Construction Estimating Services
for Contractors

Construction estimating services turn your drawings and specifications into measured quantities and, if you ask for it, a priced estimate. F&K Estimatings measures every item digitally, marks it up on the PDF so you can check it, and organizes the numbers by CSI MasterFormat division in Excel, with the assumptions and exclusions written down.

A single-trade takeoff is $150 – $350, a residential construction estimate is $250 – $450, a commercial preconstruction package is $450 – $1,200, and industrial or heavy civil takeoffs are $1,000 – $3,500+. A dedicated estimator retainer is $1,800 – $3,000 / month. The exact fee is confirmed in a written quote.

An estimate can only be as complete as the documents behind it. We list the sheets, revisions and specifications used, mark every quantity on the drawings so you can check it, and state assumptions and exclusions. We do not advertise an accuracy percentage. If a quantity does not match the documents we were given, tell us and we will review and correct it.

Standard turnaround is 24–48 hours for a single trade; 2–5 business days for multi-trade or large projects. A commercial preconstruction package is typically 2–4 business days; the delivery date for your project is written into the quote.

Send the drawing set (PDF, or a Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive link), specifications and any addenda, the trades you need, whether you want quantities only or a priced estimate, the project ZIP code and your bid date. You will receive a written quote with the fee and delivery date, usually the same business day.

Takeoffs are done in PlanSwift and Bluebeam Revu, with trade tools such as Trimble Accubid for electrical and FastPIPE/FastDUCT for mechanical where needed. Pricing uses RSMeans-based localized cost data or your own labor and material rates if you provide them.

Color-coded PDF markups, an editable Excel quantity sheet organized by CSI MasterFormat, a list of documents used, assumptions and exclusions, and scope-gap notes you can turn into RFIs. Priced estimates add labor, material and equipment costs, general conditions and markups. Commercial packages can include a subcontractor bid-leveling sheet.

Revisions for addenda are quoted separately unless they are included in the written quote. Send the addendum and we will tell you what needs re-measuring and the fee before starting.

You pay per project instead of a salary, benefits and software licenses, and you can add capacity only when your bid calendar is full. If you bid enough to keep an estimator busy year round, an in-house hire may make sense; our pricing page compares the two with labeled assumptions.