A general contractor hired a full-time estimator prior to a busy bidding season. When the work began to slow down, the company had to determine whether to continue to pay the salary or let the employee go. Keeping the estimator employed meant that the company was paying wages for a job well done. Letting the estimator go meant losing someone who already knew the company’s work before the next busy season. Outsource estimating solves this problem by giving contractors estimating support when they need it, without keeping an estimator on the payroll all year.
Why Does Outsource Estimating Make Sense When In-House Capacity Is Hard To Staff?
It is anticipated that cost estimator jobs will decrease by 3% over 2025-2035. Nonetheless, there are likely to be approximately 17,600 jobs for cost estimators annually. A decent amount of those vacancies will be from people retiring or leaving the field, rather than the demand for cost estimators increasing. The median annual wage for this occupation is $78,740 (BLS). That makes it challenging for an employer to find a cost estimator who will work a full-time position. Outsource estimating services from SMA Estimating LLC can help contractors get the estimating support they need without relying only on a shrinking pool of in-house estimators.
What Does Flexibility Actually Look Like In Practice?
The difference between paying for estimating support when you need it and paying for it all year, even when there is no work.
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Staffing Model |
Cost During Slow Season |
Capacity During Bid Surge |
|
Full-time in-house estimator |
Fixed salary regardless of bid volume |
Limited to one person's bandwidth |
|
Outsourced construction estimating |
Pay per project or engagement |
Scales to match multiple simultaneous bids |
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A GC bidding on two jobs per month does not require the same level of estimating support as one bidding on fifteen.
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Construction estimating outsourcing allows the company to scale its estimating support up or down without having to hire/fire personnel.
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The same works during slow months. The company only pays for the estimating that they actually need.
Does Outsourcing Only Make Sense For Smaller Firms?
Not necessarily. The decision depends more on bid volume than company size.
A large GC with a steady flow of bids may have enough work to keep a full in-house estimating team busy. A firm with busy bid months followed by slow periods may not need that much estimating support all year. Construction cost estimating can work better as a variable cost because support can increase when bid volume rises and decrease when it falls. Outsourced estimating does not replace in-house decisions about strategy or markup. It reduces the fixed cost of keeping extra estimating staff ready for peak demand all year.
What Should A Firm Actually Check Before Outsourcing An Estimate?
Choose the right professionals, not the cheapest.
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Whether the outsourced team has expertise in that type of trade or project they are bidding.
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Whether they can finish the estimate within the actual bid deadline.
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How they handle changes when a takeoff or price needs to be updated.
Skip these checks, and outsourcing can create a new problem instead of solving one. A cheap estimate from a team that does not know the trade can lead to rework, delays, and extra costs.
Conclusion
Outsource estimating helps construction companies match estimating costs with actual bid volume. This matters when skilled estimators are harder to hire and keep. The company can increase estimating support when bids increase and reduce it when work slows down. There is no need to hire before a busy season or lay off staff when bids slow. Which of the last few slow quarters would have looked different if estimating costs had gone down with the workload? SMA Estimating LLC provides estimating support based on the actual bid calendar, so costs increase when the work does and decrease when it slows.
