Public, School and Healthcare Construction Estimating Services

Public and Institutional Estimating covers publicly bid and institutional projects — schools and universities, healthcare, civic buildings, libraries, public safety and public works — which follow formal procurement rules.

Public and institutional work adds procurement rules, prevailing-wage requirements, bonding, stricter specifications and more documentation to the estimating task. We estimate from the full solicitation package and keep the bid form, alternates and unit prices front and center.

Public project requirements we track

• Bid form, alternates, unit prices and addendum acknowledgments
• Bid security, performance and payment bonds, insurance
• Prevailing-wage or Davis-Bacon wage determinations
• Small, local or disadvantaged business participation goals
• Detailed Division 01 requirements and submittal procedures

Healthcare and school specifics

Healthcare projects add infection-control measures, medical gas and specialized MEP systems; school projects add phasing around occupancy, security systems and durable finishes. We price these requirements from the documents and allowances stated in the specifications.

What you receive

• Estimate matched to the bid form
• Wage-rate applied labor pricing
• Compliance checklist and addenda log
• Scope sheets and leveling sheets
• Post-bid support and buyout tracking

Technical scope and terminology we work with

• IFB, ITB and RFP; responsive and responsible bidder
• Prevailing wage, Davis-Bacon and certified payroll
• Bid security, bonds and insurance
• Alternates, allowances and unit prices
• Phasing, infection control and occupied-building work

Who this service is for

Contractors bidding public, school, healthcare, civic and public-works projects.

How it works

1. Upload plans, specifications and addenda with the bid date.
2. We confirm scope, firm price and turnaround.
3. We take off, price and review the estimate.
4. We support addenda, bid leveling and post-bid clarifications.

Software, standards and file formats

We take off in PlanSwift and Bluebeam Revu, price in Excel with RSMeans-style cost data, schedule in Oracle Primavera P6 or Microsoft Project, and deliver Excel, PDF and DWG, organized by CSI MasterFormat divisions 01–33.

When to use this service

Use public and institutional estimating when a bid date is close, when your team is stretched across projects, when you need an independent check of your own numbers or drawings, or when you want consistent deliverables in the same format every time. Tell us the due date when you request a quote so the schedule can be planned around it.

Engagement options

• One project: order public and institutional estimating for a single bid or job and receive a firm price and turnaround before we start.
• Several trades or divisions: combine this service with related scopes so quantities, drawings and pricing agree.
• Bid-season capacity: send multiple projects with their due dates and we schedule the work to hit each one.
• Ongoing support: repeat-volume contractors can agree standard formats, cost codes and turnaround so every delivery drops straight into their process.

Quality control, confidentiality and communication

Every deliverable is reviewed by a second team member before it reaches you, and assumptions, inclusions and exclusions are written down so they can be checked. If information is missing we send a short list of questions rather than guessing, and we tell you which assumption we used when a question cannot be answered in time. Your plans, specifications and files are used only to prepare your project work and are not shared publicly; see our privacy policy.

Related services, guides and pages

• Construction estimating and quantity takeoff
• Pre-bid, solicitation response and post-bid support
• Shop drawings, structural drafting and permit drawings
• Public bid estimating, pricing, samples, FAQ and bidding glossary