Construction Estimators
Prepare and deliver estimates and cost plans for construction projects up to tender settlement stage.
Tender day at the estimating desk
You are an estimator at a building company, pricing a new school library. The tender must be lodged by 4pm today. It is 10am. Your spreadsheet is nearly finished, but one subcontractor quote is still missing and the architect is known for sending late changes. Your manager wants an answer by lunchtime.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I looked at the draft and we are too high. The other builders will be sharper than this. I need you to take a chunk off the price so we are in the running. Can you do that before lunch?
Cut the contingency and a few allowances across the board to hit the number Dev has asked for
The total looks sharper, but you have hidden the risk instead of removing it. If the job is won, the team will carry a price with no room in it, and everyone will know whose number it was.
Go through the price with Dev, show where real savings exist and what you will not cut
You find two sensible savings, such as ordering a material in bulk. Dev sees why the rest has to stay. The price drops a little, honestly, and Dev now trusts the number more than before.
Say the price is the price, and tell Dev that lowering it is not your decision to make
You are right that the numbers should not bend for hope alone. But Dev wanted help finding options, not a closed door, and you have missed a chance to show where savings might genuinely sit.
Sorry I am late. My price for the library is in your inbox now. It is good, I promise. Can you just lock it in? I have not had time to read the drawings properly, but I did a job just like it last year.
Lock it in, because a similar job last year is a good guide and time is short for everyone
It may well be close, but this building has a different layout. If Kerry has missed something, the cost will show up months later, on the builder's side of the table.
Ask Kerry to check the main inclusions against the drawings, and confirm in writing
Kerry finds one fixture missing from the allowance and sends a corrected figure within the hour. A short phone call has saved a nasty surprise, and your tender now has a price you can stand behind.
Ignore Kerry's quote and use your own estimate from a similar previous job
Your number may be reasonable, but it is not a real price from the person who would do the work. If the tender is won, Kerry can quote differently, and the gap becomes the company's problem.
Addendum 3 has just been issued. The library roof has been redesigned, and the floor plan has a new reading room. Please confirm you have received it before the 4pm deadline.
Confirm receipt, skim the changes and update only the roof line you can see in the summary
You miss the new reading room's floor finishes, which sit in a different part of the drawings. Your tender is neat, quick and wrong in a way that might not appear until the contract is signed.
Ask Dev if the tender can be lodged without including the addendum, to save time
Dev points out that an addendum is part of what you are pricing, so leaving it out could make the tender unacceptable. It was a reasonable worry about time, but the answer was always going to be no.
Confirm receipt, then work through every changed drawing and tell Dev what is affected
It takes most of the afternoon, but the price covers the new roof and the new room. You lodge at ten to four. Dev knows exactly what changed, which makes the next conversation with the client easier.
How it went
The tender is lodged with minutes to spare, and you still do not know if it will be won. Estimators work with numbers, but much of the job is asking the right questions of other people under a hard deadline. Did the mix of detective work and pressure appeal to you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The quote that left out the scaffolding
A fictional case set in the estimating office of a mid-sized fictional building company, with tender deadlines on the wall.
The situation
Ngaire was an estimator at Tallowood Builders, pricing a new community hall for a regional council. The tender closed on Friday. The lowest quote from a roofing subcontractor was far below the others, and her manager was keen to use it because it would make the whole bid more competitive. Ngaire had a quiet feeling about it. The quote was only two pages long and the others were much more detailed.
What they did
She rang the subcontractor and went through the scope line by line. The low quote had left out the scaffolding and edge protection needed to work safely at that height. She asked for a revised quote, then also asked the next cheapest firm to confirm what they had allowed for. She showed her manager the two quotes side by side, with the gap explained, and put the corrected figure into the tender.
How it turned out
Tallowood's price went in higher than the manager had hoped, and they did not win. A month later the firm that did win asked for extra money partway through, and the council was unhappy. Ngaire's manager said the next tender would get the extra phone calls too.
What would you do?
- Would you have rung the subcontractor, or assumed the cheap quote was just good news?
- How would you feel about putting in a price that might lose the job?
- What kinds of questions could an estimator ask to find out what a quote is missing?