Residential Estimating Services
Accurate Estimates. Better Margins. More Time to Build.
Estimating takes time, and getting the numbers wrong can cost you far more than a few hours behind the computer. Price A Plan provides professional residential estimating services for builders across Australia, helping you price new homes, renovations, extensions and custom residential projects with greater confidence.
From qualifying a client’s budget early through to preparing a detailed, contract-ready estimate, our experienced estimating team can support your entire pre-construction process. Spend less time pricing and more time running your building business.
Estimating Support For Residential Projects Australia-Wide
Whether you need to qualify a new enquiry or price a project in detail, Price A Plan can support you at the right stage.
- Quality Budget Estimate (QBE): Qualify your client’s budget before investing hours into a full estimate. Our QBE provides a realistic budget range early in the process, helping you identify the projects worth pursuing.
- Full Quantity Estimate (FQE): Ready to price the project in detail? Our FQE provides a comprehensive breakdown of labour, materials and quantities, giving you the accurate figures you need to move towards contract.
More Than Just an Estimate.
A good estimate shouldn’t disappear into a folder once you’ve won the job. Price A Plan can help turn your estimating data into something you can use throughout the project with additional services including procurement support, trade scopes, cost centre exports and 3D structural modelling.
Once your FQE is finalised, we can also map your estimate to your cost codes and prepare it for platforms including Buildxact, Buildertrend and Wunderbuild. That means less double handling and a smoother transition from estimating to actually running the job.
Our Process
How Our Residential Estimating Process Works
Client Qualification & Account Setup
To better serve the industry, we have put in a qualification process to help us focus on the clients who are ready to grow and improve their systems.
Fill out the questionnaire and once complete, you will be able to book in an alignment call with someone from our team.
If successful, after our alignment call, you will be sent onboarding information where you can email us your job request and your plans.
Production & Quality Control
After onboarding is complete and we have uploaded your job, you will be sent your project due date
For FQE Services you will be sent a bespoke link to book in a checklist meeting.
New Clients will be REQUIRED to book a checklist.
This is a crucial meeting for us to better understand your project and for you to gain valuable insights into the Price A Plan process.
Once the checklist is complete, your job is now being estimated by our highly trained team.
Finalisation & Delivery
Your job has gone through an internal review by senior estimators to ensure quality control and now you have your first draft.
This is where the fun begins. We ask that you carefully review your estimate and lean on us to answer any questions.
We strongly recommend that NEW CLIENTS using the FQE service book a job review meeting to understand our estimate.
Revision to CCE
Revisions are included in the cost of your estimate, a phase we expect and prioritize to ensure you have every opportunity to consult with clients and refine the job until it is perfect.
Once you are contract-ready, you can request a CCE (for FQE only) which is an optional add on that seamlessly uploads the final, accurate data directly to your building management software.
Let’s Book You In!
FAQs
Residential Estimating FAQ’s
Got questions? We’ve got answers. Here’s everything you need to know about working with us.
What is the FQE Turnaround Time?
Our FQEs typically take between 10-14 days to deliver. Once you have submitted the request, we assess the difficulty and assign you a due date based on our current workload. Typically, our busiest periods are in the lead up to Christmas and just before school holidays.
How Much Does It Cost?
Minimum Charge = $1500 + GST
0.35% of total contract price up to $1.5 million then 0.1% for any residual amount over $1.5 million.
What If I Don’t Have Time For A Checklist?
We don’t recommend this for new clients; however we can proceed with the FQE using our standard industry pricing based on our experience. You will get this first draft back and can still do revisions.
Do You Provide Fee Proposals?
The short answer is no. If you have your own method of qualifying your budget, you can base the fees on the high end of that price, however we don’t make guarantees that we will match this. We suggest doing a QBE which provides a budget range, then base your FQE charges on the high end and add your time to the costs. Alternatively, develop a sales approach where you can request a flat fee for estimating and consulting with them and tell your client you use professional services.
How Much Do Revisions Cost?
Revisions are included in the cost of our FQEs. There are some exceptions like changes to plans and scope but we do our best to give you every opportunity to refine this until it is contract ready.
What types of residential projects can you estimate?
We can estimate a wide range of residential construction projects, including new homes, custom and architectural homes, renovations, extensions, knock-down rebuilds and multi-dwelling projects.
The level of estimating required will depend on the project and the stage you’re at in your pre-construction process.
Do you provide residential estimating services Australia-wide?
Yes. Price A Plan works with builders across Australia. Our estimating process is completed remotely using your plans and supporting project information, so your estimating team doesn’t need to be based in the same location as your projects.
Can I outsource all of my residential estimating?
Yes. Outsourcing can give you ongoing estimating capacity without employing another full-time estimator.
Price A Plan can become an extension of your pre-construction process, supporting you from initial budget qualification through to detailed estimating, revisions and contract readiness.
How do I get started with residential estimating?
Getting started is easy. Complete our qualification questionnaire and book an alignment call with the Price A Plan team. We’ll learn more about your building business, the projects you work on and your estimating needs, then help you determine the right service for your next project.