Free General Contractor Estimate Template & Generator
A general contractor's early estimate prices a job before drawings exist, so it has to say what it was built from: a site walk, a marked-up existing floor plan, and rate-card figures rather than signed subcontractor quotes. This template splits the work by phase, tags owner selections as allowances with the unit basis showing, and carries permits, equipment, contingency and overhead on their own lines, so the client can see which numbers are measured and which are still placeholders.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demolition allowance | 1 | $4,800.00 | $4,800.00 |
| Carpentry labor allowance | 120 | $78.00 | $9,360.00 |
| Materials allowance | 1 | $12,500.00 | $12,500.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a general contractor estimate
Homeowners remember the first number they hear. If an early budget goes out as one figure with no phase breakdown, no allowance basis and no accuracy range, the client treats it as the contract price, and every later increase reads as a contractor padding the job rather than as drawings arriving. A $1,150 window allowance that comes back at $1,900 selected is a $750 conversation when the allowance is on the page and a trust problem when it is not. Naming the contingency, listing the exclusions, and saying plainly that the figure is a budget until drawings and subcontractor quotes are in is what keeps an addition from stalling between the handshake and the permit.
- project address and scope basis
- labor, material, and subcontractor allowances
- permits, equipment, overhead, and contingency
- owner selections and exclusions
- validity period and path to a firm proposal
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition allowance | 1 | $4,800 |
| Carpentry labor allowance | 120 | $78 |
| Materials allowance | 1 | $12,500 |
Complete it cleanly
Group costs by trade or phase, label owner selections as allowances, and state what drawings or site observations the estimate uses. Identify contingency, permit assumptions, exclusions, and the next step before a firm quote.
How to make a general contractor estimate in 6 steps
Open the estimate generator
Start from this page so the estimate opens with fields and sample lines already set up for general contractors and remodelers. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the customer name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the general contractor lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows project address and scope basis, labor, material, and subcontractor allowances, permits, equipment, overhead, and contingency.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the estimate a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
Group costs by trade or phase, label owner selections as allowances, and state what drawings or site observations the estimate uses. Identify contingency, permit assumptions, exclusions, and the next step before a firm quote. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
A 384 sq ft rear addition budgeted from a site walk, before drawings
Ashgrove Building Co. is budgeting a 16 ft by 24 ft rear family room addition for the Kestner family after one site visit on Sept 9, 2026 and a hand-marked copy of the existing floor plan. No architect is engaged yet, no subcontractor has quoted, and the owners have selected neither windows nor flooring.
- Site prep and demolition of the existing rear deck and stoop, own crew, 3 days
- $3,800.00
- Foundation: 32 lf frost wall and 384 sq ft slab, budget rate from Ashgrove's concrete rate card, not yet a quote
- $11,500.00
- Framing, sheathing and roof structure, own crew plus lumber package, quantities taken off the marked-up plan
- $16,400.00
- Roofing and siding tied into the existing house, subcontractor budget figure
- $9,200.00
- Mechanical subs at budget rates: plumbing $3,900.00, electrical $6,100.00, HVAC extension $4,800.00
- $14,800.00
- Insulation, drywall and paint
- $10,300.00
- Owner selection allowances: 4 windows at $1,150.00 installed, 1 patio door at $2,900.00, flooring 384 sq ft at $9.00 installed
- $10,956.00
- Equipment and fees: 2 dumpster hauls at $625.00, one week of boom lift at $480.00, permit and plan review allowance $2,400.00
- $4,130.00
- Direct cost subtotal $81,086.00, plus 10% contingency for concealed conditions in this scope only ($8,108.60)
- $89,194.60
- Budget estimate with 18% overhead and profit ($16,055.03); accuracy range at this stage is minus 15% to plus 15%, roughly $89,500 to $121,000
- $105,249.63
The common failure here is letting $105,249.63 get quoted back as the price. Two lines are allowances, the owner selections and the permit, and three more are budget figures with no subcontractor quote behind them yet, which is why the range and the contingency belong beside the total rather than in the fine print.
When this document is the right choice
Use this estimate to set a realistic expected cost before the final scope is known. An estimate is an informed approximation, not a final invoice. State the assumptions that could move the price and replace it with a quote or invoice once scope is confirmed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between this budget estimate and the firm proposal the owner signs?
This document prices a scope nobody has drawn yet, off a walkthrough and a marked plan, using rate-card figures and allowances. The firm proposal comes after the drawings are final and the subcontractors have quoted against them, and it replaces allowances with selected products at real prices. Say that transition on the estimate itself, including what has to happen first: drawings, selections, and returned sub quotes. An estimate that never names its own successor tends to get treated as one.
How do I state an accuracy range without sounding like I do not know my own costs?
Tie the range to information, not to confidence. Write that the number is built from a site walk and a marked-up existing plan with no drawings, no soils information, and no subcontractor quotes, and that it carries a minus 15% to plus 15% range until those arrive. Then say what narrows it: framing drawings tighten Division 6, returned sub quotes tighten mechanicals, and owner selections replace the allowance lines. Clients accept a range attached to a reason far more readily than a bare percentage.
Is the 10% contingency my money or the owner's?
Decide it in writing before you send the estimate, because both conventions are common and the assumption is always the expensive one. On this budget the contingency covers concealed conditions inside the priced scope only, so rotten rim joist behind the old deck ledger draws on it and an owner adding a bathroom does not. State whether an unused balance is credited back to the owner on the final invoice or retained, and state whether your 18% overhead and profit applies to contingency draws.
My subcontractor numbers are rate-card figures, not quotes. How should they be labeled?
Label them on the line, not in a footnote, with words like budget rate, no quote received. On this estimate the $14,800.00 of mechanical work is three internal rate-card figures, and the day a plumber walks the addition and finds the existing main is undersized, that line moves. If you have a real quote, put its date and how long the sub is holding it on the same line, so the reader can tell a two-week-old quote from a number you carried forward from last spring.
I rebudget the same addition three or four times before drawings land. How do I keep the versions straight?
Number and date every version on its face and keep the phase structure identical, so the owners can lay two budgets side by side and see exactly which line moved. Say what each version was built from: the Sept 9 site walk and marked-up plan, then the schematic set, then the permit set with sub quotes in hand. Carry a short list of what changed since the last one and why, because a total that moves with no explanation reads as drift. Restate the allowance basis every time, since selections made between versions are the most common reason a phase jumps.
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