Government and Public Works Estimating Services
We estimate government and public works projects from your bid documents — priced to the applicable wage determination, organized against the bid schedule the agency published, with the submittal, documentation and compliance obligations that public work carries quantified rather than absorbed.
Get a Free QuotePublic Work Prices Differently
Not because the construction is different, but because the contract around it is.
Labor is priced to a determination. Where prevailing wage applies, the labor basis is the published determination for the classification and the location — not your rates adjusted by a percentage. Fringe, overtime rules and classification disputes all follow from it.
The bid form dictates the structure. The agency publishes the schedule, the alternates, the unit prices and the allowances. The estimate has to be organized against that structure rather than against a convenient one, because that is the document you sign.
Documentation is a deliverable. Certified payroll, submittal processing, as-builts, O&M manuals, training and closeout documentation are contract obligations with real hours behind them, and they are routinely absorbed into overhead where they do not belong.
And the process has its own duration. Agency review cycles, inspection hold points, approval of substitutions and the notice requirements in the contract all consume time that a private project would not spend.
What We Quantify
The full scope against the bid schedule. Every item on the agency's schedule priced on its own basis, with units matching the schedule so the bid form can be completed directly from the estimate.
Labor at the applicable determination. By classification against the published wage determination, with fringe carried and the overtime and shift rules the contract imposes reflected in the productivity assumption.
General conditions from the schedule. Supervision, facilities, equipment and duration-driven costs built from the contract time rather than applied as a percentage, since public contracts specify the duration.
Submittal and documentation scope. Submittal preparation and processing, shop drawings, certified payroll administration, as-builts, O&M manuals, training and closeout — quantified as hours rather than absorbed.
Testing, inspection and special inspection. Where the contract assigns them to the contractor, including the coordination and the hold points they create in the programme.
Bonds and insurance. Where the contract requires performance and payment bonds and specific insurance limits, carried as their own cost rather than folded into markup.
Compliance requirements. Buy America or domestic material provisions, apprenticeship or local hire requirements, disadvantaged business participation goals and the administration each of them carries.
Liquidated damages exposure. Not a cost line, but a risk worth identifying — the daily rate and the contract time together tell you what schedule risk is actually worth on this project.
Where Public Bids Go Wrong
Prevailing wage applied as a percentage
A determination is a classification-by-classification rate with fringe, not a uniform uplift on your normal labor. Applying an average percentage is wrong on every classification and wrong by a different amount on each.
Documentation obligations absorbed
Certified payroll, submittals, as-builts, O&M manuals and training are contract deliverables with real hours. Treating them as overhead understates them and hides them from the person who has to do them.
Contract time not priced
Public contracts specify a duration and attach liquidated damages to it. A bid built on an optimistic schedule with general conditions to match has understated the cost and taken the damages risk at the same time.
Compliance administration underestimated
Apprenticeship requirements, local hire goals, domestic material certification and participation reporting each carry administrative time, and on a project with several of them it is a real position rather than a task.
Bonds and insurance folded into markup
Bond rates and specified insurance limits are known costs that can be calculated. Burying them in a percentage means nobody knows whether they were covered.
Substitutions assumed approvable
Public specifications frequently restrict substitutions and require approval before bid. Pricing an alternative product that then gets rejected leaves you holding the specified one at the bid price.
Project Types We Estimate
Municipal buildings. City halls, public safety facilities, libraries, community centres and maintenance facilities, with the finish and durability expectations public buildings carry.
Education facilities. Schools and higher education, frequently with their own state-level review pathway, phasing around academic calendars and summer-only work windows.
Water and wastewater. Treatment plants, pump stations, storage and distribution, where process equipment and the construction-versus-process boundary apply as they do on industrial work.
Transportation and transit. Facilities, stations, maintenance buildings and the civil work around them, frequently with federal funding conditions attached.
Parks and recreation. Community facilities, athletic and aquatic facilities, site improvements and the specialty equipment those carry.
