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Construction Estimating Services
Acon Engineering turns your construction plans into bid-ready quantities, priced line items, and CSI-organized estimates your team can quote the same day. We deliver takeoffs and cost estimates across MEP, concrete, structural, finishes, and sitework for commercial, residential, industrial, and civil projects, so general contractors, subcontractors, and developers bid faster and win more work. No software to buy, no estimator to hire.
★★★★★ 4.9 from 312 reviews
● 9,800 plans estimated
● Reply within 4 business hours
● Built for GCs, subs, developers
Get a free, no obligation estimate
Your plans stay private. We sign NDAs on request. No sales spam, ever.
Trusted by 400 plus contractors and developers across the United States
Who we estimate for and how we work
In 90 seconds, hear why we built Acon, the contractors we serve best, and what to expect from the first set of plans you send us. We estimate for general contractors, subcontractors, developers, and owners across the United States, and we treat every file like a bid we need to win.
Construction estimating services for every trade and project
From schematic to closeout, you get bid-ready quantities, transparent line items by CSI division, and a second pair of eyes that catches what plans hide. We estimate every trade and every project type for general contractors, subcontractors, developers, and owners across the United States.
Quantity Takeoff Services
Accurate counts, areas, volumes, and lengths pulled from your plans with overlays you can audit. Covers material and blueprint takeoffs across every trade, with labor, material, and manhours separated and zip-code pricing applied so every bid starts from measured numbers, not from rounded guesses.
Cost Estimating Services
Priced line items by CSI division with regional pricing and your own subcontractor rates. Covers detailed, unit-price, assembly, conceptual, preliminary, budget, and preconstruction estimates, with labor, material, and equipment split out across commercial, residential, industrial, and civil work.
MEP Estimating
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing quantified by a dedicated MEP team. Covers HVAC, ductwork, sheet metal, process piping, pipe insulation, full plumbing systems, electrical from low voltage to instrumentation and controls, plus fire protection and sprinkler work, all in your estimators' format.
Concrete and Structural Estimating
The load-bearing core of your bid, measured clean. Covers concrete for foundations, footings, slabs, driveways, and parking lots, plus rebar, structural steel and metals, masonry in block, brick, and stone, precast, and formwork, itemized for self-perform or subcontracted scope on any build today.
Architectural and Finishes Estimating
Everything that closes in the building and finishes it out. Covers wood and light-gauge framing, lumber takeoffs, drywall, painting, flooring and tile, roofing, insulation and waterproofing, doors and windows, glass and glazing, acoustic ceilings, millwork, and fireproofing across a full plan set.
Civil and Sitework Estimating
Below grade and across the lot, priced for the field. Covers earthwork and excavation, grading, paving and asphalt, site utilities and drainage, landscaping, and demolition, all sized for commercial, civil, and infrastructure projects of any footprint and at any phase of the delivery you may need.
Constrtuction Estimating Deliverables
No mystery, no marketing fluff. These are real deliverables from real projects, redacted for privacy, so you know precisely what you get before you ever send a plan. Flip through full takeoffs, priced estimates, and trade-level breakdowns across every division we cover.
Want the full PDF in your inbox?
Get 3 redacted full sample sets covering takeoff, estimate, and schedule. No call required.
Estimating built around how you bid
The same plans mean different things to a GC, a sub, a builder, and an owner. Each engagement is scoped to the decision you are making, whether that is winning a hard bid, defending a trade number, or checking someone else's.
General Contractors
You get more bids out without a salaried estimator. Send overflow plan sets in peak season and we return all-trade takeoffs and priced estimates on your own deadline, so no invitation goes unpriced.
Subcontractors
Price one trade fast and defend the bid. We deliver a single-division takeoff in MEP, concrete, drywall, or sitework, with measurement overlays you can show any GC, so your scope and margin hold up.
