Illinois project estimating
Commercial Estimating Services in Illinois
F&K prepares commercial construction estimates for Illinois general contractors comparing trade packages, owner allowances and bid alternates. The scope can cover renovations, new facilities or phased occupied-building work. Send the complete solicitation and drawings so the estimate matches the owner’s bid form instead of producing a generic building-cost total that cannot be reconciled at tender.
Remote estimating support for Illinois projects. This service page does not represent a local office.
Updated · F&K estimating methodology
Build the estimate around the procurement package
Illinois Capital Development Board describes a single-prime delivery method combining subdivisions of work under one contract. A CDB bid therefore needs a clear package matrix showing which subcontractor scope feeds the prime bid. Use the actual solicitation to establish bid divisions, required submissions and alternates. Do not assume that every Illinois public owner follows the same CDB procurement format.
Illinois Department of Labor publishes prevailing-wage schedules by county for applicable public work. When pricing such a project, record the relevant county, schedule date, classifications and contractual basis. Private commercial work may have a different labor basis. A Chicago-area renovation and a downstate public facility should not share an unexplained statewide labor rate or identical general-conditions allowance.
What the takeoff can include
Trade coverage
Reconcile architectural, structural and MEP scope into a division-based schedule. Identify missing subcontractor quotations and overlapping inclusions.
General conditions
Separate supervision, temporary facilities, protection and access from permanent work. Link time-related items to the proposed construction period.
Alternates and allowances
Keep each owner allowance and deduct/add alternate traceable to the bid form. Show which base quantities change when an alternate is accepted.
Renovation interfaces
Distinguish demolition, existing work to remain, temporary services and restoration. Document shutdown windows and occupied-area phasing.
Measurement and scope checks
We establish a bid-form crosswalk before consolidating quantities. Each trade package is assigned a scope owner and reconciled with available supplier or subcontractor quotations. Where quotes exclude an item shown in the documents, the omission is identified for a separate allowance or clarification. Labor, material, equipment and project overhead assumptions stay distinguishable so the contractor can update one input without rebuilding the whole estimate.
Illustrative alternate reconciliation
Assume an owner requests a flooring upgrade as an add alternate. The following invented amounts illustrate bid structure, not Illinois market rates or an F&K project.
| Component | Illustrative value | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Base flooring allowance | $30,000 | Already included in base bid |
| Specified upgrade package | $42,000 | Replacement scope |
| Net add alternate | $12,000 | 42,000 minus 30,000 |
Adding the full upgrade value to a base bid that already contains flooring would count the base scope twice. Taxes, markups and associated changes must follow the actual bid instructions.
Deliverable, pricing basis and quote
Request a division-level estimate with a bid-form summary, quotation coverage log and separate alternates. If the project is public work, include the wage and procurement documents that govern the contractor’s pricing basis. F&K can prepare quantity-only or priced outputs within the agreed scope. The written quote confirms file format, fee, completion date and the treatment of revisions or late subcontractor quotations.
Explore our full commercial estimating services scopeQuestions about this scope
Can the estimate follow an Illinois CDB bid form?
Yes, provide the complete current solicitation and requested breakdown. The estimate can be organized to that format. Contractor eligibility, prequalification and submission compliance remain responsibilities to confirm separately with the procurement documents.
Do all Illinois commercial estimates use prevailing wages?
No blanket assumption is made. Identify whether the project is subject to prevailing-wage requirements and supply the applicable basis. For other work, agree the contractor’s labor inputs rather than automatically applying a public-work schedule.
Can you compare subcontractor bids before award?
Request a scope-comparison deliverable and supply the quotations. Inclusions, exclusions, allowances and alternates can be aligned against the same project scope, with gaps identified before the contractor selects a package.
Official project references
- Illinois CDB single-prime information
Official CDB procurement context. The actual solicitation governs the requested bid breakdown.
- Illinois Department of Labor prevailing rates
Official county-based schedule reference for applicable public works. Confirm the rate period and contract requirements.