different trades.
The fire station shows how much of a public building's cost can sit outside it: the site came to $40.29 per square foot of site before the building was priced at all.
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.
| Virginia project and trade | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Fire station site, Prince William County, 112,800 sq ft of site: site work | $4,544,164 | $40.29 |
| Office complex, Fairfax County, 347,000 sq ft: demolition | $3,298,670 | $9.50 |
| Middle school renovation, Northern Virginia: cast-in-place concrete | $2,496,941 | |
| Hotel, Southwest Virginia, 77,600 sq ft: glazing | $474,328 | $6.11 |
| Convenience store, Lynchburg, 6,430 sq ft: mechanical | $199,668 | $31.07 |
| Restaurant, Fairfax County, 3,890 sq ft: HVAC | $143,559 | $36.87 |
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. Demolition, from a finished job: a education building, 8,260 sq ft in Maryland. Open it full screen, scroll through all 3 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 Virginia work to show
Earthwork and site work
The fire station site, from the civil drawings.
Earthwork estimatingDemolition
A two-building office complex, by phase.
Demolition estimatingConcrete
Cast-in-place work on a school renovation.
Concrete estimatingHVAC and mechanical
A convenience store and a restaurant, with duct by size.
HVAC estimating
Virginia cities we price
- Arlington
- Alexandria
- Fairfax
- Reston
- Herndon
- Vienna
- Woodbridge
- Manassas
- Leesburg
- Richmond
- Virginia Beach
- Norfolk
- Chesapeake
- Newport News
- Hampton
- Roanoke
- Lynchburg
- Charlottesville
- Fredericksburg
- Bristol
Pricing data
How a Virginia 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 Virginia.
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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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.
Virginia 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
Virginia construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We estimate projects in Northern Virginia, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Roanoke, Lynchburg and the rest of the state, each priced to the project's ZIP code.
On a fire station site in Prince William County that we estimated, site work came to $4,544,164 in trade cost, or $40.29 per square foot of site. Site cost depends on the grading, the utilities and what is in the ground, so it is calculated from the civil drawings.
On a 347,000 square foot, two-building office complex in Fairfax County, demolition trade cost was $3,298,670, or $9.50 per square foot of building. It was priced by phase: interior and mechanical demolition first, then the structure above grade.
On a 3,890 square foot restaurant in Fairfax County, HVAC trade cost was $143,559, or $36.87 per square foot. On a 6,430 square foot convenience store in Lynchburg, mechanical work was $199,668, or $31.07 per square foot.
Yes. Labor is priced at the wage determination for the project, with fringe benefits added, on federal work and on state-funded projects that carry Virginia prevailing wages.
Virginia licenses contractors as Class A, B or C according to the value of the contracts they take. It does not change the estimate, but it shapes who can bid which project.
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 (demolition, for a education building, 8,260 sq ft in Maryland), 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 Virginia, 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 Virginia project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Virginia ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.