Free Construction Estimate Template (PDF Generator)

How to write a construction estimate

1. Add your business and license

   Company details, logo and the license or registration number required on the proposal.

2. Enter the owner and the project address

   Name, contact details and the property.

3. Number and date it, and set the valid-until date

   The number is prefilled; set a validity window that reflects material pricing.

4. Write the scope by division, one line each

   Demolition, framing, rough plumbing, electrical, tile and finishes as rows, with the specifics that prevent arguments in the details.

5. Add allowances, permits and exclusions

   Allowances with the per-unit basis; permits and inspections with who pulls them; exclusions in writing.

6. Set the payment schedule, deposit and change-order process

   Milestone-based payments and the deposit (within any state cap) in the notes; how changes get priced and signed; upgrades marked Optional.

7. Download, send, and convert when signed

   Text or email the PDF. When the owner signs, untick Optional on accepted upgrades and press Convert to invoice.

What to include on a construction estimate

What should a construction estimate include?

Scope by division, the assumptions and exclusions behind each price, allowances and how they reconcile, the payment schedule, permit and change-order rules, and the calendar. That is more than most trades put on an estimate because a general contractor is pricing three months of other people's work against the owner's tolerance for surprises.

Price each division on its own line the way you will bill it. "Bathroom remodel — $18,365" is a number; "Demolition and disposal — $2,400 · Rough plumbing — $3,800 · Electrical — $2,150 …" is a schedule of values the owner can read, a bank can fund, and you can bill in three progress applications. The details line under each says what is included — "cement board, waterproofing membrane, thinset, grout and sealer" — so waterproofing is never a debate.

• Exclusions. Structural repairs found after demo, hazardous materials, work outside the room, furniture moving and storage.
• Allowances with the unit basis and the statement that they reconcile at cost on the final invoice.
• Permits: who pulls them, fees at cost, inspections gate the draws.
• Payment schedule tied to milestones, with the deposit stated.
• Change-order rule, schedule and hours, warranty, license number, valid-until date.

The seven-step method in how to write an estimate for a construction job — including the markup-versus-margin math that trips up half the trade — is the process behind this page.

How should a general contractor structure the deposit and draws?

Deposit on signing, then draws at inspections and visible milestones, with the balance at the final walkthrough — sized so the owner has always paid for roughly what has been built. On a mid-size remodel that is a modest deposit, two or three draws and a final payment; on a small job, thirds. The table below is this page's bathroom sample.

The deposit is where state law bites. California's Contractors State License Board says a home-improvement down payment "cannot be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less," with no exception for special-order materials, and adds that subsequent payments should not exceed the value of work completed or materials delivered. Several other states cap deposits at a third of the contract price; some do not cap them at all. The contractor deposit guide lists the ones verified against the statute; print a deposit that is legal in your state and let the draws carry the protection.

Tie draws to inspections: a calendar date is arguable; a passed rough inspection is a fact with a city stamp on it. And take the deposit the minute the owner signs — the acceptance block and a card or ACH link on the PDF turn "I'll get you a check" into money in the account.

How do you handle allowances and unknowns in a construction bid?

Allowances for what the owner has not picked yet; unit prices for what you cannot see yet; a written change-order rule for everything else. An allowance is a placeholder budget — "tile allowance $6 per sq ft, 210 sq ft, reconciled at cost on the final invoice" — that lets you price the job before the owner has been to the tile showroom. Set it at a realistic mid-range number: a $2 allowance that becomes a $9 selection makes the overage look like your fault.

Unknowns get a unit price instead of a guess. "Subfloor replacement, if required after demolition: $14 per sq ft" is a price the owner already agreed to when the rot shows up, and it turns a bad afternoon into a two-line change order. For what you can neither price nor predict — a slab that is not where the plans say, knob-and-tube in the walls — say it is excluded and priced on a written change order before work proceeds.

What should the estimate say about permits, inspections and change orders?

That you pull the permits, that fees are billed at cost, that inspections gate the draws, and that nothing changes without a signed change order. Owners assume the first three and forget the fourth, so the change-order sentence is the one to read aloud: any change in scope, including hidden conditions found after demolition, is priced on a written change order signed before that work proceeds.

That sentence is close to the law in some states. California's CSLB tells consumers a change to price or scope "MUST be done with a written 'Change Order,' signed by the customer and contractor prior to the change." Other states are looser on paper and identical in court: the change you cannot show a signature for is the change you eat. The free change order template produces the signed document in about a minute on a phone, roughly how long an owner will wait in a half-demolished bathroom.

Permits protect you as much as the owner: a permitted job with passed inspections is one an owner cannot later call defective without arguing with the city. Put permit fees on their own line at cost, non-taxable, and say who schedules the inspections. An owner who wants to skip the permit to save the fee is a customer to think hard about; how to vet a customer before you quote exists for that conversation.

How long is a construction estimate valid, and what happens after acceptance?

Thirty days, because material prices and your calendar both move: a bid priced in March against lumber and cabinet quotes does not survive a June signature untouched. Print the date; if the owner signs after it, re-confirm the material lines before taking the deposit instead of quietly absorbing the difference.

After acceptance, the signed estimate is the contract's scope and price, and its divisions become the schedule of values. Convert to invoice carries the accepted lines, the customer and the deposit into the invoice generator — for a progress-billed job that first invoice is application #1, and you replace each full division amount with this period's earned fraction. The general version is the free estimate template; the construction invoice page covers the progress-billing mechanics.

FAQ

• CSLB — What should be in a home improvement contract (down-payment limit, written change orders)
• CSLB press release #24-21 (December 30, 2024) — subsequent payments should not exceed the value of work completed or materials delivered