Building Trade Estimates Glossary

A Building Takeoff refers to a list of trade scope of works or quantities of materials that are required to build all or part of a project.

Confirming specific details of what has been allowed for in your quote

A Construction Cost Estimator is simply an Estimator that prepares the quote for a building or part there of.

A Construction Takeoff refers to a list of trade scope of works or quantities of materials that are required to build all or part of a project.

A cost recipe is a list of costs (including labour) to complete a task for example Tiles, Glue, Grout and labour

The cut of day for you to provide your quote or tender

Drawings are the detailed plans usually provided by the architect or designer

The date that you are required to submit your quote or tender

Preparation of costs expected to be part of a project

Estimating is the process of calculating the expected costs to complete a job

Items or specific materials not included in your quote

Using industry raters to prepare a estimate of costs to complete a project

Frequently used in project management, a Gantt chart provides a graphical illustration of a schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and track specific tasks in a project

Margin is the expected $ amount or % remaining after all the costs are paid.

Markup refers to the profit portion of your construction or building quote . Markup is the $ amount or % added to your costs

Business overheads are costs or expenses to the business in order for the business to run for example Vehicle running costs, Administration staff and accountant fees

A PC Sum ( Prime Cost ) is an allowance in the quote for the cost of foreseeable necessary work, usually the supply of materials not specified at the time for example Floor Tiles

Plans are the detailed drawings usually provided by the architect or designer

Preliminaries are usually allowance in your quote to cover administration and overhead costs required to complete a project

A preliminary program is a high level overview of the expected time line to complete a project. Commonly provided as a Gantt Chart

A Prime Cost ( PC Sum ) is an allowance in the quote for the cost of foreseeable necessary work, usually the supply of materials not specified at the time for example Floor Tiles

A Provisional Sum is an allowance, for a specific element of the works that is not yet defined in enough detail for tenderers to accurately price for example Kitchen Joinery

A Rate Calculation is a list of costs (including labour) to complete a task for example Plasterboard , adhesive, base coat, top coat, screws and labour

General list referring to a general description of the work that is expected to be performed under a particular contract.

Documents usually provided by the architect providing the specifics of products and finishes for the project

Preparing a quantity takeoff or scope of works to then estimate the job costs

A Takeoff is a term used in engineering and construction and refers to a list of quantities of materials that are required to build all or part of a project.

A Tender usually refers to the process whereby Builders or Commercial clients invite bids for large projects that must be submitted within a finite deadline.