As its name indicates, a construction project has the practical completion of construction as a final goal, no matter the nature of the project. For example, a construction project’s primary objective may be building a house, or an apartment building, among others. But a construction project also can refer to remodeling or reconditioning a specific space.

Every construction project is divided into several major or minor tasks, which your company must complete step by step to advance throughout the work. Major tasks involve preparing the job site, the structure, masonry, facilities, plumbing, etcetera. 

On the other hand, minor tasks could be digging a hole for foundations, preparing the cement for a reinforced concrete column, or building a brick wall. 

You must include these tasks and all others in the construction cost estimate templates you'll use. This way, you will know how much it costs for every construction project job.

Resources are what you'll use during the construction. It means a fine recognition of the number of resources and materials used throughout the work. Resources can be the following:

• Materials. All the physical resources and materials your company uses to build the project. For instance, cement, bricks, sand, windows, concrete blocks, etcetera. 
• Human resources. For human resources, we mean all those people who will work specifically in works building the different parts of the project. This item does not include the people who regularly work in the company, such as architects or secretaries.  
• General resources. A proper construction cost estimate template includes all the available resources your company uses, and it doesn't matter what type of construction it is. This includes electricity, water, gas, paper, prints, etcetera.

Construction companies need to know precisely when a specific project will start and end. It also involves knowing how many days a specific task will take and how the accomplished tasks help subsequent tasks to complete them.

Time is money!

An efficient cost estimation compulsorily considers the estimated time a contractor will finish a task. Besides, with clear start and end dates, you and your company can track construction progress and pressure contractors to finish their work, as the contract says.

Costs are divided into two main types: direct costs and indirect costs.

The first ones include labor and material costs. It means the costs of all the people who are not on the general payroll of the company. They can be workers hired for a specific task or contractors. Of course, all the materials they will use are considered direct costs.

The second one, indirect costs, also known as soft costs, are the regular costs of the company, i.e., general resources, such as water, gas, electricity, Internet, equipment, machines, etcetera.

The tax rate depends on the country you're building the project. The total cost estimates the VAT (Value-added tax) and likely other specific taxes of your region. Still, a construction estimating spreadsheet template needs to integrate a particular space for taxes and fees, which you must charge to the project owner.  

Of course, your actual cost document also needs to clarify the project's total cost, either in its subsequent stages or in its final stage. Including this section will let you know how much the project costs and the profit margins.

Finally, the signatures are fundamental to approving all the documents that prove that a certain percentage of work has been accomplished. Generally, the work advance documents are signed by the architect of the construction company or by the construction manager, who is commonly an architect or engineer.  

This professional assures the project owners that the work advances fulfill all the requirements of the construction plan and technical specifications.

Although contact details are not an integral part of the line items or the grand total of the project, sometimes it's beneficial to include them in the construction estimates to contact them quickly in case of an emergency. 

Create a section for additional costs that could appear during the construction process. It should have a simple layout that involves unforeseen, smaller jobs you didn't consider, etcetera.

In this section, you'll find some spreadsheets and job estimate templates you can easily use in Microsoft Excel thanks to its implications, tools, and possibilities. 

If you don’t have Excel, get an MS Office CD key with RoyalCDkeys for a fraction of the retail price. You’ll be able to effortlessly customize the templates provided below instead of creating one from scratch, sparing you hours of daunting work.

Estimates provide the timeframe and the general costs associated with a construction project. It must consider all the essential details, resources, and different estimating requirements directly related to the construction and mean time and money. A good estimate also should view payment terms, though you can include this part in the contract with general contractors.

Summarizing, a construction estimate template will help you calculate the estimated total of the work and have a transparent relationship between you and the owner since you and your client know exactly how much the project will cost. 

Lastly, as we know that creating an efficient project could be challenging, we're continuously uploading templates for several processes within your business. Please browse our website, RoyalCDKeys, and find the one you need to improve your results!