Kent & Blake prices estimates per project, per trade, or per square foot, based on project size, trade count, and how complete your drawings are. Get an exact number for your project on our pricing guide or by requesting a quote; most quotes are returned within one business day.

Detailed estimates built from complete architectural and structural drawings are typically accurate within a few percentage points; preliminary estimates from concept drawings give a workable budget range. Accuracy improves as documentation, current material pricing, and local labor rate data become more complete, which is why Kent & Blake recommends a detailed quantity takeoff before final tender pricing.

Most residential or single-trade estimates are completed within a few business days; larger multi-trade commercial or industrial jobs take longer. Turnaround depends on scope and your tender deadline. Tell us your submission date, and Kent & Blake will confirm a delivery window upfront.

A construction estimator prepares pre-construction cost predictions to help contractors win tenders; a quantity surveyor manages costs, contracts, and progress claims through the full project lifecycle. In Australia specifically, estimators like Kent & Blake typically work with builders and subcontractors on bid pricing, while QSs provide ongoing financial oversight from planning through completion. In the USA, the estimator role covers similar pre-bid cost prediction work.

A quantity takeoff measures the exact materials, labor hours, and equipment a project needs; a cost estimate applies current market prices to those quantities to produce a total dollar figure. The takeoff always comes first; an estimate is only as accurate as the quantities it’s built on. See how Kent & Blake structures a quantity takeoff.

A preliminary estimate is an early budget range from concept-stage drawings; a detailed (bottom-up) estimate prices every material, labor hour, and trade individually and is precise enough for a tender bid. Kent & Blake can start with a preliminary number from your concept drawings and refine it into a detailed estimate as your construction documentation develops; no need to wait for 100% drawings to get a workable budget.

Architectural and structural drawings, project specifications, and a scope of work. The more complete the documentation, the more precise the estimate. Concept-stage drawings are enough to start with a preliminary budget estimate; full construction documents let Kent & Blake move straight to a tender-ready detailed estimate.

Yes, Kent & Blake provides construction cost estimating nationwide across the USA and Australia, covering residential, commercial, and industrial projects in every state or region. See our full state and region coverage on the USA and Australia hub pages.

Concrete, structural steel, carpentry, masonry, roofing, flooring, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, painting, cabinetry, render and cladding, partitions and ceilings, civil and sitework, and landscaping. Browse the full breakdown by trade on the services page.

Kent & Blake uses industry-standard takeoff and pricing software including Bluebeam, PlanSwift, Cubit, Buildsoft, and RSMeans, matched to the country and project type. This matters for accuracy: Cubit and Buildsoft are common in Australian practice, while Bluebeam and RSMeans data are more typical for US pricing. Kent & Blake applies the right toolset per market rather than one template for both.

Residential estimating focuses on homes and small renovations; commercial covers larger builds like offices and retail with multi-trade code compliance; industrial covers warehouses and manufacturing with specialized equipment and structural loads. Kent & Blake estimates across all three categories in both Australia and the USA.

A tender estimate is a detailed, competitive cost breakdown built specifically for a bid submission, priced to be competitive while protecting profit margin. It differs from an internal budget estimate because it’s built to win the job against other bidders, not just to plan internally.

Pre-construction cost planning forecasts budgets and value-engineers a project before design is finalized, helping avoid expensive redesigns once construction documents are locked in. Kent & Blake works with developers and architects at this early stage to catch cost risks before they become locked-in design decisions.

Both renovation and fit-out projects are estimated the same way as new construction. Common fit-out trades Kent & Blake prices include flooring, cabinetry, painting, and render and cladding.

Yes, standalone single-trade estimates and quantity takeoffs are available for subcontractors who only need pricing for one scope of work. Common single-trade requests Kent & Blake handles include electrical, concrete, and HVAC.

Waste percentages are applied per material and trade based on typical loss rates for that specific material, not a flat markup across the whole project; contingency is added separately to cover pricing or scope risk. This per-material approach is more accurate than a blanket waste percentage and avoids over- or under-pricing specific trades.

Material pricing, labor rates, measurement conventions, and building codes differ between the two markets, so estimates are prepared to each country’s specific standards. Kent & Blake maintains separate pricing data and code-compliance knowledge for its Australian and US work rather than converting one market’s numbers into the other’s.

Estimates are delivered as spreadsheets or exports from takeoff software, organized by trade and cost category. This format drops directly into a bid submission without reformatting.

Outsourcing to Kent & Blake gives you dedicated estimating capacity without the overhead of a full-time in-house estimator, and lets your team focus on winning and running jobs rather than pricing them. It also brings access to current material pricing and labor rate data across both the US and Australian markets, which is harder to keep up to date with a single in-house hire covering one region.