DFE Estimating helps builders know exactly how much a project will cost. We use real prices from your area — not guesses — so your numbers are always accurate and safe to trust.
Building things costs money, so before builders start, we count exactly how much wood, bricks, and stuff they’ll need and how much it will cost — because if we guess wrong, even a little, people can lose a lot of money, so we do the math carefully every time, no guessing, just getting it right, so builders can build with confidence.
DFE Estimating is a company from New York that helps builders figure out how much their projects will cost — whether it’s a small house or a huge factory. They’ve been doing this for over 12 years and help people all across the country.
We look at building plans and count everything needed to build it — like how many bricks, how much wood, how many workers. Then we make a neat list on the computer so builders know exactly what to buy before they start, with no surprises later.
We help builders figure out how much a home project will really cost — like building a new house, fixing up an old one, or adding a new room. We use today’s real prices for materials (like wood and paint) and workers’ pay in your area, so the cost you guess is close to the real cost.
We figure out how much it costs to build all kinds of buildings — offices, shops, restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals, and more. We list every little cost so builders know exactly what to spend money on before they start building, anywhere in the country.
We give super accurate cost estimates for large buildings such as factories, warehouses, and roads. No matter how big or how many parts the job has, we finish fast — in just 1 to 2 days!
Send us your building plans and papers online or by email. We take PDF, CAD, and Revit files, big or small. We'll tell you the price in one hour!
We look at the job, decide what's needed, then give you one clear price and a promise on when it's done. No surprise costs, no extra work added later.
Our experts measure exactly what's needed and check current prices. Then another expert double-checks everything before you get your estimate, so it's accurate and fair.
You get a neat, organized price list within 1-2 days. It shows costs for materials and work, split into clear sections. If you want changes later, that's free too!
From single family homes to multi-million-dollar industrial complexes, we estimate it all — with the same accuracy and turnaround regardless of project size or sector.
Most companies take 3 to 10 days to tell you how much a building project will cost. We only take 1 to 2 days! That’s because many people work on it at the same time, instead of one person doing it all alone.
If you need an answer fast — like in 3 days — and you don’t have it yet, that’s a big problem. You could lose the job AND all the time you already spent. That’s exactly why we made DFE (Done Fast Estimating)!
Just send us your plans today, and we’ll get your answer ready before your deadline.
Every state, every market — with pricing that actually reflects where you are building. Local material and labor costs in Miami are not the same as those in Minneapolis, and a generic national-average estimate will lose you margin before the job even starts.
DFE delivers zip-code-specific pricing for every project using live market data and RSMeans cost databases updated in real time. Whether you are bidding in Manhattan or Montana, your estimate reflects current local conditions — not a blended rate from somewhere else in the country.
Every estimate that leaves DFE goes through a mandatory internal QA review before delivery. Not a spot-check — a full review of quantities against the drawings, pricing against current market data, and scope against the applicable CSI division to confirm nothing was missed in the handoff.
Most estimating services skip this step to hit faster turnaround windows. We do not. It is the reason our delivery window is 24 to 48 hours and not 12 hours — and the reason contractors come back to us bid after bid instead of shopping around after getting burned by inaccurate numbers.
An estimate is only as useful as it is readable. DFE delivers every estimate as a structured Excel workbook — quantities and costs broken out by CSI division, labelled by location, and organized in a format your PM or GC can review, adjust, and submit without reformatting anything.
No dense PDFs, no locked templates, no numbers without context. Every line item shows what was measured, what it costs, and why — so you can defend every figure if a client or subcontractor asks. Clear, auditable reporting is part of every deliverable we produce, not an upgrade.
A full-time in-house estimator carries a salary, software licenses, benefits, and training costs regardless of how many bids you have in the queue. That overhead does not scale with your workload — it stays fixed whether you are bidding one project a month or ten.
Outsourcing to DFE means you pay only for the estimates you actually need. Contractors who make the switch consistently report 40 to 60 percent reductions in estimating overhead. During slow bid seasons, you pay nothing. During heavy seasons, you scale up without a hiring cycle.
Accurate calculations, reliable pricing, and on-time delivery — not as aspirational goals but as operational standards we hold every estimate to. If a number is not defensible against the drawings and current market data, it does not leave our team.
This commitment is why DFE estimates survive real bid reviews. Contractors who use our numbers win competitively — not by underbidding, but by knowing their estimate is tight, complete, and priced for the specific market where their project is actually being built.
Wherever your project is located, our team provides the same level of accuracy, professionalism, and commitment — backed by local pricing data from RSMeans and live material cost indexes covering every US state.
