When outsourcing makes sense
- You have more bids than estimating hours this month
- You don't have an estimator, or yours is tied up on another job
- The job is bigger or different from what you usually price
- You want a second number to check your own takeoff against
What it costs compared with hiring
Estimators are hard to hire. In AGC's 2025 Workforce Survey, run with NCCER, 77% of member firms with openings for estimating staff said those jobs were hard to fill. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median wage for cost estimators in the construction-of-buildings industry at $84,610 a year as of May 2025, before benefits and overhead (BLS).
Datum charges per estimate, from $129, and you pay only for the jobs you send. An in-house estimator does more than estimates, so compare against your own bid volume and workload. See all prices and what each tier includes.
You keep control of the number
A common worry about outsourcing is losing control of your pricing. The estimate is built so you can take it back over:
- Overhead and profit, contingency, and bond and insurance are separate lines you set
- Every line is in an editable spreadsheet, so you can drop in your own subs and supplier quotes
- Assumptions and exclusions are written out, so you can see what was priced and what wasn't
- A confidence range on the total shows how hard to lean on it
AI takeoff, human sign-off
Models trained on successful bids take off quantities from your plan sheets and price them against comparable jobs. A working estimator checks the takeoff against the sheets, emails you questions where the drawings have gaps, and signs off every line before release. How it works.
Plan around the turnaround
We aim to confirm your files within one business day of payment. Standard delivery is within 3 business days after that. Rush is within 24 hours after file confirmation for a flat $149, refunded if we miss it for reasons within our control. Send the set as soon as you decide to bid.
Your plans are used only to prepare your estimate. We don't share them with other customers, publish them, or use them to train our models. Every estimate is an opinion of probable cost that you check and build your own bid from. It is not a bid, a fixed-price quote or a promise that you'll win the job.