Federal facilities. Following federal design criteria and wage determinations, with security and clearance requirements that affect site access, workforce and productivity rather than unit rates.
Trades on Public Work
The same trades as private work, priced against a different labor basis.
What You Receive
- An estimate in editable Excel organized against the agency's bid schedule
- Labor priced by classification to the applicable wage determination with fringe carried
- General conditions built from the contract time rather than a percentage
- Submittal, documentation and closeout obligations quantified as hours
- Bonds, insurance and compliance administration carried as their own lines
- A marked-up plan set showing where every quantity came from
- An assumptions and exclusions schedule
- The pricing basis and the date that basis was current
Documents We Need
- The full bid set and specifications, including Division 00 and 01
- The bid form with the schedule, alternates, unit prices and allowances
- The applicable wage determination
- Contract time and any liquidated damages provision
- Bond and insurance requirements
- Any compliance requirements — domestic material, apprenticeship, local hire or participation goals
- All addenda issued to date
- Geotechnical report where site work is in scope
- Agency-specific submittal and closeout requirements
Tools and Standards
Quantities, rates and assemblies are read against the published references that govern this work. Where a project specification conflicts with any general reference, the specification governs:
- The applicable federal, state or local prevailing wage determination
- Federal Acquisition Regulation provisions, where the project is federally contracted
- The agency's own standard specifications, where one applies
- CSI MasterFormat, or the agency's bid item structure where it differs
- AACE International cost estimate classification, where an estimate class must be stated
What Public Work Adds to the Programme
Time is a cost on a public contract, and these are the items that consume it without producing any construction.
Submittal and approval cycles. Agency review of shop drawings and product data runs to a stated turnaround, and a rejection restarts it. On a project with hundreds of submittals this is a real staffing requirement.
Inspection hold points. Work that cannot proceed until inspected, with the inspector scheduled rather than available. Each hold point is potential standby time for a crew.
Substitution approvals. Public specifications typically require prior approval for substitutions, sometimes before bid. An unapproved alternative priced in the bid leaves you holding the specified product.
Certified payroll and compliance reporting. Weekly submission with classification detail, plus any apprenticeship, local hire or participation reporting the contract requires. This is administrative time, not overhead.
Closeout documentation. As-builts, O&M manuals, training, warranties and attic stock, all of which are prerequisites to final payment rather than courtesies.
Notice and claim requirements. Contracts specify how and when changed conditions must be notified, and missing the window forfeits the claim. That is a project management obligation with real time behind it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you price prevailing wage work?
Yes, by classification against the published determination with fringe carried, rather than applying a percentage uplift to normal rates. A determination is a rate per classification and applying an average is wrong on every one of them and wrong by a different amount on each. Send the determination with the bid documents.
Do you organize the estimate against the agency's bid form?
Yes. The agency publishes the schedule, the units and the alternates, and the estimate is built against that structure so the bid form can be completed directly from it. That is the document you sign, so it is the one the estimate should match.
Do you carry documentation and submittal obligations?
Yes, as quantified hours rather than as overhead. Certified payroll administration, submittal processing, shop drawings, as-builts, O&M manuals, training and closeout are contract deliverables with real time behind them, and absorbing them hides them from whoever has to do them.
Do you price bonds and insurance?
Yes, as their own lines against the contract requirements rather than folded into markup. Bond rates and specified insurance limits are calculable costs, and burying them in a percentage means nobody knows whether they were actually covered.
Do you account for contract time and liquidated damages?
General conditions are built from the specified contract time, and we identify the liquidated damages rate so you can see what schedule risk is worth on the project. A bid built on an optimistic schedule understates the general conditions and takes the damages risk simultaneously.
Can you handle federal projects?
Yes. Tell us the federal criteria the design follows and the applicable wage determination, and labor and general conditions are priced to them. Security and clearance requirements affecting site access and workforce are carried in general conditions and productivity rather than in unit rates, because that is where they actually land.
Send the bid documents and the wage determination
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