Create bids in minutes — AI calculates quantities and prices for you

Bid estimation is the process where a contractor estimates the costs of a construction project and prepares a bid for the client. It includes quantity takeoff (calculating material quantities from blueprints), pricing (materials, labor, subcontracting), and adding margin and risk reserves. Bid estimation is a construction company's most important process — its accuracy determines the profitability of the contract.

Reverse charge VAT means that the buyer of construction services (main contractor) remits the VAT on behalf of the seller (subcontractor). In practice, the subcontractor invoices without VAT and the main contractor handles the tax payment. Reverse charge VAT applies to construction services when the buyer is a business that sells construction services. In bid estimation, this means subcontractor bids are VAT 0% and tax is only added to the end customer's invoice.

AI automates the slowest phase of bid estimation: quantity takeoff. Traditionally, calculating material quantities from blueprints takes 4–8 hours per project. AI reads the blueprint, identifies structures, and calculates quantities in minutes. The estimator only needs to handle pricing and bid review.

A general contractor's margin typically ranges 5–15% depending on project size, risk, and competitive pressure. Small renovations often carry 10–15% margin, large new-build projects 5–8%. The margin covers fixed overhead, risk reserves, and profit. Too thin a margin turns a single surprise into a loss.

Cost estimation computes the real cost of the project without margin — it serves the owner's budgeting. Bid estimation adds margin, risk contingency, and competitive pricing on top of those costs to produce a bid to the client. Bid estimation is the contractor's view; cost estimation is the owner's.