From a two-person residential contractor bidding a first commercial job to a regional GC managing 30 concurrent bids across five states, DFE scales to your workload. We have estimated projects from $50,000 residential remodels to multi-million-dollar industrial facilities — the same precision regardless of scope size.
Bluebeam Revu is the industry standard for professional drawing reviews, digital markups, and plan analysis — and it is central to our takeoff process. Every set of plans we receive is processed in Bluebeam, with markups colour-coded by trade and measurement type so the takeoff is fully auditable.
When you receive your estimate from DFE, you are receiving the output of a structured digital takeoff — not a manual count from a printed plan. Bluebeam allows us to catch scale errors, flag missing details, and produce quantities that match what is actually on the drawings, page by page.
Xactimate is the gold standard for insurance restoration and repair estimating — used by adjusters, restoration contractors, and remediation companies across the United States for property damage claims involving fire, flood, wind, and structural damage.
DFE’s Xactimate-trained estimators provide accurate, line-item restoration cost estimates built to the format that insurance carriers accept and adjusters expect. If you are a restoration contractor or public adjuster needing fast, compliant estimates for property claims, our Xactimate service delivers in 24-48 hours — the same standard we hold every scope to.
Four reasons thousands of contractors across the US send their plans to DFE every week.
Different experts price each building part—concrete, drywall, wiring—because each one has its own special costs. Mixing them up makes bids wrong.
Every estimate is checked by another person first. They check the numbers against the plans, check the prices are correct, and check nothing was left out.
We work fast! Most companies take 3–10 days to give a price. We finish in just 1–2 days, because we built our way to match real deadlines — not our own comfort.
We tell you the price first, before we start. It stays the same, even if the job is big or hard. No extra charges later. What we say is what you pay.
Construction estimating fees typically range from $200 to $2,500 depending on project size, trade scope, and complexity. A single-trade residential takeoff generally starts around $200 to $400. Full commercial cost estimates for larger projects range from $800 to $2,500 or more. At DFE Estimating, we charge flat fees based on project scope with no hidden charges or hourly billing surprises. Contact us to receive a free quote based on your specific drawings. We confirm the price before any work begins.
A professional construction cost estimate includes a complete material quantity takeoff from your architectural drawings, labor cost calculations based on current local wage rates, equipment and subcontractor allowances where applicable, and a line-item cost breakdown organized by CSI MasterFormat division. At DFE, every estimate is delivered as a structured Excel workbook, clearly labelled by trade and location, with pricing sourced from RSMeans and current market data for your specific project zip code.
The industry average for a professional construction estimate is 3 to 10 business days depending on project complexity. At DFE Estimating, our standard delivery window is 24 to 48 hours for most residential and commercial scopes. We achieve this through trade-specialized estimators working in parallel and a structured intake process that eliminates the back-and-forth that delays most estimating engagements. For large or multi-trade commercial projects, we confirm your delivery time with your quote before work begins.
Maintaining an in-house estimating team means carrying year-round salary, software license, and training costs — even during slow bid seasons when there is nothing to estimate. Outsourcing to DFE means you pay only for the estimates you actually need. Contractors who outsource their estimating consistently report 40 to 60 percent reductions in estimating overhead compared to an in-house model. You also gain access to trade-specialized expertise across 14+ CSI divisions without hiring specialists in each trade.
A quantity takeoff (QTO) is the measurement phase of estimating, converting architectural drawings into a detailed list of materials, quantities, and dimensions without pricing. A cost estimate builds on the takeoff by applying current material prices, labor rates, equipment costs, and overheads to produce a fully priced bid document. At DFE, we deliver both in a single Excel workbook organized by CSI division and ready for bid submission — quantities and costs in one place.
DFE Estimating uses industry-standard software for every estimate we produce. For digital quantity takeoffs, we use PlanSwift and Bluebeam Revu. For MEP scopes, we use FastDUCT, FastPIPE, and FastWRAP. For pricing, we reference RSMeans cost databases updated with live market data for zip-code-specific material and labor rates. For insurance restoration estimates, we use Xactimate. Every price we deliver can be traced to a recognized industry source — no proprietary or unverified databases.
Yes. DFE Estimating provides construction cost estimating and material takeoff services across all 50 US states. While we are based in New York, our pricing is zip-code-specific using RSMeans and current local market data, so a project in Texas is priced against Texas material and labor costs, not New York averages. We have estimated projects in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Phoenix, and every other major US construction market.
DFE Estimating is a trusted provider of construction estimating services, delivering accurate quantity takeoffs, material takeoffs, labor pricing, and bid-ready construction estimates for residential, commercial, and industrial projects. We help contractors save time, reduce estimating errors, and bid with confidence.
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