Estimating guide
How to estimate a concrete job
A concrete job is three kinds of work that happen at different times: forming, pouring and finishing. Each uses a different crew and a different measure, so each is a line of its own.
The job in the example below is made up, with realistic figures, so you can see every step: slab on grade for a warehouse addition, Indianapolis, IN. It is not a price list. Use your own rates and your own hours.
1. Split the job into forming, pouring and finishing
Footings, walls and the slab are separate lines, and the formwork, the concrete and the finish each have lines of their own.
2. Measure each in its own unit
Concrete by volume. Formwork by the area of form that touches the concrete. Finished slab by area. A cubic yard of concrete and a square foot of finish are different quantities, so do not mix them in one line.
3. Say how long one unit takes
Hours per unit is yours, from your own crews. In the example, “Concrete, 4,000 psi, placed” allows 0.35 hours per cubic yard, and “Footing concrete, 4,000 psi, pumped and vibrated” allows 0.917 hours per cubic yard. Footings and walls are different work from the open slab, so they get their own numbers.
4. Add the concrete, with waste
Materials are the quantity times the price times one plus waste. The example uses 3% on the concrete itself. Some is lost to spillage and overpour. Use what your own jobs show.
5. Add the pump and the finishing machines
A pump is priced by the hour and charged to the line that uses it. The example allows 0.04 pump hours for each cubic yard poured. The example has “Concrete pump”, “Power trowel” and “Skid steer”.
6. Let the packages out, and add your running costs
The example lets out three packages to subcontractors, with up to four quotes each. The lowest is carried unless I pick another, and one package is an allowance because there is no quote yet. Running costs sit apart, and weekly items follow the length of the job, so a longer job costs more. Both lists are under the example.
7. Then contingency, profit and the rest
In this order: contingency on the direct cost, then your fee on the direct cost plus contingency, then the bond and insurance on that subtotal. The table below shows each step.
The worked example
The job: slab on grade for a warehouse addition, Indianapolis, IN. It runs 6 weeks. Every figure here is in the example spreadsheet below.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Hours
| 96.25 hours |
Labor
| $5,582.50 |
Materials
| $52,401.25 |
Equipment
| $2,145.00 |
| Line total | $60,128.75 |
Per cubic yard
| $218.65 |
Every line of the estimate is worked out like this one. Then the lines are added up, and the rest of the bid is built on top of them.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $264,829.11 |
Subcontractors
| $39,640.00 |
General conditions
| $15,712.00 |
Direct cost
| $320,181.11 |
Contingency
| $12,807.24 |
Fee
| $33,298.84 |
| Subtotal | $366,287.19 |
Bond
| $3,662.87 |
Insurance
| $1,831.44 |
| Bid total | $371,781.50 |
Sales tax, shown apart
| $0.00 |
The two lists behind the subcontractors and general conditions lines above:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Reinforcing steel, furnish and install | $27,400.00 |
| Concrete testing, cylinders and slump | $5,440.00 |
| Joint filler at saw cuts, allowance | $6,800.00 |
| Total | $39,640.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Supervision, foreman | $7,200.00 |
| Cold weather protection, insulated blankets | $3,400.00 |
| Project manager, part time | $2,880.00 |
| Small tools, vibrators and consumables | $1,152.00 |
| Dumpsters and concrete washout | $1,080.00 |
| Total | $15,712.00 |
Common mistakes
- Pricing the concrete without the pump. The pump is a cost, charged by the hour, and it belongs in the line.
- Forms, pour and finish as one number. Different crews, different hours.
- No cold-weather protection. It is in the running costs of the example.
- Options inside the price. The example prices a floor hardener as an alternate with the line marked Excluded. You see the figure, and it adds to nothing until the customer asks for it. That left out $6,996.00 in this example.
Free estimating spreadsheet
Concrete estimate spreadsheet for Excel
The worked example on this page, as an Excel workbook you can make your own: type your rates, your lines and your subcontractor quotes, and formulas work out the bid summary and a one-page quote, to the cent.
Download the example spreadsheet Download a blank spreadsheet
The example has a whole job filled in, ready to change into your own. The blank one starts empty.
Same totals as Bidfident, to the cent. Version 0.1, October 2026.
Filled one in already? Import lines in Bidfident brings in the lines from its Estimate tab.
No sign-up, no email. Free for your own bids. Check every figure before you send a bid. Please don't resell it. All free estimate spreadsheets for the US
Starter cost codes: Concrete 22 codes
Bidfident's own starter codes, ready to change into your own. To bring them in, go to Libraries, then Cost codes, then Import from Excel in Bidfident, and pick the file. You see a preview before anything changes. Version 0.1, October 2026.
Free to use for your own bids. Change it to suit your business. Please don't resell it or hand it out as your own list. All starter cost-code lists for the US
When your spreadsheet gets heavy
If you end up with lots of bids, changing rates or more than one person working on them, Bidfident does the same sums on a page and keeps every bid with its saved versions.
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.