The estimating workflow
Five steps, in the same order, every time. Learn the pipeline once and every job becomes a repeatable process instead of a stressful scramble.
In this series
The five steps
Every good estimate follows the same five steps, in the same order.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 · Plans | Read the set. Understand what's being built before you count anything. |
| 2 · Takeoff | Count and measure. Pull the quantities out of the drawings. |
| 3 · Pricing | Cost each item: materials, labor, equipment, subs. |
| 4 · Markup | Add overhead and profit. This is where cost becomes price. |
| 5 · Proposal | Wrap the price in scope and terms, and win the job. |
Steps 1 through 3 figure out what the job costs you. Step 4 turns that cost into a price. Step 5 turns the price into a signed job.
Why the order matters
Each step feeds the next one with something the next step can't produce on its own. A takeoff without the plans is guesswork. Pricing without a takeoff is a wish. Markup applied to an incomplete cost just multiplies the hole you already dug.
Run the steps out of order and the errors compound quietly, which is exactly what makes them expensive. Run them in order and you can point at any line in the bid and say where the number came from.
- Chapter 4 of 13
The quantity takeoff
Everything you count falls into one of four measurement types. Sort each material into its type, work systematically, and you won't miss a line.
- Chapter 9 of 13
Building the winning proposal
The estimate is for you; the proposal is for the client. A clean proposal often beats a lower price, because it makes you look like the pro who won't surprise them.
