The District · Northern Virginia · Suburban Maryland
Construction estimating services in Washington DC
Takeoffs and priced estimates for DC-area general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, from interior alterations in old buildings to federally funded work.
- DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Renovation and fit-out
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Washington DC at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects in Washington DC and the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs. 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 District work includes a first-floor office alteration priced at $80 per square foot in trade cost.
- Markets
- The District, Arlington and Alexandria, Fairfax County, Montgomery and Prince George's counties
- Recent DC work
- First-floor office alteration: demolition, partitions, doors, millwork and finishes
- DC cost drivers
- Renovation of existing buildings, federal wage rules, historic review, tight sites
- Code
- DC Construction Codes, administered by the Department of Buildings
- 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
Northwest DC · Walk-through at 9
Most DC work is inside a building that is already there. That is where the estimate goes wrong.
The District is nearly built out and capped in height, so a large share of its construction is alteration: offices refitted, rowhouses converted, old buildings brought up to current code.
Renovation is harder to estimate than new work, because the cost is in what comes out, what has to be protected and what the small quantities really take. Four things decide whether a DC estimate holds.
Four things a DC estimate has to get right
01 · The demolition
Demolition as an allowance
Interior demolition is priced from a guess more often than from a count. Bearing and non-bearing walls, doors, fixtures, flooring and ceilings each come out differently.
What changes
Every item to be removed is measured on the demolition plan and listed by tag.
02 · The small job
General requirements on a small footprint
On a 1,600 sq ft alteration, supervision, mobilization, protection and cleaning do not shrink with the floor area. On one DC office they were $16.90 per square foot.
What changes
General requirements are itemized line by line, so they are visible and not buried in unit rates.
03 · The wage
Federal wage rules
Federally funded work pays Davis-Bacon wages, and District-funded work has its own requirements. Open-shop rates on that work are wrong.
What changes
Tell us the wage requirement and labor is priced at the determination for the trade.
04 · The review
Historic districts and old buildings
Much of the District is in a historic district, where windows, doors and exterior materials may have to match what was there.
What changes
Materials are priced as specified on the drawings, not swapped for a standard product.
DC-area markets
The DC-area markets, priced separately
The region crosses three jurisdictions with different codes, taxes and labor.
The District
Office alterations, rowhouse and apartment renovation, institutional, embassy and federal work, on tight sites with limited parking and staging.
Northern Virginia
Arlington, Alexandria, Tysons, Reston and Fairfax: offices, data centers, multifamily and defense-related work.
Suburban Maryland
Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville and Prince George's County: life-science, healthcare, schools and multifamily.
Federal and public work
Projects across all three with federal wage requirements, security rules and stricter documentation.
Real Washington DC work
Sample takeoffs from a DC office alteration
Three pages from one finished job in the District: a first-floor office alteration of about 1,580 sq ft. The client name, address and title block are removed; the quantities are as delivered. Click any page to enlarge.
Demolition
Interior demolition takeoff for a DC office alteration
Protects you fromA demolition allowance.
New work
Fit-out takeoff for a DC office alteration
Protects you fromDoors and millwork counted twice or not at all.
Ceilings
Gypsum ceiling takeoff for a DC office alteration
Protects you fromWet-room board priced as standard.
Every estimate is built to the client's own specification, so yours may be laid out differently. To see a past project in your own trade, ask for an example. Examples are finished work for other projects, not an estimate of yours; for pricing on your own job, send your DC drawings for a free quote.
Real Washington DC figures
What a DC office alteration cost, by division
The division totals from the estimate we delivered for the office alteration shown above, a space of about 1,580 sq ft.
Trade cost came to $126,270, or $80.07 per square foot. General requirements were more than a fifth of that, which is typical of small interior work in the District.
Figures are trade cost before overhead, profit and contingency, from the delivered estimate. They are specific to that project 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.
| Division | Cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Finishes: partitions, ceilings, flooring, paint | $48,853 | $30.98 |
| General requirements | $26,649 | $16.90 |
| Doors, frames and hardware | $21,056 | $13.35 |
| Cabinets and millwork | $13,386 | $8.49 |
| Equipment, furnishings and specialties | $11,987 | $7.60 |
| Demolition | $4,339 | $2.75 |
| Trade cost | $126,270 | $80.07 |
Full sample
Read a full sample, page by page
Office alteration estimate, from a finished job: a first-floor office, 1,580 sq ft in Washington DC. Open it full screen, scroll through all 6 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 behind this kind of DC work
Demolition
Selective and interior demolition measured item by item.
Demolition estimatingDrywall and ceilings
Partitions by type and height, ceilings by board.
Drywall estimatingFlooring and paint
Finishes measured by tag from the finish plan.
Flooring estimatingWhole-project estimates
Every division for a general contractor's bid.
GC estimating
DC-area places we price
- Washington DC
- Arlington
- Alexandria
- Bethesda
- Silver Spring
- Rockville
- Tysons
- Reston
- Fairfax
- Falls Church
- College Park
- Gaithersburg
- Bowie
- Herndon
Pricing data
How a Washington DC 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 Washington DC.
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 Washington DC 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 Washington DC 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.
Every job is quoted individually from the drawings, and the quote is free. See all pricing
After delivery
An editable Excel workbook and 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
Free revisions, with no limit
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
Washington DC construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We estimate projects in the District and across the surrounding suburbs, including Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Bethesda, Silver Spring and Rockville. Each is priced to the project's ZIP code.
On one first-floor office alteration of about 1,580 square feet that we estimated in the District, trade cost was $126,270, or $80.07 per square foot, before overhead and profit. Finishes were $30.98 of that and general requirements $16.90. It covered demolition and architectural work, not mechanical or electrical.
Yes. Tell us the wage requirement and labor is priced at the applicable determination for each trade.
Yes. Each wall, door, fixture, floor and ceiling to be removed is measured on the demolition plan and listed by tag. On the DC office alteration, demolition came to $4,339.
Supervision, mobilization, protection, temporary facilities and cleaning do not scale down with floor area. On a small alteration they can exceed a fifth of trade cost, which is why we itemize them.
We price the materials and methods the drawings and specifications call for, including matching windows, doors and finishes where they are specified.
Both. General contractors get every trade on the drawings; subcontractors get their own trade isolated and returned in the GC's format. Suppliers get quantities only.
Yes. This page shows a full sample from a finished job (office alteration estimate, for a first-floor office, 1,580 sq ft in Washington DC), 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 Washington DC, 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. The quote is free and usually comes back in about 20 minutes.
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.
Other service areas and services
Bidding a DC-area project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.