General Contractor Estimating Software
Scope a kitchen, bath or basement remodel with lines for demolition, permits, protection and finishes, then let the client accept it from their phone.
The builder below opens with a sample general contractor job, basement finish, 600 sq ft: 10 lines, $31,864.25 in all. Labor is the BLS OEWS May 2025 U.S. median wage for construction laborers ($22.66) plus 35% for payroll taxes, insurance and equipment, and overhead and profit is 20%, the same way our calculators price. Change any line. Nothing is saved until you choose to.
$30.59/hr: the U.S. median wage for construction laborers ($22.66, BLS OEWS May 2025), plus 35% for payroll taxes, insurance and equipment. A ZIP switches to the local wage. Change it under More options.
$566.83
$20,668.68
$3,393.91
$3,439.12
$1,911.24
$832.96
$168.71
$193.13
$289.42
$400.25
Add from the general contractor list (43 items, estimated national prices)
The general contractor item library (43 lines)
Material per unit is our national estimate (estimated); labor hours per unit are crew-hour productivity figures. Both are defaults you overwrite with your own numbers.
| Item | Unit | Material | Labor hrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-construction meeting and scope review | ea | $0 | 3 |
| Permit application and expediting | ea | $350 | 4 |
| Plan review with architect or engineer | hr | $0 | 1 |
| Existing conditions survey and photos | ea | $0 | 2 |
| Floor and finish protection | sq ft | $0 | 0.005 |
| Dust barrier, zip wall | linear ft | $6 | 0.1 |
| Selective demolition, kitchen | sq ft | $1 | 0.07 |
| Selective demolition, bathroom | sq ft | $2 | 0.09 |
| Load-bearing wall removal with beam | linear ft | $95 | 1.2 |
| Debris haul, per load | ea | $180 | 2 |
| Subfloor repair, 3/4 in plywood | sq ft | $2 | 0.04 |
| Kitchen cabinets, stock, installed | linear ft | $190 | 0.9 |
| Kitchen cabinets, semi-custom, installed | linear ft | $360 | 1 |
| Quartz countertop, fabricated and set | sq ft | $68 | 0.15 |
| Laminate countertop | linear ft | $34 | 0.25 |
| Tile backsplash, ceramic | sq ft | $7 | 0.18 |
| Undermount sink and faucet set | ea | $420 | 2.5 |
| Appliance install, per unit | ea | $0 | 1 |
| Bathroom vanity, 36 in, with top | ea | $640 | 3 |
| Toilet, comfort height | ea | $260 | 1.5 |
| Tub-shower combo, fiberglass | ea | $720 | 6 |
| Tile shower, mud pan, 3x5 | ea | $1,900 | 28 |
| Shower glass door, frameless | ea | $950 | 3 |
| Porcelain floor tile, 12x24 | sq ft | $6 | 0.16 |
| Luxury vinyl plank flooring | sq ft | $3 | 0.045 |
| Hardwood, 3/4 in oak, sanded and finished | sq ft | $9 | 0.12 |
| Carpet with pad | sq yd | $32 | 0.3 |
| Interior paint, walls and ceiling, 2 coats | sq ft | $0 | 0.02 |
| Recessed LED can lights | ea | $48 | 0.7 |
| Bathroom exhaust fan, ducted | ea | $140 | 2 |
| Egress window well and window | ea | $2,400 | 14 |
| Basement finish, framing and drywall package | sq ft | $18 | 0.35 |
| Attic conversion, dormer framing | sq ft | $42 | 0.6 |
| Closet system, wire shelving | linear ft | $14 | 0.2 |
| Handrail and balusters, stair | linear ft | $62 | 0.6 |
| ADA grab bars, blocked | ea | $85 | 0.8 |
| Smoke and CO detector, interconnected | ea | $55 | 0.5 |
| Water heater swap, 50 gal | ea | $1,350 | 4 |
| Change order administration | ea | $0 | 1 |
| Daily cleanup and final clean | sq ft | $0 | 0.01 |
| Punch list walkthrough | ea | $0 | 3 |
| Subcontractor coordination | hr | $0 | 1 |
| General liability and workers comp allowance | ea | $600 | 0 |
Local labor rate for construction laborers
BLS publishes the median wage for construction laborers by metro and state. Enter a ZIP to see the local figure the builder should be anchored to. BLS has no separate remodeler occupation; the construction-laborer series is the closest published wage. Supervisors are a separate BLS series (SOC 47-1011), which this page leaves out.
National median for construction laborers (SOC 47-2061, BLS OEWS May 2025): $23/hr.
From the $22.66 national median for construction laborers, add what your general contractor business pays on top of wages, its overhead and its profit to get the rate each billed hour has to carry.
Enter your payroll costs, overhead and profit to see the billed rate your numbers need.
Source: labor at $22.66/hr, the BLS OEWS May 2025 national median hourly wage for construction laborers, SOC 47-2061. The builder adds 35% for payroll taxes, insurance and equipment.
How to price general contractor work
Remodels are priced on what you cannot see
New construction is a takeoff; a remodel is a bet on what is behind the drywall. Price the visible scope line by line, then add explicit rows for the unknowns: subfloor repair per square foot, load-bearing wall removal with a beam, plumbing relocation. Naming those rows with a "if found" note lets you carry a contingency the client understands instead of padding every line.
General conditions are a scope, not a percentage
Protection, dust barriers, daily cleanup, debris hauls, permits and supervision are real hours and real dollars. A 10% "general conditions" line invites negotiation; 180 square feet of floor protection at $0.35 and four hours of permit expediting do not. The library carries each as its own item so your estimate reads like a plan.
Subs and self-performed work
For trades you subcontract, enter the sub's quote as material with zero hours and mark it up for coordination; for work you self-perform, use hours and your crew rate. Mixing the two on one line hides your margin. Keep a change-order administration row on every job: the first one is free, the fifth one is a Saturday.
Compared with spreadsheets and full suites
Most GCs start with a spreadsheet and a Word template, which works until two people edit the same file. Buildertrend, CoConstruct and Houzz Pro bundle CRM, scheduling and selections, which earns its keep above a few jobs at once. American Build Rate keeps the estimate, the PDF and the accept link in one place and stays out of the way of your accounting. For published plans next to ours, with the date each was checked, see our contractor software pricing page.
Pricing
Free: unlimited drafts, 5 tracked sends a month, PDFs with a one-line footer. Pro $13/mo or $130/yr: unlimited sends, no footer, 4 people on one price book, the website widget. Details on the pricing page.
Questions from remodelers and general contractors
Can I show a price range instead of a fixed total?
The estimate is a fixed total by design; ranges are what the homeowner calculators give. Use allowance lines for undecided selections and note the assumptions in the terms.
How do permits and inspections fit in?
Two library items cover it: "Permit application and expediting" with the fee as material and your hours as labor, and an inspection allowance. Fees vary by jurisdiction; edit the material figure per job.
Can my subs use it too?
Pro includes four people per company, all working from one price book. Subs with their own company sign up separately, free.
Related: Contractor estimate template · all trades