Guides
Construction estimating, explained with real numbers
Short guides for contractors, suppliers and owners on how construction estimates work. Each one answers a single question, from what an estimate costs to the list of CSI MasterFormat divisions, using figures from estimates we delivered and from published sources.
All guides
Six questions contractors ask before they bid
- Updated
How much does a construction estimate cost?
What contractors pay for an estimate or a takeoff, what moves the price, and how it compares with hiring an estimator.
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Construction cost per square foot by city in 2026
Published cost ranges for 15 US cities and five building types, and what real trades cost per square foot on jobs we estimated.
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What is a quantity takeoff? Meaning, methods and a real example
What a takeoff measures, the three ways it is done, the units for each trade, and a real takeoff worked through line by line.
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Quantity takeoff vs cost estimate: what is the difference?
A takeoff counts and measures. An estimate prices what was counted. Here is which one you need and what each contains.
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How to read a construction estimate, with a real example
Every line of a real estimate explained: divisions, trade cost, general requirements, overhead and profit, contingency and tax.
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Davis-Bacon wage rates: what they are, where to find them and how to price them
What the wage determination changes in your labor cost, how fringes and overtime are priced, and the mistakes that lose money.
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CSI MasterFormat divisions: the full list of 50, explained with real estimates
The divisions that organize every specification and estimate, what each one covers, a quick lookup by trade, and a real sample for most of them.
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How to do a masonry takeoff: brick and block formulas, a calculator and a real example
Bricks and blocks per square foot by unit size, mortar, grout and rebar, a quantity calculator, and a real block wall estimate worked line by line.
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How to estimate a demolition job: takeoff, debris and pricing, with a real example
What to measure on a demolition plan, how debris turns into dumpster loads, the labor per item, and a real Baltimore demolition estimate.
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The figures in these guides come from estimates MassBid Estimation delivered, with client names and addresses removed, and from named public sources. For answers about our own service, see the FAQ, the pricing page and the sample estimates.
What the guides cover
Four subjects, one question at a time
- Prices
- What an estimate or a takeoff costs per project, what a monthly plan costs, and how both compare with the wage of an in-house estimator.
- Cost per square foot
- Published 2026 ranges for offices, hospitals, warehouses, apartments and schools in 15 US cities, beside trade costs from our own jobs.
- How estimates are built
- The difference between a takeoff and an estimate, and how trade cost becomes a bid through general requirements, overhead and profit, contingency and tax.
- Rules and standards
- How Davis-Bacon and prevailing wage change the labor in an estimate, and how CSI MasterFormat divisions organize it.
Every guide opens with the answer in two or three sentences, then shows the working: a table of real figures, the steps, and the questions contractors ask next. Where a number comes from a public source, such as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics or a published construction cost report, the source is named and linked. Where it comes from our own work, it is the trade cost from an estimate we delivered, with the client and the address removed.
Quick answers
The short answer to each guide
Outsourced, a single project typically costs $100 to $250 for one trade and $200 to $500 for larger projects, with no salary or software to carry. A full-time cost estimator earns a median of $78,740 a year (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025), before benefits and software.
Published ranges are by city, not ZIP code. For a ZIP-level number, the building has to be priced from its drawings with local material and labor rates, which is how every MassBid estimate is prepared.
A measured list of every material and item a project needs, taken from the drawings and specifications, with each quantity in the unit it is bought or installed in. It has no prices; pricing happens in the estimate.
A takeoff lists quantities measured from the drawings and has no prices. An estimate prices those quantities with material, labor and equipment and adds general requirements, overhead, profit, contingency and tax to reach a total.
Trade cost, or direct cost, is the material, labor and equipment needed to put the work in place, added up by division. It leaves out overhead, profit, contingency and tax.
The minimum wages, a base hourly rate plus a fringe benefit, that contractors must pay laborers and mechanics on federal and federally funded construction over $2,000. The Department of Labor sets them for each classification, county and type of construction.
MasterFormat has 50 divisions, numbered 00 to 49. Several are held in reserve for future use, so fewer than 50 are in active use. Before 2004 there were 16.
About 6.86 standard modular bricks (7-5/8 by 2-1/4 inches) with a 3/8 inch joint, before waste. Larger units need fewer: about 4.57 Norman bricks and 3.0 utility bricks per square foot.
Measure every item on the demolition plans, price each with its labor hours, calculate the debris and the number of dumpster loads, add general requirements and any hazardous material work, then overhead, profit and contingency. List your assumptions, such as wall heights and ceiling types, so the quote is clear about what it covers.
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