From ballpark to definitive estimate
How an estimate tightens from order-of-magnitude to definitive as the design matures, stage by stage.
A price at concept and a price at tender aren't the same promise — here's how the estimate tightens from order-of-magnitude to definitive as the design matures through the stages.
Order-of-magnitude, at concept
With only a massing and a gross area, price on a rate per square metre from past towers — a budget, honestly labelled as ±40%.
Elemental, at developed design
Room data sheets and a device schedule let you price by element — cameras, doors, zones — instead of a blanket rate. The range narrows.
Measured, at technical design
Coordinated drawings give a full take-off — every point counted, every run measured, priced from the catalog line by line.
Definitive, at tender
Firm supplier quotes and confirmed prelims replace the last allowances — the number you commit to, with the range closed to what's genuinely uncertain.
It's in the works.
EstiWright is in development — join the waitlist for early access.