What to include in a contractor estimate

A checklist you can run every estimate against. Most callbacks and disputes trace back to one of these being missing.

Identity and job details

Your business name, license number where required, the customer name and the job address. An estimate that doesn't say where the work is happening isn't a document, it's a note.

Scope summary

Two or three sentences a homeowner can read without a trade dictionary, covering what gets removed, what gets installed, and what gets tested.

Itemized lines

Labor with hours and rate; materials with quantity and unit price; permits, disposal and equipment as their own lines. The total should be arithmetic the customer can follow.

Assumptions and exclusions

What you are assuming about existing conditions, and what is explicitly not in the price. These two sections prevent more disputes than everything else combined.

Terms

Validity window, deposit, payment schedule, and what happens if hidden conditions appear — normally a written change order before the work proceeds.

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.

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