15 Years of Getting
the Numbers Right in New York
NYC Estimating Services is a New York firm. Not a national platform with a local landing page. We were founded here in 2010 and we've worked this market ever since.
Contractors, developers, architects and subcontractors across the five boroughs send us plans, we send back estimates they can actually use. Fast turnaround, documented line items, construction estimating services priced to this city rather than a national average.
Get Your Estimate Started →Started in New York.
Still Here.
We opened in 2010. Construction in the city was picking back up after a hard few years, and the problem we kept running into was consistent: projects getting into financial trouble before a single wall went up. Not because of bad contractors or bad plans. Because the estimate was wrong from the start. Numbers pulled from national benchmarks that had nothing to do with what it actually costs to build in New York.
So we built a firm around this specific market. The union rate schedules, the DOB filing requirements, the way costs shift from one borough to the next. A job in Midtown prices differently than the same scope in Flushing or the South Bronx. Not by a little.
Fifteen years later, the office is still at 1178 Broadway in Manhattan. The client mix is the same: general contractors, subcontractors, developers, architects. Wider range of project types now, but the standard is identical. Every estimate that goes out has to be something you can actually build from.
Estimating Across
Every Trade and Project Type
From a single-trade takeoff to a full bid package covering every CSI division. Here's what most of our work looks like.
Residential Estimating
Single-family, multi-family, gut renovations, additions. A big chunk of our work. NYC residential has its own pricing realities, and we know them well. DOB compliance, co-op board submissions, ground-up new construction. All of it.
Commercial Estimating
Office build-outs, retail, restaurants, mixed-use, tenant improvements. Union labor rates applied. Commercial projects in this city have different code requirements and pricing structures than anywhere else. We've done enough of them to know exactly what to watch for.
MEP Estimating
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Either as standalone trade packages or folded into a full project estimate. We price each system separately so GCs and subs can use the numbers independently if needed.
Construction Takeoffs
Quantity takeoffs across all trades. Concrete, framing, drywall, roofing, flooring, masonry and so on. Delivered in Excel or whatever format works for you. Counts are documented so you can check our work.
Bid Preparation
Full bid packages when you need everything in one place. Quantities, material pricing, labor applied, formatted for submission. A lot of contractors use us specifically for this when bid day is close and there's no time to pull it all together internally.
Industrial Estimating
Warehouses, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers. Industrial work. We handle it, though it's a smaller share of what we do compared to residential and commercial.
The Contractors, Subs, and
Developers Who Build This City
We work with all of them. What changes is what they need from us.
General Contractors
Bid estimates are the core of what GCs need from us. Full breakdowns by trade and CSI division, priced to current NYC rates. Most GCs who use us regularly have a standing process: plans come in, estimate goes back, bid gets submitted.
Subcontractors
Trade-specific takeoffs. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, concrete, drywall. Send us your scope and we'll pull the quantities. A lot of subs come back to us repeatedly once the first estimate comes in clean.
Architects and Designers
Preliminary budget numbers during design. Feasibility checks before plans go to permit. We keep it realistic, which is what your clients need to hear at that stage even if it's not always what they want to hear.
Developers
Pro forma estimates, lender packages, pre-construction budgets. We've worked on projects from small residential deals to larger commercial developments across the boroughs. The format depends on what the lender or stakeholder needs to see.
What We Actually
Stand Behind
Not a values statement written for a website. Just how we approach this work, after fifteen years of doing it in one of the toughest construction markets in the country.
Accuracy Over Speed
If the scope isn't clear, we stop and ask before pricing anything. A wrong number delivered fast does more damage than a right number that takes one more day. We'd rather have that conversation upfront than fix a problem after the bid goes in.
NYC Pricing, Not National Averages
What Local 3 is paying electricians this year, what framing lumber is running at Bronx suppliers right now, what a specific project type in Brooklyn is actually costing to permit and build. That's what goes into the numbers. National databases give you a starting range. We give you what this market is doing.
Rush Work Is Part of the Job
Bid deadlines don't move and most contractors know their next one before they call us. Our team is set up for that reality. We don't treat fast turnaround as an exception or an upgrade. It's just how this industry runs.
Every Line Documented
Material quantities, labor rates, pricing assumptions. All of it in the estimate. You should be able to sit with a client or a lender and walk through how every number was reached. We don't send a single total and call it done.
No Gap-Filling
Optimistic assumptions are how contractors end up in change order disputes six months into a job. We only price what the drawings actually show. It's a simple rule but a lot of estimating firms quietly bend it when they want to hand something over fast.
Flat Fees, Quoted Before We Start
You get a number before we touch anything. Based on project size and complexity. That fee doesn't change unless the scope changes and we tell you first. No invoices with additions after the fact.
How We Go From
Plans to Finished Estimate
Five steps. No account managers, no onboarding calls. Just the work.
Send the Plans
Email drawings and specs to plans@nycestimatingservices.us. PDFs or CAD files, whatever you have. Partial drawings are fine. We'll let you know if something critical is missing before we start.
We Review and Confirm
We go through what you sent, pin down the scope, and identify anything unclear. This is where we flag missing information rather than assume. Once scope is confirmed, you get your fee quote. Work starts after that.
Takeoff and Pricing
Every item in scope gets counted and priced. Materials against current supplier rates, labor against the applicable union schedules, prevailing wage applied where required. We don't estimate in round numbers or use square-foot shortcuts on detailed scopes.
Estimate Delivered
Line-item breakdown with quantities, rates, and every assumption noted. Standard projects in 2 to 3 business days. Rush work in 24 to 48 hours. The detail level is enough that another estimator could pick it up and follow the logic.
Follow-Up on Your Terms
Need to walk through a number with a client? Scope changed and you need a revised section? Reach out. The estimate doesn't expire and neither does the conversation around it.
The Estimators
Behind the Numbers
Our professionals bring decades of combined experience across every major construction trade in New York. When you send us plans, this is who works on them.
Things People Ask Us
Before They Reach Out
Straight answers. No fluff.