Estimating glossary.
Estimating has a language of its own. Here are the fifteen terms you’ll hear most — tap any to see what it means. Reading at least five will unlock your stamp.
Estimate
A calculated, approximate price for a defined piece of work.
Quote (quotation)
A firm, fixed price offered to a customer.
Tender
A formal bid submitted to win a contract, often in competition.
Take-off
Measuring quantities of materials and work from the drawings.
Bill of Quantities (BoQ)
An itemised list of measured work, so every bidder prices the same thing.
Contingency
Money added to a price to cover risk and the unexpected.
Overheads
The general running costs of the business, spread across jobs.
Margin
The profit added on top of the cost of the work.
Preliminaries (prelims)
The cost of running the site itself - welfare, supervision, plant - rather than the work.
Pre-construction
The planning, pricing and programming stage before site work starts.
Programme
The plan of when each part of a job happens - a construction timetable.
Subcontractor (subbie)
A specialist firm hired to carry out part of the works.
Value engineering
Finding cheaper ways to achieve the same result without losing quality.
Scope
Exactly what is, and isn't, included in the price.
Variation
A change to the agreed scope, which changes the price.
Got the lay of the land?
Expand at least five terms to enable Mark complete — you don’t need to memorise them all now. This stays here as a reference, so come back whenever an acronym shows up on site that you don’t recognise.
Five expanded — you’re good to go.