Building estimates in Excel that can't be updated quickly when scope changes and you're re-entering the same rates every time?
No historical cost database, so your estimators rebuild rates from scratch on every project and hope the numbers are right?
Construction Estimating Software
Custom estimating software for contractors, estimating departments, and quantity surveyors who need quantity takeoff, cost database management, bid assembly, and historical benchmarking in one place -- not a collection of disconnected Excel files.
Built for estimating teams that win work on price and margin. Quantity takeoff from drawings, live cost databases, bid assembly with margin and overhead calculation, and bid comparison tools that tell you where your competitors are pricing.
Quantity takeoff from digital drawings with automatic link to cost line items
Cost database with your own labour rates, material prices, and subcontractor rates -- maintained in one place
Bid assembly with margin, overhead, and contingency calculation built into the workflow
Historical cost benchmarking to check new estimates against comparable past projects
RaftLabs builds custom construction estimating software covering quantity takeoff, cost database management with labour and material rates, bid assembly, bid levelling, historical cost benchmarking, and accounting system integration. Most construction estimating platforms ship in 10-14 weeks at a fixed cost with full source code ownership.
100+Products shipped
·24+Industries served
·FixedCost delivery
·12-14Week delivery cycles
Estimating accuracy requires data, not memory
Most construction estimating departments run on spreadsheets. One estimator has a rate sheet saved locally. Another has a different version from six months ago. When a scope change comes in on a live tender, updating the estimate means finding the right cells, updating them one by one, and hoping the formula range still covers the new rows.
The bigger problem is the cost database. Without a maintained database of labour rates, material costs, and subcontractor prices tied to real project history, estimators rely on experience and gut feel. Experience is valuable, but it doesn't scale when you're running five tenders at once with different estimators and different assumptions.
Construction estimating software gives your team a shared system: a cost database that everyone uses and that gets updated from real project data, quantity takeoff tools that link directly to cost line items, and bid assembly workflows that apply your overhead, margin, and contingency consistently every time.
What we build
Quantity takeoff from drawings
Digital quantity takeoff tools that work from PDF or CAD drawings -- measure lengths, areas, and counts directly on screen and link measurements to cost line items in the estimate. Takeoff layers organised by trade and package so you can check coverage and see what's been measured. Manual takeoff entry for items that need engineering judgment. Takeoff sheets exportable and auditable so a second estimator can check the measurement basis. The alternative to printing drawings and measuring with a scale rule.
Cost database management
Centralised cost database holding your labour rates by trade and skill level, material prices by supplier and region, plant and equipment rates, and subcontractor rates by trade. Rates tied to effective dates so historical estimates use the rates that applied at the time. Database updated from final account data on completed projects so your rates reflect what things actually cost, not what you thought they'd cost two years ago. Shared across your estimating team so every estimator uses the same source -- no more local rate sheets that drift out of date.
Bid assembly and formatting
Bid assembly workflows that pull quantities and rates from the cost database and build the estimate structure: materials, labour, plant, subcontract, preliminaries, overhead, margin, and contingency. Bid formatting matched to the client's bill of quantities format or your own standard tender format. Alternate pricing for different specification options or contract structures included in the same estimate. Final bid document generated automatically in PDF and Excel -- no manual reformatting before submission. The workflow that takes an estimate from takeoff to tender-ready document without manual assembly.
Bid comparison and levelling
Subcontractor bid comparison tools that put multiple quotes side by side, normalise them to the same scope, and flag gaps in coverage. Bid levelling to adjust for scope differences, qualifications, and exclusions before selecting a subcontractor. Price comparison by line item so you can see where a cheap bid is low and where a higher bid is better value. Awarded rates captured against the winning subcontractor for cost database and future tendering reference. The structured comparison that reduces the risk of awarding to a subcontractor who priced something different from what you asked for.
Historical cost benchmarking
Benchmarking tools that compare a new estimate against completed projects of a similar type, size, and specification. Cost per square metre, cost per unit, and trade-by-trade comparisons against your own historical data. Outlier flags where a new estimate differs significantly from the historical range -- prompting a check before the tender goes out, not a conversation after you win at the wrong margin. Benchmarks built from your actual project data, not industry averages that don't reflect your cost base or geographic market.
Accounting and ERP integration
Integration with your accounting system -- Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, or a construction-specific ERP -- so that when a tender is awarded, the estimate flows into the project budget without manual re-entry. Cost codes from the estimate mapped to your accounting cost code structure. Actual costs from the accounting system flowing back into the estimating platform to update the cost database with real project data. The data loop that makes your estimates more accurate over time because they're informed by what projects actually cost, not what you estimated they'd cost.
Frequently asked questions
Custom construction estimating software is built around your estimating process -- your cost code structure, your trade breakdown, your overhead and margin model, and your tender format. It typically includes quantity takeoff tools (linked to drawings or manual entry), a centralised cost database with labour, material, and subcontractor rates, bid assembly with overhead and margin calculation, bid comparison and levelling for subcontractor quotes, historical benchmarking against your own project data, and integration with your accounting system. Off-the-shelf estimating tools like Buildsoft or Cubit handle common workflows, but contractors with unusual contract structures, specific cost code requirements, or the need to integrate with a proprietary ERP often find custom software fits their process better.
The cost database stays accurate through a feedback loop from completed projects. When a project reaches final account, the actual costs by trade and line item are compared against the estimate and captured back into the cost database. Labour productivity rates, material prices, and subcontractor rates are updated based on what they actually cost on site -- not what the estimator thought they'd cost at tender stage. Suppliers can also update material rates directly in the system, with an approval step before rates go live. The result is a database that gets more accurate with each project rather than drifting further from reality as the market moves.
Yes. Handling scope changes is one of the core reasons contractors move away from Excel-based estimating. When a scope change comes in -- an addendum to the bill of quantities, a revised specification, or a drawing change -- the estimating software lets you update the affected quantities and line items without rebuilding the entire estimate. The change is tracked, the affected cost lines are flagged, and the updated total is calculated automatically. Multiple tender revisions can be managed in parallel, with version comparison showing the cost impact of each addendum. This is the workflow that, in Excel, means finding the right cell in a file that's grown to forty-seven tabs and hoping the SUM range still covers the new rows.
A construction estimating platform with quantity takeoff, a cost database, bid assembly, and subcontractor comparison typically runs $30,000--$65,000. A more complete platform with drawing-linked takeoff, historical benchmarking, accounting integration, and multi-tender management typically runs $65,000--$130,000. Cost depends on the complexity of your takeoff requirements, the number of accounting integrations, and the scope of your reporting and benchmarking requirements. We scope every project before pricing it -- you receive a fixed cost covering an agreed scope before development starts.
Talk to us about your estimating software project.
Tell us how your team estimates today -- the tools you use, the volume of tenders you run, and where the process breaks down. We'll scope the right platform and give you a fixed cost.
