Cost estimating services
A full priced estimate line by line: materials, labour hours, equipment, and general conditions, organised to MasterFormat and adjusted to your province's rates.
What's in a cost estimate
Canadian estimating firm since 2015
Construction estimating and takeoff services for Canadian contractors
Send us your drawings. You get back a priced, bid-ready estimate broken down by CSI division, with the quantities traced to your plans and the pricing set to your province.
- Back in 10–48 hours
- Excel and PDF, both included
- Priced per project, not per bid value
| Div | Scope | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| 03 | Cast-in-place concrete | 1,240 m³ |
| 04 | Block and stone veneer | 8,600 m² |
| 05 | Structural steel | 96 t |
| 09 | Drywall, taping, paint | 21,400 m² |
| 23 | Ducted HVAC systems | 1 LS |
Prepared by SMA Estimating
Target variance ±3–5%
- 10–48 hTypical turnaround on a full set
- 2,400+Estimates issued since 2015
- 33CSI divisions covered in house
- 13Provinces and territories priced
Construction estimating services
We price and measure every stage of a project, from a napkin-stage feasibility number through to the tender-ready estimate you submit. Pick the depth you need.
Quantity takeoff services
Measured quantities only, so you can plug in your own rates and supplier pricing. Delivered with colour-coded markups showing where every quantity came from.
How takeoffs are measuredResidential estimating
Custom homes, spec builds, multi-family and renovations, costed against provincial building code requirements and local trade rates from footings to final coat.
Residential scopes we priceCommercial estimating
Retail fit-outs through to mid-rise office and institutional builds. We account for LEED requirements, accessibility standards and municipal permit conditions.
Commercial project typesIndustrial estimating
Warehouses, processing plants and equipment installations, including foundations, steel framing, process piping and the complex mechanical scopes around them.
Industrial capabilityPreliminary estimating
Order-of-magnitude and conceptual budgets before drawings are finished, built from cost-per-square-foot models, historical bids and regional cost indices.
Early-stage budgetingTrades and CSI divisions we cover
General contractors send us whole buildings. Subtrades send us the one division they bid. Both get the same measured detail, organised by MasterFormat number so it drops straight into your bid sheet.
- 02Demolition and abatementSelective, structural
- 03Concrete and rebarCIP, precast, PT
- 04MasonryBlock, brick, stone
- 05Structural and misc. steelTonnage, connections
- 06Rough carpentry and lumberBoard feet, panels
- 07Roofing and waterproofingMembrane, shingle
- 08Doors, windows and glazingCounts, schedules
- 09Drywall, flooring and paintAreas by room
- 21Fire suppressionHeads, mains
- 22PlumbingFixtures, runs
- 23HVAC and mechanicalDuctwork, units
- 26ElectricalDevices, feeders
- 31Earthwork and siteworkCut and fill
- 32Exterior improvementsPaving, landscape
- 33UtilitiesServices, laterals
Bidding something that isn't listed? Most scopes fall inside a division we already price. Send the drawings and we'll confirm before you commit.
View all tradesWhat lands in your inbox
Four files, every time. No screenshots of a spreadsheet, no numbers you can't trace back to a drawing.
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Editable Excel estimate
Line-by-line breakdown by CSI division, with your markup and overhead columns left open so you can adjust without rebuilding anything.
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Colour-coded markups
Your drawing set returned with every measured area, length and count highlighted, so a reviewer can check a quantity in seconds.
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Scope letter
Written inclusions and exclusions, plus the assumptions we made where the drawings were silent. Nothing gets assumed quietly.
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Bid summary sheet
A one-page total formatted to drop into your bid or owner's budget, with subtotals by division and a contingency line.
How an estimate gets built
Three steps between your drawing set and a number you can bid with.
Measured quantities
- 03Cast-in-place concrete1,240 m³
- 04Block and stone veneer8,600 m²
- 05Structural steel96 t
- 09Drywall, taping, paint21,400 m²
Checked by a second estimator
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You send the drawings
PDF, DWG or scanned paper — a full set is best, but we can work from partials. Tell us the bid date, the trades you want, and whether you need pricing or quantities only.
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We measure and price
An estimator measures quantities in PlanSwift, Bluebeam or On-Screen Takeoff, then applies material pricing, local labour rates and equipment costs. A second estimator checks the quantities before anything leaves.
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You get the estimate
Excel, PDF and marked-up drawings, delivered in 10 to 48 hours depending on scope. Revisions after an addendum are included for 14 days.
Who prepares your estimate, and what it's priced from
An estimate is only worth the judgement behind it. Here is who does the work and where the numbers come from.
SMA Estimating is a Canadian firm, registered and taxed in Alberta, working only on Canadian projects. That narrowness is deliberate: our estimators know which provinces tax construction materials differently, where winter hoarding and heating belong in a schedule, and how open-shop and union labour rates diverge between Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver.
Every file is measured by a named estimator with field experience, not a template. Quantities are checked by a second estimator against the drawing set before the file is released, and the scope letter records every assumption made where the documents were unclear.
We quote per project, based on drawing count and scope complexity — never as a percentage of construction value, which prices the same work differently depending on who is bidding it.
- Saeed Ahmed, CET Chief Estimator · 16 years · structural and civil scopes
- Maria Kowalski, P.Eng. Senior Estimator · 12 years · mechanical and electrical
- Daniel Leclerc Estimator · 9 years · residential and light commercial
Written and reviewed by Saeed Ahmed, CET, Chief Estimator Last updated Pricing sources listed above
Bidding this week? Send the set today.
Upload your drawings and we'll confirm price and turnaround before you commit to anything. No contracts, no retainers, no minimum volume.
