Construction estimate template, as an interactive builder

A construction estimate template should do the math, not just hold the numbers. This free builder starts from ten trade packs (painting, drywall, concrete, masonry, excavation, landscaping, siding, framing, tile, insulation) — material and labor per unit already loaded — applies your labor rate, burden, and markup, and produces a signature-ready proposal PDF. Every numeric field accepts math like 12*14+9*11.

Saved in your browser automatically.

Job nameClientAddressLabor rate ($/hr)Labor burden (%)Overhead & profit markup (%)Material tax (%)

Add from assemblies

Interior — walls & ceilings

Interior — trim & doors

Interior — cabinets

Exterior

Prep add-ons

Pack v2026.08: starting defaults for a mid-market US crew — edit any unit cost or production rate below to your numbers. Save estimates to your account and these become your own price book.

Description	Qty	Unit	Mat $/unit	Labor hr/unit	Material	Labor	Price

Material: $0.00
Labor hours: 0
Labor (burdened): $0.00
Cost: $0.00
Markup: $0.00
Bid price: $0.00

The chain: this estimate → schedule of values → monthly AIA-style pay applications. All free, and saved in your browser until you put it in an account.

How to fill in the estimate template

Quantities first, prices second. Measure from the drawings (the free browser takeoff sends quantities straight in) and enter them per assembly. A price on a guessed quantity is still a guess.
Use assemblies, not bare unit prices. An assembly carries material and labor per unit, so “120 SF of level 4 drywall” prices the board, mud, tape and the hours together. Adjust the production rate if your crew is faster or slower than the default rather than fudging the unit price.
Put the real labor cost in, burdened. The wage is not the cost. Run your rate through the labor burden calculator first; a $30 wage is usually a $40 to $45 hour once taxes, comp and unbillable time are paid for.
Markup is not margin. The template applies markup on top of cost. If your target is a 20% margin on price, that is a 25% markup; the markup calculator does the conversion. Add contingency as its own line, visible to you and hidden from the client.
Export the proposal from the same numbers. The PDF is built from the estimate, so a change to a quantity changes the proposal. Once accepted, the lines become the schedule of values you bill against.

Frequently asked questions

What should a construction estimate include?

A scope of work broken into line items with quantities and units, material and labor for each, your labor burden (payroll taxes, workers' comp, insurance — typically 20–35% on top of wages), overhead-and-profit markup, any tax, and the total. A client-facing proposal shows scope and prices; the cost columns stay internal.

Why use this instead of an Excel estimate template?

A spreadsheet template starts you from a blank page on every bid, and formulas drift as you copy jobs. This builder starts from trade assemblies — line items with material cost and production-rate labor already baked in — so you type quantities, not formulas. Every field also accepts math (330+275+113), and the output is a clean proposal PDF, not a screenshot of a grid.

What's the difference between markup and margin?

Markup is a percentage added to cost (30% markup on a $10,000 cost = $13,000 price). Margin is profit as a share of price ($3,000 of $13,000 ≈ 23% margin). Contractors quoting '30 percent' often mix these up and underprice; this builder applies markup on cost, and you can see the resulting dollars before you send.

Where do the default prices come from?

They are BuiltSum-authored starting values for a mid-market US crew — not licensed cost-book data, and deliberately editable. The whole point is to reprice them from your own jobs: your labor rate, your suppliers, your production rates. Price off your history, not a stale book.