Specialist civil estimating · Sydney
For civil contractors and developers. Earthworks, roads, stormwater and subdivisions, priced from first principles: every rate built up from the crew, plant, materials and subcontract it takes to do the work. Led by civil engineer Shoaib Saeed, from our office in Bankstown.
A lot of outsourced estimates are a quantity times a rate from a cost guide. Ask where the rate came from and there's no answer, so nobody can defend it when the price is questioned.
We build every rate from how the work actually gets done: who is in the trench, which machine is working, how many metres go in a day at that depth and in that ground, and what has to be delivered. Then we check it against the job's staging and access.
If a line looks high or low, we can tell you exactly why. That's the difference between a number you hope is right and one you can stand behind at the tender interview.
Stormwater pipe, 375 mm, 1.5 to 2.0 m deep per metre
= Rate per metrechecked against the staging, access and ground conditions
Civil work is all we do. Every item is priced from first principles, with the labour, plant, materials and subcontract broken out. A priced bill of quantities, not just a quantity takeoff.
Clearing, stripping, cut and fill, imported fill, rock, stabilisation and disposal.
Bulk earthworks estimating →New roads, reconstruction and resurfacing, from the subgrade up to the line marking.
Road and asphalt estimating →Pipes, pits, headwalls, culverts and detention tanks, priced off the long sections.
Stormwater estimating →The full civil package for an estate, split by stage and by lot.
Subdivision estimating →Retaining walls, headwalls, box culverts, tanks, paths and kerb.
Civil structures →Trenching, conduits and pits for power and telco, and the road crossings.
Pit and pipe estimating →Water mains, sewer and pump stations are priced by our specialist practice, Water Sewer Estimating Sydney ↗
A takeoff tells you how much. It doesn't tell you how the job gets built, or what it costs in Sydney.
On civil work the money is in the staging, the access, the ground conditions, the traffic control and the things the drawings don't show. We're based in Sydney and we price Australian civil jobs every week, so we know the specifications, the local rates for plant, labour and materials, and how a contractor will actually build it.
An offshore takeoff gives you a file and no one to ring. With us you deal with the estimator who priced your job, on the phone or face to face at our Bankstown office, before the tender closes and after it.
If you already have estimators, we're not trying to replace them. When the tenders pile up, or someone leaves at short notice, we take a package off their desk. You pay for the estimate and that's it: no salary, no leave, no notice period.
We don't name clients or sites, and we wouldn't name yours. Here's the type of work, the tender value range (ex GST) and what turned up when we priced it.
Email it, send a link or WhatsApp us, with the closing date. We reply the same business day.
We look at what's involved and send a fixed fee and a delivery date, typically 3 to 7 working days. Nothing starts until you're happy with both.
A priced bill of quantities in Excel and PDF, with the assumptions, exclusions and risks written down. If the tender needs them, the client's pricing schedule, the methodology and the programme too.
Every estimate is led and signed off by Shoaib Saeed, a civil engineer with more than 12 years in the industry, pricing everything from small drainage packages to road and civil tenders of over $20 million. Before this he worked for contractors, for consultants and on the estimating desk, so he knows what a contractor needs from an estimate and where the gaps usually are.
The pricing decisions, the checking and the sign-off are Shoaib's, and he's the one you talk to, before the tender closes and after.
Shoaib also runs Water Sewer Estimating Sydney, our specialist practice for water and sewer work.
Free checklist
49 things that get missed, under-measured or priced twice when a civil tender is priced in a hurry. Three pages, ready to print.
It depends on what's involved in the job and how long it will take to price properly. We look at the documents, then send a fixed fee and a delivery date before anything starts, usually the same business day.
Most tender packages are delivered in 3 to 7 working days. Large or complex tenders can take longer, and tight closing dates can often be met with priority turnaround. Either way, the delivery date is agreed with the fee, before we start, and we'll tell you straight away if we can make your closing date.
No. The quantities are where it starts. Every item is priced from first principles, labour, plant, materials and subcontract, and the risks as well: staging, access, rock, dewatering, traffic control, and anything the drawings leave out.
A priced bill of quantities in Excel and PDF, with the assumptions, exclusions and risks written down, plus any questions worth putting to the designer before the tender closes.
Yes. We break the price down into the client's schedule or schedule of rates, keep their item numbers and units, and reconcile it to your tender price to the cent. We can also do it from an estimate you priced yourself. More on pricing schedules.
Yes. We write the construction methodology and the tender programme with the estimate, so the price, the method and the programme agree. Your project manager reviews it instead of starting from scratch. More on methodology and programme.
We're civil estimators, led by a civil engineer. We price civil works the way a contractor prices a tender. If you need a registered quantity surveyor's report for a lender, that's a different service.
Yes. Our subdivision cost calculator gives an indicative civil cost per lot for NSW, based on the land, rock, roads and services. For a real number, send us the layout.
Yes. We're based in Sydney and price civil jobs across Australia, from Western Sydney, the Hills, Macarthur, the Illawarra and the Central Coast to regional NSW and interstate. NSW is where we know the market best. For other states we work to that state's road authority and council specifications.
Yes. Our office is at Level 8, 25 Restwell Street, Bankstown. Call ahead and we'll set a time.
Yes. They're used for your estimate only and never passed to another client or contractor.
Yes, through Water Sewer Estimating Sydney, our specialist practice for water mains, sewer and pump stations.
Send the tender documents and the closing date. We reply the same business day, and you'll have a fixed fee and a delivery date before anything starts.