AACE Estimate Classes Explained for Contractors
What Class 1 through Class 5 actually mean, which one your drawings support, and how to budget against the range instead of a single number.
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Estimating Insights
The Prime Estimation Blog
Practical notes on takeoffs, pricing and bidding, written by working estimators.
No filler and no generic “10 tips” lists. Each article tackles one thing that costs contractors money on bids: how to measure it, how to price it, and how to write it down so it holds up later.
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TakeoffsCost DataAccuracyPrevailing WageBiddingOutsourcing
SFCA vs. Wall Area: Measuring Formwork Correctly
Why measuring formwork as wall square footage is one of the most common ways vertical concrete gets underbid.
Related: concrete estimating →Davis-Bacon Projects: What Changes in Your Estimate
Reading a wage determination, classifying workers correctly, and carrying fringe benefits without double-counting.
Related: local pricing factors →Writing an Assumptions Page That Holds Up
The page that turns a number into a document you can defend in a scope review, and the clarifications every bid should carry.
Related: what we deliver →In-House Estimator vs. Outsourcing: The Real Cost
Salary is only the start. Software, cost data, review and bid-season capacity all belong in the comparison.
Related: the comparison table →What to Send Your Estimator: A Bid-Set Checklist
The drawings, specs, addenda and bid forms that get you a faster quote and a tighter estimate.
Related: what to send →
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Useful Reading While You Wait
How accurate is an estimate?
The five AACE classes, the accuracy range for each, and what drawings you need to reach them.
What sets an estimating fee
Drawing count, divisions, document quality and turnaround, and how to keep each one down.
CSI division reference
The MasterFormat divisions most trade work falls into, and what's typically taken off in each.