Excavation estimate template — and a generator that fills it in
What an excavation estimate has to state — yardage, soil assumption, haul-off and machine time — plus a generator that drafts one from a plain description of the dig.
Generate this estimate now
Describe the job in plain words. No email needed to see your first estimate — about fifteen seconds for a small job, a little longer for a big one.
What you get — see the format first
A complete estimate you can send to the customer, built from the rate you enter:
| Description | Qty | Unit | Unit price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor — itemized by task | hrs | hour | your rate | — |
| Materials — with your markup applied | qty | ea / sq ft | cost + markup | — |
| Permits, disposal, access | — | — | — | — |
Plus a plain-English scope summary, assumptions (what had to be guessed), exclusions (what you are not doing — the section that prevents most change-order arguments), and a validity period. Printable, or send the link.
Every figure comes from the rate and markup you supply. We never fill in a market price for you.
An estimating spreadsheet that opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets, or prints to PDF. Pre-filled with the line items a excavation estimate should contain, plus a checklist of what excavation estimating most often leaves out — so you price it before you send, not after.
- Blank — the line items, ready to price by hand.
- Auto-calculating — same sheet with the maths built in; type a quantity and a rate and it totals itself. Formulas work in Excel and Google Sheets.
- Printable — a clean one-page layout to fill in on site or save as PDF.
How excavation jobs are bid
Excavation is bid per cubic yard moved and per hour of machine time, and the two numbers disagree whenever the soil is not what the bid assumed. Rock, clay and groundwater each change the yardage rate; so does whether the spoil stays on site or gets trucked. Haul-off is often the largest single line, because it is priced per load and the load count is set by the truck, not by the hole. Utility locates and the hand-digging around what they mark are the schedule risk.
What a excavation estimate should contain
- Cubic yards to be excavated, and the soil condition the price assumes
- Machine time by class — excavator, skid steer, dozer — hours × rate
- Mobilisation and demobilisation of equipment to site
- Haul-off: number of loads, round-trip distance and tipping fees
- Spoil staying on site — where it goes and whether it gets spread
- Utility locate call and hand-digging around marked services
- Shoring, trench box or benching where depth requires it
- Backfill material, placement and compaction to a stated density
- Erosion control — silt fence, inlet protection, stabilised entrance
- Operator and ground-crew labour, stated separately from machine time
What gets left out of excavation estimates
- Rock or unsuitable soil — always an allowance with a unit rate, never silence
- Groundwater and the pump, hose and discharge permit it needs
- Dewatering days when the hole fills faster than the work proceeds
- Restoration of the access route the machines chewed up getting in
Your prices, not internet averages
Generic AI quotes national averages. BidWand builds a price book from every estimate you send and every rate you correct, so by the fifth bid it prices like you do — your labor rate, your markup, your exclusions.
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How to estimate
How to write a contractor estimate · Estimate vs quote vs bid — and which one you should send · What to include in a contractor estimate · How to price a job as a contractor · Should you charge for estimates? · How to follow up on an estimate · How to handle change orders · Estimate vs invoice: what's the difference? · How to raise your prices as a contractor