Excavation quotation with spoil priced in

What an excavation quote template should cover

An excavation quotation has to price machines, trucks and ground you cannot fully see. This template splits the job into equipment hours, trenching by the meter and spoil removal by volume, with compaction testing as an optional extra. The sample prepares a house slab site: cut and fill to level, service trenches dug and spoil carted away. Build yours online, or download it as a Word, Excel or PDF file.

Earthworks quotes go wrong underground. The quote should state the levels you are working to, the machines and hours you allowed, how spoil is handled and what ground you assumed, so rock, groundwater or buried services become a priced variation rather than an argument on site.

1. Plans and levelsThe drawing or survey you priced from, the finished levels, and the area and depth of the cut, so everyone works to the same numbers.
2. Machines and operatorsExcavator size, skid steer, roller or plate compactor, with hourly or daily rates and whether the operator is included.
3. TruckingTipper or dump trucks by the hour or per load, the haul distance and the disposal site.
4. Cut and fillVolumes to cut and to fill, whether site soil is fit to reuse as fill, and imported fill where it is not.
5. TrenchingLength, width and depth for each service, such as water, sewer, power and stormwater, and whether you backfill and compact in layers.
6. Spoil and disposal feesVolume measured in place or loose, the swell factor you used, and disposal charges for clean fill versus mixed or contaminated soil.
7. Locates and existing servicesWho requests utility locates before digging, and how exposed pipes and cables are protected once found.
8. Ground conditionsThe soil you assumed, with stated rates for rock breaking, dewatering or unsuitable material if you hit it.
9. MobilizationFloating machines to and from site as a fixed charge, which matters most on short jobs.

Sample earthworks estimate for a house slab site

Groundwork Earthmoving prices site works for Bilal Construction ahead of a new house slab. Equipment comes first: an 8 tonne excavator with operator for 16 hours at $155 and a tipper truck for 12 hours at $120. Labor covers 60 m of service trenching at $22 per meter and 45 m³ of spoil removal at $38 per m³. Compaction testing is an optional $380. The subtotal is $6,950 with a 10% deposit. All rates are examples.

Edit the Groundwork Earthmoving quote

5 lines are filled in, from excavator, 8 tonne to compaction testing. Put in your own excavation rates, then download the PDF.

Open the excavation sample

How to price excavation and earthworks

Earthmoving is usually priced from machine time, because the excavator and trucks are where the cost sits. Estimate the volumes, convert them to hours with your own production rates, then add mobilization and disposal fees. Unit rates per meter or per cubic meter suit repeat tasks like trenching.

1. Machine hoursAn hourly rate for each machine, with or without an operator. Fair when the ground is uncertain, but the customer carries the time risk.
2. Unit ratesPer meter of trench at a stated width and depth, or per m³ of cut, fill or spoil. Good for repeat items once you know your production.
3. Lump sum for a defined scopeA fixed price for a site cut to set levels, when you have a survey and test holes. Pair it with clear rates for rock and water.
4. Allowances for unknownsA stated sum for something you cannot measure yet, such as $1,500 for rock breaking, adjusted up or down to the actual cost once known.

Machine ownership, fuel and the float to site belong in your hourly rate or a mobilization line. The overhead guide shows how to find a machine’s true cost per hour, and the estimate maker can show a low to high range where ground is unknown.

Worked example: spoil and truck hours for a building pad

1. Measure the cutA building pad 15 m by 12 m is 180 m². With an average cut of 0.3 m, the volume in the ground is 180 x 0.3 = 54 m³.
2. Allow for swellSoil bulks up once dug. At an example swell of 25%, 54 x 1.25 = 67.5 m³ of loose spoil to haul.
3. Count the loadsA tipper carrying 10 m³ loose needs 67.5 / 10 = 6.75, so 7 loads.
4. Truck timeAt 1.5 hours per round trip, including loading and tipping, 7 x 1.5 = 10.5 hours. At an example $120 an hour, trucking costs $1,260.
5. Disposal and excavatorTip fees at an example $90 per load: 7 x 90 = $630. Excavator time to load and trim the pad, 8 hours at $155: $1,240. The cut totals $1,260 + $630 + $1,240 = $3,130.

Haul distance is often the biggest variable in truck hours, so price the real disposal site. Rock, wet ground or a second truck to keep the excavator busy all change the figures.

Excavation inclusions and exclusions

Excavation quotation mistakes

• Pricing spoil by the volume in the ground and forgetting that dug soil takes more room in the truck.
• Assuming a disposal site will accept the soil, then finding it needs testing or costs more as mixed fill.
• Starting before utility marks are in place and photographed, which leaves you exposed if a line is struck.
• Leaving mobilization out of a short job, so half a day of floating machines eats the profit.
• Quoting a lump sum with no rock or water rates, then absorbing the cost of a breaker.
• Not stating whether trench backfill is compacted in layers, which matters once a slab sits over it.