Estimating
Our most-used service in full: what you can order, how it is priced, and what comes back.
The first three build on each other: measured quantities, then costs, then your markup. A preliminary estimate is the rough early version for projects without full drawings.
Measurements only, you do the pricing
The takeoff, fully priced
The priced estimate, ready to submit
An early budget, before full drawings exist
Each estimate ships with the proof behind it, so you can verify the work before a bid goes out under your company's name.
Materials, labor hours, equipment, and waste allowances, itemized with the sheet reference and CSI code. Built to paste into your proposal, or mapped into your own spreadsheet.
Your drawings returned with each scope traced in its own color. When the sheet lists 168 LF of partitions, the PDF shows exactly which walls make up that number.
Gaps and conflicts found in the documents, tied to a sheet and room, with the assumption we priced. You see them early enough to ask the design team before bids close.
Sample project: urgent care clinic, shown on our home page
| RFI | Sheet and location | Question | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RFI-01 | A-501, Room 105 | The lab ceiling isn't on the finish schedule, and exam rooms 102 to 104 call for ACT. Should the lab get washable vinyl-faced tile? Priced as standard 2' × 4' ACT. | Open |
| RFI-02 | S-101, detail 2/S-301 | General notes show the perimeter footing 12" deep, and detail 2 shows 16". Which governs? Priced at 12" per the notes. | Open |
| RFI-03 | A-601, door 6 | No hardware set is listed for the lab-to-staff door. Priced as a passage set with a closer. | Answered |
Each trade gets its own takeoff in the units it is bought and bid in. A full-project estimate is those trade totals added together.
CSI Divisions 31 Earthwork, 32 Exterior Improvements, 33 Utilities
The first crews on site. We measure clearing, earthwork, trenches, and buried utilities from your civil sheets.
Cut and fill, mass excavation, grading, utility trenching, haul-off
Hand off the earthwork math and put those hours into chasing more site packages.
CSI Division 03
Footings, slabs, walls, and elevated decks. Concrete is a costly scope, so a small quantity miss becomes a big dollar miss.
Rebar, formwork, PT tendons, PSI, slab on grade
Rebar weights and form areas take the most takeoff time, so we list both for each element.
CSI Division 04
Brick, concrete block, and stone, from load-bearing CMU buildings to full veneer elevations.
CMU, mortar, grout, bond beams, control joints
A block-heavy job can mean thousands of units. We count them so you don't have to.
CSI Division 05
The structural frame of commercial buildings, measured member by member.
W-shapes, columns, joists, deck, erection drawings
Every member, connection, and weld accounted for, not just the headline tonnage.
CSI Division 06
Wood framing and finish work for homes and light commercial buildings.
Rough and finish carpentry, trusses, sheathing, millwork
Board-foot takeoffs are laid out to trim waste, because every extra percent of lumber comes out of margin.
CSI Division 07
The scopes that keep weather out and heat in, on low-slope commercial roofs and steep-slope homes.
Squares, TPO, flashing, R-value, underlayment
Low-slope TPO or steep-slope shingle, measured in the units you order in.
CSI Division 09
Interior build-out: metal framing, board, paint, ceilings, and floors. Margins are tight and bid counts are high.
Gypsum, tape and finish, ACT, metal framing, finish levels
In a trade won on volume, faster takeoffs mean more bids submitted every week.
CSI Divisions 21 to 28
The densest drawings on most jobs, and the sheets most likely to change right before bids are due.
Ductwork, tonnage, conduit, switchgear, fixture schedules
Each pipe run, conduit path, and fixture gets its own line, so late revisions are easy to trace.
Other scopes we take on: elevators, fencing, landscaping, piling, plaster, glass and glazing, flooring, paint and wallcovering, sheet metal, welding, process and site piping, and mechanical insulation.
Material and equipment costs are matched to current pricing where the project is built. Labor follows how the job will really be staffed.
Non-union labor at market rates. Most private work is priced this way, and rates change from state to state.
Rates, fringes, and work rules come from the local collective bargaining agreement, for example an IBEW local on electrical work.
Required on federally funded construction by the Davis-Bacon Act: a published base rate plus fringes for each trade and county. On some jobs, labor lands close to twice the open-shop figure.
Federal law requires time-and-a-half once a worker passes 40 hours in a week. Compressed schedules push labor costs up quickly.
Try it: switch the labor basis below and watch the same scope change price.
Swipe left to see all columns. Item names stay in place.
| Item | Quantity | Labor | Material | Totals | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | S# | Dwg. | CSI no. | Qty. | Wastage | Qty w/ waste | Unit | Unit labor hour | Total labor hour | Labor wage / hour | Unit labor cost | Total labor cost | Unit material cost | Total material cost | Unit price (L&M) | Trade total |
Sample project with illustrative rates, not a quote. Bid estimates add overhead and profit (often 10% to 20%) on top of direct cost, while quantity takeoffs leave pricing to you. Colored squares match the scopes on the sample plan.
Send them over. You will get a fee and a delivery date by email before any work starts.