Typical project fee starts at $150 · Quote back within the hour during business days
Recent projects
Three files from the last year, with the scope, the turnaround and what the client did with the result.
Toronto, Ontario
High-rise residential tower
- 72-hour turnaround
- 200,000 sq ft
- All trades
A full material takeoff for a 32-storey apartment building covering architectural finishes, structural elements and every MEP system. The general contractor was three days from a high-value tender close and needed quantities they could defend line by line. Complete package delivered in 72 hours; the bid was successful.
Calgary, Alberta
Industrial manufacturing facility
- 48-hour turnaround
- 260,000 sq ft
- Concrete, structural, mechanical
Foundation work, steel framing and process mechanical for a plant outside Calgary, on a compressed schedule after the client's in-house estimator left mid-bid. Delivered with local supplier pricing references so the contractor could verify material costs against their own vendors before submitting.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Three custom homes, one development
- 5-day turnaround
- 4,200 sq ft each
- Full residential scope
A luxury builder needed each home priced separately but comparably, with premium interior finishes, custom cabinetry and non-standard mechanical layouts. We delivered one takeoff per home broken down by trade and material type, plus a combined summary for the development pro forma.
Estimating across Canada
Pricing is set to the project's location, not a national average. That means provincial labour rates, regional material supply, local code requirements and the climate factors that change a schedule.
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Alberta
- Calgary
- Edmonton
- Red Deer
- Lethbridge
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British Columbia
- Vancouver
- Surrey
- Burnaby
- Kelowna
- Victoria
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Ontario
- Toronto
- Ottawa
- Hamilton
- Mississauga
- Brampton
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Quebec
- Montreal
- Quebec City
- Laval
- Gatineau
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Manitoba and Saskatchewan
- Winnipeg
- Brandon
- Regina
- Saskatoon
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Atlantic Canada
- Halifax
- Moncton
- Saint John
- St. John's
What contractors say
Every review below is published on our Google Business Profile, where anyone can read it in full alongside our response.
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Mark Thompson 2 weeks ago
The markups are what sold me. I can hand the drawing set to my PM and he can check any quantity himself in about a minute. We’ve stopped arguing about numbers internally.
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Imran Abbasi 1 month ago
We used them for a tender that closed in four days. The scope letter caught two exclusions our own estimate had missed, which would have come straight out of our margin.
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Jeremy Sarson 2 months ago
Takeoff only, no pricing, because we keep our rates in house. They understood that on the first call and never tried to upsell us into a full estimate.
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Bill Greer 3 months ago
Sixth project with SMA now. Turnaround has never slipped, and when an addendum landed mid-bid they reissued the affected divisions the same afternoon.
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Renu Dhillon 4 months ago
They flagged a discrepancy between the structural and architectural sets before we bid it. Nobody else reading those drawings had caught it.
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Pierre Caron 5 months ago
Quantities arrive organised by division, so pricing them against our own rates takes an afternoon instead of a week. That is the whole value for us.
Common questions
Pricing, turnaround, file formats and what happens when an addendum lands mid-bid.
What exactly is a construction estimating service?
We review your drawings and specifications, measure the quantities of every material required, and apply current pricing for materials, labour and equipment. The result is a document that tells you what the project should cost before anyone breaks ground — and, if you're bidding, what number to submit.
What's included in a construction estimate?
An editable Excel file broken down by CSI division, a PDF of the same, your drawing set returned with colour-coded markups, a written scope letter listing inclusions and exclusions, and a one-page bid summary. Labour hours, equipment and general conditions are shown separately from material costs so you can adjust any one of them.
How long does it take to get an estimate?
Most projects come back in 10 to 48 hours. A single-trade takeoff on a small set can be same day; a full multi-division estimate on a large commercial or industrial set runs closer to 72 hours. We confirm the turnaround in writing when we quote, before you commit.
Can I get a takeoff without pricing so I can use my own rates?
Yes, and a lot of subtrades do exactly that. You receive measured quantities with the markups showing where each one came from, and you apply your own supplier and labour rates. It costs less than a full priced estimate.
How much do estimating services cost in Canada?
We quote per project based on drawing count and scope complexity, with typical fees starting around $150 for a small single-trade takeoff. We do not charge a percentage of construction value, because that would price identical work differently depending on the size of the job it sits inside.
Do you adjust pricing for different provinces?
Every estimate is priced to the project's location. That covers provincial labour rates for union and open shop, regional material availability, applicable taxes, and climate-driven costs such as winter hoarding and temporary heat. A Winnipeg warehouse and a Vancouver warehouse do not price the same.
What software do your estimators use?
PlanSwift, Bluebeam Revu and On-Screen Takeoff for measurement, with FastDUCT and FastPIPE for mechanical scopes and RSMeans data as a pricing baseline. If your bid team works in something specific, tell us and we'll match the output format.
What happens if an addendum changes the drawings?
Revisions are included for 14 days after delivery. Send the addendum and we update the affected quantities and pricing, then reissue the estimate with the changes marked so you can see exactly what moved.
What's the difference between an estimate and a takeoff?
A takeoff is the measurement: how much concrete, how many linear feet of pipe, how many square metres of drywall. An estimate is the takeoff plus pricing — material costs, labour hours at local rates, equipment and general conditions. You need the takeoff to build the estimate, but you can buy the takeoff on its own.
Get your next estimate back this week
Leave the measuring and the pricing to us so your team can stay on the projects you've already won. Send a set and we'll tell you the fee and the turnaround before you decide.
No contracts · No retainers · Serving every Canadian province and territory