Wilmington & New Castle County
Corporate and financial offices, healthcare, life sciences, riverfront redevelopment and suburban residential near Philadelphia.
Delaware
Construction Estimating Services in Delaware
No sales tax, a gross receipts tax instead, and an estimate built around it.
Delaware is small, but it prices differently from its neighbors. There's no sales tax on materials, contractors pay a gross receipts tax instead, prevailing wage applies to public work above set thresholds, and building codes are adopted county by county. The coastal boom in Sussex County adds wind and flood requirements on top.
Prime Estimation prepares construction estimates and quantity takeoffs for Delaware general contractors, subcontractors, developers and builders across New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties: priced to local conditions and typically delivered in 24 to 48 hours.
No sales taxGross receipts tax on contractors
$500k / $45kPrevailing wage: new / alteration
3 countiesCodes adopted locally
Coastal SussexWind and flood design
Where We Work in Delaware
The Delaware Construction Market
Delaware's three counties behave like three different markets: corporate and institutional work in the north, government and military in the center, and one of the East Coast's fastest-growing coastal regions in the south.
Dover & Kent County
State government, education, Dover Air Force Base work, and agricultural and light industrial facilities.
Coastal Sussex County
Rehoboth, Lewes, Millsboro and the beach towns: fast-growing residential, hospitality and retail built for coastal exposure.
Local Pricing
What Drives Construction Costs in Delaware
The Delaware-specific conditions we look for on every set and carry into the line items.
No sales tax on materials
Delaware has no sales tax at any level, so materials aren't marked up for it the way they are in Maryland, Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Estimates carried over from neighboring states often overprice materials here.
Contractor gross receipts tax
Instead, contractors pay a gross receipts tax on construction receipts above a monthly exclusion, along with an annual business license. We can carry it as a line item so it isn't lost in overhead.
Prevailing wage on public work
State-funded construction pays prevailing wages above $500,000 for new construction and $45,000 for alteration and renovation work. Labor is priced to the applicable rates.
Coastal wind and flood
Sussex County's coastal sites bring higher design wind speeds, flood elevation and foundation requirements. We price the design shown for the mapped zone.
Regional labor pull
Delaware draws trades from the Philadelphia and Baltimore markets, and coastal work competes with seasonal demand. Labor is priced to the county, not a statewide figure.
County-adopted codes
New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties and the larger municipalities adopt and enforce their own editions of the building codes. We follow the jurisdiction named on the permit drawings.
Compliance
Delaware Codes, Wage Rules and Taxes in Your Estimate
The requirements that most often change a Delaware number, and how each one shows up in our work.
| Requirement | What it means | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Prevailing wage law | Applies to state-funded construction over $500,000 for new work and over $45,000 for alteration, repair, renovation and demolition. | Labor priced to the Delaware prevailing wage rates in the bid documents. |
| Gross receipts tax | Contractors pay a gross receipts tax on construction receipts above a monthly exclusion, with deductions for payments to qualifying subcontractors. | Carried as a separate line or in overhead, as you prefer. |
| Business license | Contractors need a Delaware business license from the Division of Revenue, renewed annually. | Noted in the assumptions for out-of-state bidders. |
| Building codes | Codes are adopted and enforced by counties and larger municipalities rather than by one statewide code. | Takeoff follows the jurisdiction and code edition on the drawings. |
| Federal work: Davis-Bacon | Federally funded projects use U.S. Department of Labor wage determinations. | The applicable determination applied by county and trade. |
What We Do
Estimating Services We Provide in Delaware
Full project estimates or a single trade: every one priced to the project's location and checked by a second estimator.
Project Estimates & Takeoffs
Complete estimates and quantity takeoffs for Delaware projects.
- Commercial EstimatingRetail, office, restaurants, warehouses and TI work→
- Residential EstimatingCustom homes, multi-family, additions and remodels→
- Industrial EstimatingPlants, processing facilities and distribution centers→
- Material TakeoffOrder-ready quantities by CSI division→
- Construction TakeoffSingle-trade or full-project takeoffs with marked-up plans→
Trade Estimating
One division measured in depth, in the units your trade bids in.
How It Works
Send Your Plans →
From Delaware Plans to a Bid-Ready Number
Everything happens from your digital drawings, so distance never slows the job down.
- 01
Send Plans & Location
Upload the drawings, specs and addenda, and give us the project address or ZIP code and your bid date.
- 02
Fixed Quote & Date
We review the set and reply (usually within a few hours) with a fixed fee and a delivery date. Nothing starts until you approve.
- 03
Takeoff, Local Pricing, Review
Quantities are measured digitally, priced to Delaware material and labor conditions, and audited by a second estimator.
- 04
Delivery & Addenda
Excel and PDF with marked-up drawings and a written assumptions page, typically in 24 to 48 hours. Addenda are worked into the same file.
FAQ
Delaware Estimating Questions
Do Delaware estimates include sales tax on materials?
No. Delaware has no sales tax, so materials are priced without it. Contractors pay a gross receipts tax instead, which we can show as its own line in the estimate.
When does Delaware prevailing wage apply?
On state-funded construction above $500,000 for new construction and above $45,000 for alteration, repair, renovation, rehabilitation, demolition or reconstruction. We price labor to the applicable Delaware rates.
Can you estimate coastal Sussex County projects?
Yes. We price the wind-rated envelope, flood elevation and foundation design shown on the drawings for beach-area residential, hospitality and retail work.
Does Delaware have one statewide building code?
No. Codes are adopted and enforced by the counties and larger municipalities. We follow the jurisdiction and code edition named on your permit drawings.
How quickly can you turn around a Delaware bid?
Most estimates are delivered in 24 to 48 hours, and single-trade takeoffs often within 24 hours. You'll get a fixed fee and delivery date first, usually within a few hours.
Ready to Get Started?
Pricing a Delaware Project?
Send your drawings and the project address. You'll get a fixed fee and a delivery date back, usually within a few hours.
Service Areas
Other Locations We Serve
We estimate projects in all 50 states. These are the areas with their own pages; see all service areas.