Preliminary and Budget Estimating Services
We produce early-stage cost estimates from concept sketches, schematic drawings and program documents — with the estimate class stated, the accuracy range given honestly, and the assumptions that carry the number written out. An early estimate that pretends to be precise is worse than no estimate at all.
Get a Free QuoteEarly Estimates Have a Range. We State It.
This is the honest part of the service, and it is the part most firms will not say out loud.
Accuracy is a property of the information, not of the estimator. From a napkin sketch and a square footage, nobody can produce a number accurate to a few percent. From a complete bid set, most competent estimators can get close. The information available sets the achievable accuracy, and no amount of care changes that.
So every estimate we produce states its class. Using the AACE classification framework, which ties the class of estimate to the level of project definition and to a stated expected accuracy range. That tells you what the number is worth before you build a decision on it.
A range is more useful than a false point. A single figure invites a decision it cannot support. A range with its basis stated tells you what you are risking, and it lets you decide whether the decision needs better information before it is taken.
And the range narrows as the design develops. The same project re-estimated at schematic, design development and construction documents produces three estimates with three ranges, each tighter than the last. That is how it should work, and tracking the movement is more informative than any single number.
What We Can Estimate From
A program and a site. Building type, gross area, storeys, intended quality level and location. The widest range, but a real answer — enough to test whether a project is plausible before spending on design.
Concept sketches. Massing, floor plates and a basic section. Enough to establish envelope area against floor area, which is one of the strongest early cost indicators there is.
Schematic design. Plans, elevations and an outline specification. Systems can be identified rather than assumed, and the major cost drivers become visible.
Design development. Developed drawings and a specification. Real quantities can be measured for the major elements, with allowances carried for what is still undefined, and the range tightens substantially.
A comparable and a variance. Where you have cost data from a similar completed project, we can work from it — adjusting for location, time, size, quality and the specific differences, with each adjustment stated so you can challenge it.
What an Early Estimate Includes
Costs organized by system or division. Broken down far enough to show where the money is and to let you test alternatives, rather than delivered as a single figure you cannot interrogate.
Every assumption written out. Structural system, envelope type, mechanical approach, finish level, site conditions — the assumptions carry most of the number at this stage, so they are listed rather than buried.
Allowances stated individually. Each with its basis. An early estimate is substantially allowances, and hiding that fact inside blended rates makes the estimate impossible to improve as information arrives.
Design contingency and its basis. Carried explicitly and sized to the level of design definition, because design will develop and it generally develops upward.
Escalation to the expected construction period. An estimate prepared today for a project bidding in eighteen months needs escalation stated as its own line with the assumed rate and period, not folded into the base.
What is excluded. Land, financing, design fees, furniture, owner-furnished equipment and permits are frequently outside the construction cost, and confusion about which are in is a recurring reason budgets fail.
Why Early Budgets Fail
A square foot rate from a different project
The most common method and the least reliable. Rates carry the structural system, envelope, finish level, site conditions and market of the project they came from, and applying one across a different project imports all of those assumptions invisibly.
Escalation ignored
A budget set today for a project bidding in two years and building for three after that is a budget in today's dollars for tomorrow's project. Not stating the escalation assumption is deciding to absorb whatever happens.
Design contingency omitted
Design develops, and it develops upward. An early estimate with no design contingency is an estimate that assumes nothing gets added, which has never once been true.
Site conditions assumed benign
Before a geotechnical report exists, foundations, undercut, rock and groundwater are all unknown. Assuming the favourable case on all of them compounds into a substantial understatement on a difficult site.
Scope boundary unclear
Whether the budget includes site work, utilities to the property line, furniture, equipment or permits is frequently never settled, and each party assumes their own reading. It surfaces as a shortfall.
A precise-looking number nobody questioned
A figure quoted to the dollar from schematic drawings reads as authoritative and is not. Precision and accuracy are different things, and false precision stops people asking the questions that would have improved the estimate.
Estimate Classes and What They Mean
What You Receive
- A cost estimate in editable Excel, organized by system or CSI division
- The estimate class stated, with the expected accuracy range for that class
- A written assumptions schedule — at this stage the assumptions carry most of the number
- Allowances listed individually with the basis for each
- Design contingency stated as its own line, sized to the level of definition
- Escalation stated as its own line, with the assumed rate and period
- An exclusions list stating what sits outside the construction cost
- Where useful, a comparison of options or alternatives on the same basis
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 what the information supports. Quantities where the drawings allow them, allowances where they do not, and the estimate class and accuracy range stated on the face of the document so you know what the number is worth.
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 for the estimate class you need, from whatever documents exist. An early estimate is quoted on the work of establishing and justifying the assumptions, which at this stage carry most of the number.
What moves the quote: the level of design definition available, building type and complexity, how many options or alternatives you want compared, and turnaround.
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.
Using a Budget Estimate Well
Re-estimate at each design stage rather than once. The movement between estimates is more informative than any single number, and it tells you early whether the design is drifting away from the budget while there is still time to act.
Test alternatives on the same basis. Comparing two structural systems or two envelope approaches within one estimate, with everything else held constant, is a far better use of an early estimate than pursuing precision on a single scheme.
Treat the allowances as a to-do list. Every allowance is an item where information would improve the number, and working through them in order of size is the fastest way to narrow the range.
Do not report the estimate as a single figure to anyone who will hold you to it. The range exists; suppressing it does not make it go away, it just moves the consequence to whoever reads the number and believes it.
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:
- AACE International Recommended Practice 17R-97 — cost estimate classification system, which defines the classes and their expected accuracy ranges
- AACE 18R-97 — cost estimate classification as applied in engineering, procurement and construction
- ASTM E2516 — classification of cost estimate formats
- UNIFORMAT II elemental classification, where a systems-based breakdown suits the stage better than MasterFormat
- Every estimate states its class, its accuracy range, its pricing basis and the date that basis was current
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is a budget estimate?
It depends entirely on the information available, which is why we state the estimate class and its expected accuracy range on the face of the document. From a program and an area the range is wide; from developed drawings it is much tighter. Any firm quoting a single precise figure from schematic drawings is describing a level of certainty the information cannot support.
What's the minimum you need to produce an estimate?
A building type, a gross area, a number of storeys, an intended quality level and a location will produce a real order-of-magnitude answer. It will have a wide range and we will say so. Send whatever you have and we will tell you what it supports before you commit to anything.
Do you include escalation?
Yes, as its own line with the assumed rate and period stated. An estimate prepared today for a project bidding in eighteen months and building for two years after that is a number in today's dollars for tomorrow's project, and folding escalation into the base rate hides an assumption you should be able to challenge.
Do you carry a design contingency?
Yes, explicitly and sized to the level of design definition. Design develops and it generally develops upward, so an early estimate with no design contingency has assumed nothing will be added — which has never been true on any project.
Can you compare design options?
Yes, and it is one of the best uses of an early estimate. Two structural systems or two envelope approaches priced within one estimate with everything else held constant gives you a genuine comparison, which is more valuable at this stage than pursuing precision on a single scheme.
Should we re-estimate as the design develops?
Yes. The same project estimated at schematic, design development and construction documents produces three numbers with three ranges, each tighter than the last, and the movement between them tells you whether the design is drifting away from the budget while there is still time to act on it.
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.
Send whatever you have and we will tell you what it supports
Upload your plans or tell us what you need. We’ll reply with pricing and a delivery date.
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