Home Builders
Per-lot takeoffs that keep production on schedule. We quantify framing, lumber, concrete, and finishes for each model, so purchasing and budgets stay accurate across an entire subdivision you build.
Developers
Conceptual and budget estimates before you commit capital. We price schematic and design sets so you test feasibility, size the pro forma, and set a construction budget before the drawings finalize.
Owners and Owner's Reps
An independent estimate to check a contractor's bid. We build a separate priced estimate from the same plans, so you catch inflated line items, scope gaps, and change-order exposure before you sign.
Architects
Cost checks at SD, DD, and CD so design holds budget. We estimate each phase as drawings develop and flag where any detail or material pushes past the owner's number while the change is still cheap.
From plans to priced bid in four calm steps
No portal to learn, no estimator to recruit. You email your plans, we send back a deliverable your team can quote from in minutes, with a senior estimator and a QA pass behind every number.
01
Send your plans
Drop a Dropbox or Drive link or attach the PDF set. We confirm scope and trades within four business hours.
02
Get your quote
A flat fee and a fixed turnaround, with no hourly surprises. Approve in one click and we start the same day.
03
We estimate
A senior estimator owns your file and a second estimator runs QA, so quantities and pricing are checked before delivery.
04
You bid and win
Delivered in PDF and Excel with a markup ready summary, formatted for your template and ready to drop into your bid.
Industry Standard Construction Estimating Softwares
We provide precise construction estimating services using advanced takeoff tools to help contractors bid smarter and build confidently.
Why contractors outsource estimating to Acon
Every Acon estimate is prepared by a senior US-based estimator, audited line by line in a second QA pass, priced from zip-code cost data, and delivered as a CSI-organized PDF and Excel set under NDA. The six points below are what make those numbers safe to put in a bid.
24 to 48 hour turnaround
Bid-ready takeoffs and estimates within one to two business days. Work starts the same day you approve the quote, with rush delivery on single-trade takeoffs.
Two estimators per file
A senior estimator builds the takeoff, a second audits every quantity and unit price against the plans, and measurement overlays stay attached so any line traces back to its source.
Flat fee per project
One fixed price quoted before work starts. No hourly billing, and no fee change for sheet count, plan complexity, or revisions inside the same agreed project scope.
US estimators, localized pricing
Estimators with 15-plus years across commercial, residential, industrial, and civil work. Costs come from zip-code data and RSMeans, not national averages that miss your market.
CSI-formatted deliverables
Estimates in PDF and Excel, organized by CSI division, with labor, material, and equipment split out and a markup-ready summary built into your bid template.
NDA on every project
Your plans, pricing, bid history, and client list stay private under NDA, never reused or shared across the other contractors we estimate for under any circumstances whatsoever.
Estimate your fee and turnaround in three steps
Set your project type, scope, trade, and size for a flat-fee range built from the same zip-code and RSMeans pricing we quote on live plan sets. Submit the sheets to convert the range into a fixed number.
Step 1 · Set your inputs
Pick project type, scope, and trade, then set plan size and turnaround. Each input maps to the exact flat-fee tier we quote for that combination of your sector and trade.
Step 2 · See your range
See your flat fee range and delivery window instantly, built from live zip-code and RSMeans cost data, not the generic national averages that miss how your market prices.
Step 3 · Submit and lock it
Submit your plan set to turn the range into a fixed number. We confirm sheet count, scope, then lock the flat fee, with a free re-estimate if the design set ever changes.
Estimated fee
$1,250
Turnaround · 3 business days
Final fee depends on plan complexity. No charge until you approve.
Flat fee pricing, quoted before we start
One fixed price per project, set from sheet count, trades, and scope. No hourly billing, no upcharge for plan complexity or in-scope revisions, and a free re-estimate when the design set changes.
Single Project
Contractors who need a detailed construction estimate for a specific bid or active job site.
From $750
- One complete Takeoff estimate
- 3 business day turnaround
- One round of revisions
- PDF and Excel deliverables
Bid partner
Construction firms that manage multiple active builds each month and need reliable bid support plans.
