From plan set to priced proposal in two days.
$400 per estimate, or included in Field Support, Full Office and Enterprise
Send what you have. Get the finished document.
You send
- The plan set and specs as a PDF or a shared drive link, with every addendum
- The invitation, the RFP or the customer's request, with the due date
- Your unit prices and assemblies, or the past proposals we build them from
- Sub and supplier quotes as they come in, or the list of who to invite
- Site walk notes and photos, with anything the drawings do not show
- Your letterhead, license numbers and the terms you put on every proposal
You get
- A quantity takeoff by division, each count tagged with the sheet and detail it came from
- A priced proposal on your letterhead: scope, price, alternates, unit prices, exclusions and clarifications
- Sub and supplier quotes leveled on one sheet per trade, scope gaps and plug numbers marked
- Change orders priced from the same takeoff and your unit costs when the scope moves
- Xactimate estimates for restoration and insurance scopes, with the photos attached
- A one-page bid summary: direct cost, general conditions, overhead and profit, and the margin at the bid price
4 steps, one of them a person.
- Step 1
You send the plans
The plan set, specs and addenda as a PDF or a drive link. Tell us the due date.
- Step 2
Agents draft the takeoff
Quantities come off the drawings by division and are priced from your unit costs and assemblies. Sub and supplier quotes are leveled against the same scope.
- Step 3A person checks this
A person checks the numbers
Quantities are spot-checked against the sheets. General conditions, markup and exclusions are compared to your last bid of the same kind. Nothing goes out unchecked.
- Step 4
You sign, we deliver
The proposal arrives on your letterhead within two days. You approve it, and it goes to the owner or GC the way they asked for it. For a full bid, see bid packages.
Notes from the desk
Notes from the estimating desk
Most bad estimates come from one of four mistakes. The takeoff misses a sheet, usually a detail or a late addendum. A sub's quote excludes something the spec puts in that trade. General conditions are a percentage instead of a priced list. The exclusions are left off, so the owner reads the price as covering everything.
We check all four before a proposal goes out. Every count carries its sheet number, so an owner's question takes a minute, not a second takeoff. General conditions are priced line by line for the weeks in the schedule: super, trailer, temp power, dumpsters, fencing.
Leveling sub quotes
The low quote is the low quote only after it covers the same scope as the others. A drywall number without the fire caulking is not low. An electrical number without the fire alarm is not low either. We build one sheet per trade, scope items down the side and each bidder across the top. A gap gets a plug number from your last job, marked as a plug. The plug comes out when a quote covers it. The proposal carries the leveled number, not the lowest one.
When the number is wrong
Found before the opening, we send a revised proposal with a new date and withdraw the first in writing. On a sealed bid, the change goes in the same way as the bid, before the due time. Found after the opening, call before you sign anything. Whether the bid bond is at risk turns on the worksheets and how fast the agency hears about it. That is why every proposal leaves with the takeoff and the leveling sheet behind it, dated.
If a sub backs out after award, the leveling sheet shows the second number and the scope gaps. The replacement is a phone call, not a new bid.
On the page, like everything else.
One-off
$400
per estimate
Up to 4 a month on Field Support, no limit on Full Office and Enterprise.
Asked on the first call.
Do you price from my numbers or yours?
Yours. We price from your past proposals and the sub quotes you send. Where you have no number, we flag it and ask.
Can you price a change order?
Yes. We price it from the same takeoff and your unit costs, with the backup the owner will ask for. Deciding what to ask for is your call.
How fast is an estimate?
Two days from a complete plan set for most jobs. A large set or missing quotes can take longer, and we tell you the day the plans arrive.
Do you write Xactimate estimates?
Yes, for restoration and insurance scopes. Line items and photos in Xactimate, $250 per estimate on its own.
Usually handed over together.
Bid packages
Takeoff, priced proposal, bid forms and bonds paperwork, in by the deadline.
Pay applications
G702 and G703 built from your SOV, waivers attached, in by the cutoff every month.
Invoicing and collections
Invoices out every Friday, statements every month, aging kept current, follow-up calls on a schedule.
Hand this one over.
Tell us about the job. Shahzeb calls within 12 hours. You get the first finished document in 2–7 days.
Prefer the phone? Call (718) 213-0230, Mon–Fri, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm ET.