Before hiring an estimator for a commercial tenant fit-out, assemble the current bid set, name the trades you need covered, and flag any work the landlord or owner may supply. A quote for commercial tenant improvement estimating services should confirm the documents, deliverables, fee and delivery date in writing. Use this checklist when you have an office or retail bid to price and need help before the deadline.
Start with who owns each part of the work
Read the landlord work letter alongside the drawings and bid form. For each disputed line, record the sheet or work-letter reference, the proposed responsible party and the question that needs an answer. Check these three interfaces early:
- Owner-supplied lighting. Check who receives and stores the fixtures, hangs them, connects the wiring and handles controls programming. A fixture tagged “owner furnished” leaves several installation tasks to resolve.
- Landlord-furnished HVAC. Identify the equipment and connection point. Confirm who carries tenant duct branches, controls integration and testing and balancing.
- Retained partitions. Check the demolition plan against the new finish plan. List door infill, floor patching and finish repairs where the work touches existing walls.
Track any landlord financial contribution separately from the scope you are bidding. Use a clarification request for conflicting documents, a stated allowance where the bid permits an unresolved cost, and an explicit exclusion for work assigned elsewhere. Carry the answer into the bid notes once it is confirmed.
What to send when requesting a tenant improvement estimate
Send the same document set you are bidding from. If the finish schedule was revised by addendum, identify the replacement sheet so it can be traced in the workbook. For an occupied building, include the work windows and access rules that will affect how the bid is priced.
- Project and deadline. Site address or ZIP code, project stage, bid due date and time zone.
- Current documents. Architectural and affected mechanical, electrical and plumbing drawings, specifications, finish schedules, landlord work letter, bid form and issued addenda.
- Scope and alternates. Trades to include, exclusions you already know, owner-furnished items and any alternates or unit prices requested on the bid form.
- Site and phasing. Occupied areas, turnover dates, permitted work hours, loading dock or freight elevator rules and protection requirements.
- Estimate format. Quantities only or a priced workbook. Include your supplier quotes or labor rates if you want them used.
Worked example of a two-phase office build-out
Assume a dust barrier must be set up and removed once per phase. One setup and removal cycle takes six combined labor hours at an assumed $65 per labor hour. Budget $390 for one cycle or $780 for two cycles. The second phase adds $390 of assumed labor before materials, off-hours premiums and markups.
Those figures are hypothetical. The point is to record the number of protection cycles separately from permanent work. For example, 1,400 square feet of new ceiling grid stays 1,400 square feet when the same work is split between two phases. Temporary barriers, move-ins and cleanup may repeat. Price each repeat from the proposed phase plan and access rules.
Choose a quantity takeoff or a priced bid estimate
Choose a quantity takeoff when you already have supplier pricing and crew rates. Ask for units, quantities, drawing references and clear scope notes so you can price the measured lines in your own bid workbook.
Ask for a priced estimate when you need costs applied to the agreed scope. Confirm whose labor, material and equipment rates will be used, which vendor quotes are available and how assumptions and allowances will be shown. F&K can supply editable Excel and marked-up PDFs for the agreed package. If an alternate replaces part of the base scope, identify the affected work and specify how the bid form wants the change shown.
Request a written scope, fee and delivery date
Before authorizing the estimate, check that the written proposal identifies the drawing issue, addenda, trades, pricing basis and requested output. Clarify how late addenda will be handled and tell the estimator when you need the workbook for your internal review. That date can be earlier than the bid submission deadline.
Send your current plan set or drawing link, scope and deadline to request a commercial estimating quote from F&K. We confirm the scope, fee and delivery date after reviewing the documents.