Bid Estimating Services
We produce bid-ready estimates against a fixed date — quantified where accuracy changes the outcome, carried as stated allowances where it does not, with the assumptions and exclusions written out so you know exactly what you are submitting. Flat-quoted, with the delivery date confirmed in writing before we start.
Get a Free QuoteBid Estimating Is Estimating Against a Clock
The arithmetic is the same as any other estimate. What is different is that the date cannot move, and that changes how the work is organised.
The deadline is the constraint. Every other estimate can take the time it needs. A bid estimate has to be complete and defensible by a specific hour on a specific day, and an estimate that is ninety percent finished at that hour is worth nothing.
So effort goes where it changes the outcome. The items that decide whether you win or lose money get measured properly. The items that are a small fraction of the number and will not move the result get stated allowances. Spending equal care on both is how estimators run out of time on the wrong things.
Which means the allowances have to be visible. An allowance is a legitimate estimating tool and a liability when it is invisible. Every one is listed with its basis, so you can see what is measured and what is judged before you sign the bid form.
And late information has to be absorbed. Addenda arrive close to bid day, sometimes on it. The estimate has to be structured so a change to one scope does not require rebuilding the whole document, which is a matter of how it is organised rather than how fast anyone works.
What a Bid Estimate Includes
Quantities by division. Organized in CSI MasterFormat so it reconciles against the subcontractor bids arriving in parallel rather than sitting in a format nothing else matches.
Priced scope with the basis stated. Material, labor and equipment with the pricing basis and its date on the face of the estimate, so you know how current the number is when you submit it.
General conditions from the schedule. Where you are bidding as a general contractor, supervision, facilities, equipment and duration-driven costs built from the programme rather than applied as a percentage.
Alternates and unit prices. Priced on the same basis as the base bid rather than last and fastest, because an owner accepting three alternates is buying at whatever those numbers were and unit prices get used against you later.
Allowances and exclusions listed. Every allowance with its basis and every exclusion written out, so the bid form is signed with full knowledge of what sits behind the number.
Addenda incorporated and tracked. Each addendum reflected with its effect identified, so you can see what changed and by how much rather than discovering it in a revised total.
Where Bids Are Lost and Won
Both directions matter. Losing money on a win is worse than losing the bid.
Scope gaps nobody claimed
Blocking, firestopping, housekeeping pads, final connections, access panels. Every trade reads them as somebody else's and the winner absorbs all of them. These are found by comparing packages, not by estimating harder.
General conditions as a percentage
A percentage makes duration free. On a long or phased project it understates the cost of simply being there, and the error grows with exactly the projects that are hardest to build.
Addenda not fully incorporated
A late addendum that changes a system or adds a requirement, absorbed in a hurry, is how a bid goes out carrying an old scope. Tracking each addendum's effect separately is what prevents it.
Bid coverage assumed
Assuming three bids on every trade and getting one on the trade nobody wants is a known risk that can be checked in advance. It is a bid-day surprise only if nobody looked.
Qualifications that void the advantage
A low number with qualifications the owner will not accept is not a low bid. Where an exclusion is likely to be rejected, it is better to know before submitting than to be held to the scope afterwards.
Rushing the wrong items
Time spent perfecting a small scope while a major item is carried as a guess is the classic failure mode of a compressed bid. Effort should follow the money, and that requires deciding early where the money is.
Working to a Deadline
Tell us the date first. The bid date decides whether we can do the work properly, and if we cannot we will tell you when you ask rather than delivering something incomplete on the day. A date we cannot meet is a decline, not a risk we take with your bid.
We confirm what is achievable. Given the set, the scope and the time available, we say what will be measured and what will be carried as an allowance before starting. You approve that split rather than discovering it in the delivered estimate.
Addenda are expected, not exceptional. Send them as they arrive. The estimate is structured so a change to one division does not require rebuilding the rest, and each addendum's effect is identified separately.
Delivery ahead of the deadline. The date we confirm is before your bid date, not on it, because you need time to review the estimate, apply your own markup and make the decisions that are yours rather than ours.
Documents We Need
- The bid set — architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and civil as issued
- The bid date and time, which decides whether we can take the work at all
- Specifications, particularly Division 00 and 01 for general requirements and bid form obligations
- All addenda issued to date, and any issued while we are working
- The bid form, including alternates, unit prices, allowances and any required qualifications
- The scope you want covered — whole building, specific divisions, or a single trade
- The expected construction duration, where general conditions are in scope
- Geotechnical report where site work is included
- Any subcontractor bids already received, if you want them levelled against the estimate
What You Receive
- A bid-ready estimate in editable Excel, organized by CSI MasterFormat division
- A marked-up plan set showing where every measured quantity came from
- Allowances listed individually with the basis for each
- An assumptions and exclusions schedule, written for you to read before signing the bid form
- Alternates and unit prices on the same basis as the base bid
- General conditions built from the schedule, where they are in scope
- A record of which addenda are incorporated and what each one changed
- The pricing basis and the date that basis was current
How It Works
1 · Send your plans. PDF, DWG, DOC, images or ZIP, up to 100MB per file. Tell us the scope you need covered and any format you want it delivered in.