$2,495 / mo
- Up to 6 projects per month
- 24 hour rush option included
- Two rounds of revisions
- Dedicated project lead
- Procore and Dropbox sync
Enterprise
Large organizations managing high project volumes requiring a team of plumbing estimators to keep schedules moving.
Custom
- Unlimited projects
- SLA backed turnaround
- Custom format and templates
- Quarterly business reviews
Zero risk start. Not happy with your first deliverable? You pay nothing, full stop.
Trusted by Contractors and Developers Nationwide
Builders, developers, and subs across the United States.
ACON Engineering is great to work with. The team is hardworking, professional, and takes pride in their work. They respond quickly, communicate clearly, and keep every project moving smoothly from start to finish.
Acon Engineering is a trustworthy and professional firm. They consistently deliver on time and are excellent to work with throughout the process. Their estimates are clear, organized, and supported by detailed documentation.
It was a pleasure working with them. The team was professional, responsive, and easy to communicate with throughout the project. Their service was reliable, efficient, and delivered exactly what was promised.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A quantity takeoff measures what a project contains: the counts, areas, volumes, and linear footage of every material pulled from the plans. A cost estimate applies labor, material, and equipment pricing by CSI division to those quantities to produce a bid number. Subcontractors often need only the takeoff, while general contractors need the full priced estimate, so we deliver either one or both.
Commercial, residential, industrial, and civil work, plus institutional projects like healthcare, education, and government, and hospitality, retail, warehouse and distribution, data centers, multifamily, tenant improvement, renovation, mixed-use, and high-rise. Production rates and pricing are matched to the sector, so the numbers reflect how that building type is actually built and bid.
Our core work is quantity takeoffs and cost estimates, and we extend that into change order pricing and quantity backup for claims as part of an estimate engagement. CPM scheduling in Primavera P6 or MS Project, delay analysis, and time-impact work are available on request.
We work from 2D plan sets in PDF, from CAD and DWG files, and from Revit models for model-based and 5D BIM takeoffs where you have them. Deliverables come back in Excel and PDF, organized by CSI division and formatted to your template.
Our estimating team holds AACE credentials, with 35 estimators averaging 15-plus years across every major trade and CSI division. That depth, paired with line-by-line auditing against the plans, keeps quantities and pricing within tight tolerance of the awarded bid rather than off by a margin that costs you the job.
Material and equipment costs come from live zip-code data and RSMeans, not national averages. Labor is priced to your market, with prevailing wage, union, or open-shop rates applied as the project requires, and overhead, profit, and contingency carried where you want them. The result reflects your real cost, not a generic benchmark.
An in-house estimator carries salary, benefits, software licenses, and idle time between bids. Outsourcing converts that fixed overhead into a flat fee you pay only on the jobs you price, cutting estimating cost by up to 60 percent while letting you bid more volume without adding headcount.
Revisions inside the original scope carry no extra fee. When an addendum or a new design set changes quantities, we re-estimate the affected divisions at no cost and reissue the updated takeoff and pricing, so your bid stays current right up to the deadline.
Bid More Construction Projects with Confidence
Stop spending hours measuring plans manually. Our construction estimators provide accurate material takeoffs, labor pricing, and detailed cost breakdowns to help you submit profitable bids faster.
Insights
Field tested guides for builders who bid.
Long form playbooks our clients use to sharpen pricing, win more jobs, and protect margin.
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Construction estimating services across all 50 states
New York, NY
Commercial · Highrise · TI
Los Angeles, CA
Multifamily · Tilt up · Civil
Chicago, IL
Industrial · Renovation · GC
Houston, TX
Energy · Civil · Commercial
Houston, TX
Energy · Civil · Commercial
Houston, TX
Energy · Civil · Commercial
Houston, TX
Energy · Civil · Commercial
Houston, TX
Energy · Civil · Commercial
