Construction Estimating Services in Washington
Washington public bidders and building contractors can request remote takeoffs and priced estimates. Send the prime bid due date, expected award and assigned determination, together with the designer's energy basis. A delayed award can change the labor reference without changing the drawings; an energy-design revision can change several trades at once.
Send plans, specifications, addenda, trade scope and your deadline. Agree Excel quantities, priced trade breakdowns, color-coded PDF markups and assumptions/exclusions in the proposal. Document completeness, trade count and revisions affect fee and delivery; rush capacity requires confirmation. Estimating excludes design, approvals and legal or tax advice.
Request an estimate quoteRecord bid and award timing separately from the drawing issue. Compare envelope and system alternatives as complete documented packages, not as isolated equipment-price substitutions.
A delayed award can change the prevailing-wage reference date
Washington L&I says the effective rate basis is the prime contractor's bid due date, with contract award used when award does not occur within six months. It also publishes scheduled rate updates.
Supply the dates, agency-assigned schedule and any rebid instructions. Keep the wage/fringe basis and estimated hours separate, and flag an uncertain award assumption for contractor confirmation. Do not replace the rate basis solely because the estimate is prepared later, or use one county rate for another project locality.
Washington Department of Labor and Industries: official reference
Residential and commercial energy documents are separate
Washington SBCC publishes separate residential and commercial energy-code resources with state amendments and code guidance.
Send the designer-selected path, envelope schedules and equipment/control details for the actual occupancy. Measure insulation, glazing, feeders, controls and specified equipment from the coordinated set. A cheaper mechanical quote should not be compared without its related electrical and envelope changes; system design and energy certification remain professional responsibilities.
Prepare the Washington estimate package
- Prime bid due date and expected award
- Identify any delayed-award labor-basis question.
- Assigned county determination
- Retain the agency-confirmed classifications and issue.
- Energy path and occupancy summary
- Use the applicable residential/commercial design package.
- Coordinated envelope/MEP schedules
- Measure supporting trade changes for alternatives.
- Quotes, rebid instructions and addenda
- Keep quotation and wage revisions independently traceable.
Specify the returned breakdown
Agree a coordinated assembly workbook and a labor worksheet with named date/locality assumptions. An alternative comparison should include envelope, equipment, controls and supporting electrical work shown in the supplied designs. A delayed-award reprice should preserve the same quantities unless a separate drawing revision is issued.
Can a Washington estimate prepared today use today's published rate automatically?
No. L&I identifies bid timing and a delayed-award exception. Send the contract dates and assigned schedule so the contractor can confirm the appropriate basis.
Can a lower equipment quote be compared without supporting trades?
Not as a complete design alternate. Supply coordinated electrical, controls and envelope details so the returned comparison includes the entire specified change.
Confirm scope and next steps
We quantify supplied designs and documented assumptions. Engineering, architectural/MEP design, stamping, inspections, permit approval, code certification, AHJ representation and legal or tax advice are excluded. Missing details become questions or agreed allowances.
- Supporting electrical and controls scope
- Date-based public-bid assumptions
- Submit coordinated alternatives
Review deliverable requirements (public client samples remain pending permission).
Request a Washington quote
Share the project address, reviewing authority, plan link and deadline. Fees and delivery are agreed after scope review. Request written NDA or document-handling terms before sharing restricted files.