Builders estimate template paid at every stage

What a builders quote should spell out

A builders estimate template laid out the way a build actually runs: site setup, slab, frame, roof, windows and lock up, each priced so the client can follow the job stage by stage. It handles prime cost items, provisional sums, optional extras and a progress payment schedule. Use it as a building quote template in the browser, or take the Word, Excel or PDF file.

A builders quote has to hold up for months, so it needs more than a total. Set out the stages, the specification, what is fixed and what is still an allowance, and how the client pays as the build moves, so a change at frame stage does not unravel the whole price.

1. Plans and specification referenceQuote against a named drawing set and revision, for example plans rev C and the engineer’s slab design, so later changes are clearly changes.
2. Site setup and set outTemporary fencing, site toilet, power, survey set out and site access. A sloping or tight block costs more here than anywhere else.
3. Slab and footingsArea, thickness and the engineer’s footing design. Rock, fill or a poor soil report can change this line, so say which soil conditions you priced. A concrete estimate template helps if you sub the slab out.
4. Frame and roofWall and roof framing, sarking or underlayment, roof covering and gutters, priced by package or by m² of roof, or carried by a sub on a roofing estimate.
5. Windows, doors and lock upWindow and external door count with sizes, and what lock up means on this job: glazed, external doors hung and keyed, cladding complete.
6. Prime cost itemsA prime cost (PC) item is an allowance for something the client picks later, like a front door or tapware. State the allowance and how overs and unders are adjusted.
7. Provisional sumsA provisional sum is an allowance for work that cannot be measured yet, such as rock excavation. Give the figure and charge actual cost plus your stated margin.
8. Progress paymentsDeposit, then a claim at each stage: base, frame, lock up, fixing and completion, or the foundation, framing and dry in stages common in North America.
9. Where your price stopsThe point where interior trades take over, so nobody assumes plaster, kitchen or painting is in. The construction quote templates cover each of those trades.

Sample building quote: 18 m² rear extension

Keystone Builders’ sample prices an 18 m² single story rear extension for Aisha Rahman, taken to lock up and ready for interior trades. Materials cover the slab at $185 per m², a framing package and 22 m² of roofing. Labor covers set out, a three carpenter crew for 120 hours and four window and door installs. A skylight is an optional extra the client can tick. Subtotal before tax is $26,482 with a 5% deposit, all example figures.

Edit the Keystone Builders estimate

7 lines are filled in, from concrete slab and footings to skylight over the new room. Put in your own building rates, then download the PDF.

Open the building sample

How builders price a building job

Builders price at two levels. Early on, a rate per m² or ft² gives the client a budget. For the real quote, you take off every element from the plans, price each trade and material, then add supervision, overhead and margin. Never send the budget rate as the contract price.

1. Rate per m² for budgetsFloor area times a rate from recent jobs of the same type. Fast for a first conversation, but only a guide, and the client should hear that clearly.
2. Elemental takeoffMeasure each element from the drawings: concrete in m³, framing by package, roof in m², windows by count. Price each one with supplier quotes and sub bids. This is the number to sign.
3. Cost plus feeActual costs plus a percentage or fixed management fee, with open books. Suits clients who want to choose finishes as they go and can accept the price risk.
4. Fixed price with allowancesA lump sum with PC items and provisional sums for the unknowns. The usual contract form for extensions and new homes.

Site supervision, vehicles, tools and office time belong in your overhead rather than being forgotten. The overhead guide shows how to recover them, and the markup calculator checks the margin you keep on each trade.

Worked example: progress payments on a $26,482 extension

Stage payments keep your cash ahead of your costs. Here is the sample extension split into five claims, with the crew line checked first. The percentages are examples, so set yours to match where the money is spent and follow any local rules on deposits and stages.

1. Check the crew hoursThree carpenters for five days at 8 hours each is 3 x 5 x 8 = 120 hours. At $68 an hour that is $8,160, the figure on the sample.
2. Deposit5% of $26,482 is $1,324.10, due when the contract is signed.
3. Base and frame stages15% when the slab is poured: $3,972.30. Then 25% when the frame is up and inspected: $6,620.50.
4. Lock up30% once windows, external doors and roofing are complete: $7,944.60.
5. CompletionThe final 25% at handover: $6,620.50. Check the total: $1,324.10 + $3,972.30 + $6,620.50 + $7,944.60 + $6,620.50 = $26,482.00.

If the client adds the optional skylight, the contract rises by $1,650 to $28,132 and each stage percentage applies to the new figure. Tax is added on top wherever it applies.

Inclusions and exclusions for a building quote

Where builders estimates go wrong

• Quoting from concept sketches, then holding the price when the engineer’s slab design doubles the steel.
• PC items with no allowance figure, so the client picks a $2,400 front door against a $900 budget and expects you to absorb it.
• No soil or site assumption, which leaves rock, fill and stormwater as your problem.
• Stage payments that lag your spending, with the frame paid for long before the frame claim falls due.
• Calling a stage complete in your head but not on paper. Define lock up and completion in the quote itself.
• A validity period of months on a job where framing timber and steel prices can move between quote and start.