2 · Get your quote. A flat price for the scope with a delivery date, confirmed in writing. There is no charge for the quote and no obligation once you have it.
3 · Approve. Nothing starts until you confirm. If we think a different service would suit you better, this is the point at which we say so.
4 · We estimate against your date. Measured where accuracy changes the outcome, allowances where it does not, with the split agreed before we start and the estimate delivered ahead of your bid date rather than on it.
5 · Delivery. The workbook, the marked-up plan set and the assumptions schedule, with a walkthrough of anything that looks off to you.
How Pricing and Turnaround Work
Quoted flat against your bid date, from the set you send. The date is part of the quote rather than a variable applied to it, and if the deadline does not allow the work to be done properly we tell you at the quote stage instead of taking it.
What moves the quote: scope and division count, how complete the set is, how many addenda are expected, whether alternates and unit prices are in scope, and how much time remains before the bid date.
The price and the delivery date are fixed in writing before you approve anything. There is no hourly billing, no retainer and no monthly minimum, and we do not start work on an open-ended basis.
When We Will Decline a Bid
Saying no is part of the service, and it is more useful to you than a number produced in a time that did not allow for one.
When the date does not allow the work to be done properly. An estimate delivered on time and wrong is worse than no estimate, because you will submit against it.
When the drawings will not support the scope you have asked for. If a set is incomplete or illegible in the areas that matter, we say so when you ask and tell you what could be estimated from it instead.
When the scope is genuinely outside what we do. We estimate construction cost. We are not architects or engineers, we do not design, and we will not price work we cannot quantify from documents.
In each case you hear it at the quote stage, before any charge arises, and with whatever we can tell you about what would work instead.
Standards and Tools
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:
- CSI MasterFormat — the organizing structure, so the estimate reconciles against the subcontractor bids arriving alongside it
- AACE International cost estimate classification, where the estimate class needs stating
- ASTM E2516 — classification of cost estimate formats
- Every estimate states its pricing basis, the date that basis was current, and which addenda are incorporated
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast can you turn a bid estimate around?
Tell us the bid date and the scope and we will confirm what is achievable before starting. If the date does not allow the work to be done properly, you hear that when you ask rather than receiving something incomplete on the day — an estimate delivered on time and wrong is worse than no estimate, because you will submit against it.
What happens when addenda arrive late?
Send them as they come. The estimate is structured so a change to one division does not require rebuilding the rest, and each addendum's effect is identified separately so you can see what changed and by how much rather than being handed a revised total.
Do you use allowances?
Yes, deliberately and visibly. Against a fixed deadline, effort goes where accuracy changes the outcome and smaller items are carried as stated allowances. Every one is listed with its basis, so you can see what is measured and what is judged before you sign the bid form — an allowance is a legitimate tool and a liability only when it is invisible.
Do you price alternates and unit prices?
Yes, on the same basis as the base bid rather than last and fastest. An owner accepting three alternates is buying at whatever those numbers were, and unit prices carried into the contract get used against you for the rest of the project.
Can you level subcontractor bids at the same time?
Yes. Trade bids with a wide spread usually differ in scope rather than in price, so levelling puts them on a common scope with inclusions, exclusions and qualifications side by side. It also exposes the items nobody claimed, which are the empty cells — and those are what the winner ends up absorbing.
When do we get the estimate?
Before your bid date, not on it. You need time to review the estimate, apply your own markup, decide on qualifications and make the judgment calls that are yours rather than ours. The delivery date is confirmed in writing with the quote, before any work starts.
Every Division, Priced the Way the Spec Is Organized
A cost estimate is only as good as the trade knowledge behind each line. These are the trades we quantify and price, grouped the way a specification is.
Project Types We Estimate
Cost drivers change with the building type. Each sector page covers what moves a number on that kind of work.
If You Need Something Narrower
A full priced estimate is not always what the job calls for. These are the adjacent services, including the takeoff-only options that cost less.
We Estimate in All 50 States
Labor rates, wage rules and material costs are priced to the job’s market, not to a national average. Pick a state to see how that works locally.
Tell us the bid date and send the set
Upload your plans or tell us what you need. We’ll reply with pricing and a delivery date.
Need to add trades, ZIP code, target date or project state? Use the full quote form ↗