RealTorch / Field Guide / Estimating
05 / 15 The 15 Functions of a Homebuilding Company
Estimating for Home Builders
Estimating translates a product into work the company can buy, schedule, build, invoice, and learn from.
“Smarter estimating can make your life simpler and easier, and increase your productivity and profits.”
At a glance.
- What this function decides
- Estimating decides how much detail the current decision needs and whether the estimate is ready to use. It also owns the scope, quantities, price sources, cost codes, allowances, contingency, and open items behind the total.
- What you need to know
- The estimate needs current plans, specifications, selections, site facts, and a complete scope. Add current quotes and fees, approved changes, commitments, recent actual costs, unpaid work, and the company's cost codes.
- What good work produces
- Good work produces an estimate another person can trace. It shows which documents were used, what is included, where each important number came from, what remains open, who approved it, and how it compares with actual cost.
A worked example.
Atlas compares the estimate with current plans, bids, commitments, and actual costs to show what truly changed.
Atlas
Review the Bellamy estimate as a construction-planning estimate. Compare it with plan revision 7, the scope list, current bids, approved changes, commitments, unpaid work, and actual costs from the last six homes. Leave the estimate now in use unchanged and create a separate draft. For each difference, tell me whether it comes from quantity, unit price, added scope, an allowance, field work, timing, coding, or an open question. Show the source, date, and strength of evidence for every important finding.
Tools and sources used
File Retrieval6+
The current estimate and the records that should agree with it.
- Used
- Estimate, plan revision, scope register, current bids, approved changes, commitments, accrual status, and six recent job-cost ledgers.
- Did
- Retrieved the six named sources into the working context and preserved the current revision and as-of dates.
- Supports
- The source records used to classify unit-price, coding, scope-gap, timing, and unresolved findings.
PDF Page Inspection+
A visual review of the current plan revision.
- Used
- Plan sheets A4.2 and C1.1 plus the revision notes in the supplied set.
- Did
- Inspected sheets A4.2 and C1.1 and captured the visible garage-door and retaining conditions for cross-file comparison.
- Supports
- The location of the two conditions in the plans. The cross-file analysis shows whether they appear in the estimate and bid list.
Builder Knowledge Lookup+
Function 05: Estimating, together with Purchasing and Accounting guidance.
- Used
- Atlas's Estimating guidance on complete, organized, accurate, and timely estimates, together with Purchasing guidance on current scope and bids and Accounting guidance on commitments and actual costs.
- Did
- Used the same cost codes across the estimate and actual records, then separated quantity, unit price, scope, allowance, field, timing, coding, and open questions.
- Supports
- The type of estimate, the reasons for each change, the strength of the evidence, and the items an estimator must confirm.
Running Analysis+
A comparison of the estimate with current bids and actual costs.
- Used
- Estimate lines, bid rows and dates, scope ownership, approved changes, commitments, accrual status, transaction descriptions, cost codes, and actuals from six homes.
- Did
- Matched the records, recalculated the priced draft, explained why the estimate changed, isolated the repeated $17,800 per-home code shift, flagged unpriced work, rated the evidence, and generated the workbook.
- Supports
- The $12,400 unit-price update, the absence of other supported adjustments, every table row, and Bellamy_Estimate_Reconciliation.xlsx.
Saving File+
A draft estimate that preserves sources and unresolved work.
- Used
- The in-use estimate, construction-planning draft, source dates, strength of evidence, proposed updates, open questions, and the people responsible for confirming them.
- Did
- Saved Bellamy_Estimate_Reconciliation.xlsx to the company's file library.
- Supports
- The saved workbook represented by the preview, with original, draft, source-map, and unresolved-scope tabs.
$12,400 is a real cost update. The $17,800 foundation variance is a coding problem.
The in-use estimate is $395,800. The construction-planning draft as of August 12 is $408,200 before two unresolved scope items. Current framing, drywall, and mechanical bids add $7,400, $2,200, and $2,800. Those are true unit-price updates totaling $12,400. The recurring foundation overrun is different. Clearing and rough-grading invoices average $17,800 per home across six recent homes. Those invoices were posted to code 03, while the estimate carries that scope in code 02. Moving the cost between codes changes the category variance but does not change total cost. Plan revision 7 also shows a garage service door and a rear retaining condition with no priced line in the estimate or bid register. Both remain open until the estimator and trades price the scope. The supplied records support no separate quantity, allowance, approved-change, field-loss, or timing adjustment.
| Finding | Source | Type of change | Strength of evidence | Draft effect | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearing and rough grading posted to code 03 | 6 job-cost ledgers and estimate codes 02 and 03 | Coding | High. Repeated on 6 homes. | $0 total | Reclassify in the draft. Controller validates the posting rule. |
| Framing and lumber bid update | Halloran bid dated Aug 6 and scope row 0610 | Unit price | High. Current written bid. | +$7,400 | Update draft after purchasing confirms term |
| Drywall and finish bid update | Current bid and scope row 0925 | Unit price | High. Current written bid. | +$2,200 | Update draft |
| Mechanical bid update | Current HVAC and plumbing bids | Unit price | High. Current written bids. | +$2,800 | Update draft |
| Garage service door | Plan Rev 7, A4.2. No priced scope line. | Scope gap | High on the gap. Cost is unresolved. | TBD | Estimator assigns scope and requests price |
| Rear retaining condition | Plan Rev 7, C1.1. No allowance or bid. | Unresolved | Low. Site applicability is unconfirmed. | TBD | Confirm site applicability before pricing |
| Source-supported priced subtotal | Current priced scope only | Priced draft subtotal | Medium. Two items remain open. | $408,200 | Resolve and price the open scope before the estimate is approved |