WHAT DOES AN ESTIMATOR DO?
Updated: Jun 11, 2025 - The Estimator focuses on meticulous contract management, drafting and administering trade agreements essential for project success. Facilitates dynamic stakeholder communication, ensuring cohesive interactions with clients, subcontractors, and officials. Master contract procurement, expertly handling main contracts and purchase orders to align with project goals.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Estimator
1. Estimator Duties
- Cost Estimation: Obtaining quotes for materials and systems to establish accurate cost estimates.
- Cost Analysis: Producing take-offs, cost estimates, and quotations based on BOA's manufacturing processes.
- Market Knowledge: Maintaining knowledge of competitive advantages to aid the bidding process.
- Discrepancy Resolution: Resolving cost discrepancies by collecting and analyzing information.
- Client Interaction: Attending meetings with clients and evaluating tenders.
- Schedule Coordination: Coordinating schedules among Sales Reps, Installers, GC, and Manufacturers.
- Bid Evaluation: Evaluating bid specifications and drawings, ensuring that everything required to successfully bid the project is understood and evaluated.
- Proposal Preparation: Preparing proposal packages in coordination with vendors/installers and customers.
- Project Tracking: Tracking the project workflow from Sales Rep to Project Manager and to Sales Administrator.
- Process Improvement: Seeking the opportunity to make improvements.
- Client Engagement: Pricing up tender requests and building client relations.
- Construction Estimation: Pricing up construction works and tender packs from intros.
- Site Analysis: Conducting site visits, and interrogating drawings and schedules to ensure all aspects are covered.
- Contract Management: Engaging in contract negotiation/protection and ensuring CDM compliance.
- Variation Pricing: Pricing any variations and managing sub-contractor relationships.
2. Estimator Details
- Estimating Management: Managing all aspects of the estimating and tendering process for Groundworks and Civil Engineering projects largely within the Housing/Commercial and Industrial sectors.
- Project Management: Managing projects from the tender stage through to completion and final accounts.
- Valuation Skills: Measuring and valuing work.
- Resource Allocation: Ensuring the correct allocation of labor and plant plus the procurement of materials.
- Procurement Management: Maintaining professional and cost-effective control of procurement and labor including subcontractors.
- Stakeholder Reporting: Reporting to the Director and forming a key link between the production team and clients in terms of project specifics and requirements.
- Client Liaison: Liaising with client’s commercial teams and attending site meetings.
- Subcontract Management: Preparing and issuing sub-contract inquiries and assessment of quotations upon receipt.
- Contract Variation: Identifying and producing variations to contracts.
- Financial Administration: Preparation & submission of invoices & final accounts for project works.
- Relationship Management: Building and maintaining relationships with clients and other project professionals.
- Business Development: Pursuing opportunities to obtain new tender documents.
3. Estimator Responsibilities
- Cost Analysis: Estimating and analyzing all costs for a particular product, project, or process
- Cost Verification: Verifying costs and prices associated with purchase orders
- Project Estimation: Establishing all project estimates and analyzing line performance
- Standard Setting: Creating all labor standards for all products
- Communication Efficiency: Maintaining timely response and communication of all price requests
- Performance Review: Reviewing estimates versus actual line performance information with the production department on a continuous basis
- Cost Management: Reviewing fixed costs on a continuous basis to maintain an acceptable level of profit margin
- Pricing Strategy: Determining upcharges when performing special tasks not included in the cost of a finished good
- Change Management: Reviewing Engineering Change Requests (ECRs) and costs associated with such changes, revising pricing
- Cost Administration: Administering cost estimates for all incoming opportunities over a transactional level
- Process Optimization: Maintaining good working knowledge of all manufacturing processes, and translating opportunities into wins through directional manufacturing recommendations
- Client Communication: Communicating with strategic client base, and being able/willing to articulate product recommendations/solutions
- Material Knowledge Development: Developing a working knowledge of the raw material library, material attributes, industry trends, supplier base, etc.
4. Estimator Accountabilities
- Risk Assessment: Assessing tender/quotation conditions upon receipt and identifying any risks
- Analysis Skills: Analyzing all subcontract and supplier packages to ensure all attendances and exclusions are recognized before settlement
- Query Management: Compiling and issuing tender queries during the tender period, ensuring responses are dealt with in the submission
- Mentorship: Providing mentoring and guidance to others in the operational team to raise capability
- Tender Strategy: Providing tender handover packs demonstrating strategy at the tender stage on all successful bids
- Commercial Support: Assisting the commercial team on compensation events build-ups
- Meeting Participation: Attending pre-tender meetings/events
- Strategic Review: Reviewing unsuccessful tenders and analyzing and implementing improvement strategy for future bids to ensure growth targets are met
- Data Management: Assisting with keeping a library of rates up to date based on the actual base cost
- General Support: Carrying out other appropriate duties as assigned by the line manager
- Cost Calculation: Calculating the cost of materials, transport, labor, and equipment hire
- Quote Validation: Validating subcontractor quotes both in value and specification
- Financial Reporting: Weekly/monthly Earned Value reporting, cost monitoring, profit/loss reporting, monthly WIP reconciliations, and updated Cost to Complete reporting
- Commercial Management: Ongoing commercial management of projects: Interim valuations, final accounts, etc.
5. Estimator Functions
- Contract Management: Preparing trade contracts and contract administration
- Stakeholder Communication: Liaising with clients, subcontractors, suppliers, and council
- Contract Procurement: Letting main contracts, subcontracts, and purchase orders
- Project Management: Meeting budgets and timelines
- Presentation Skills: Presenting prepared estimates and scope of work alongside the director/sales team using various software platforms
- Documentation Skills: Drafting contract documents for construction and presenting them to clients
- Team Collaboration: Working with the project manager and the contract administrators
- Budget Management: Developing and ensuring work carried out on projects is in line with defined budgets from the estimation phase
- Scope Development: Developing the scope in preparation for tenders
- Resource Estimation: Estimating the resource requirements for the activities
- Cost Estimation: Estimating time and cost for activities
- Project Coordination: Supporting planning, site management, and finance to commercially deliver the successful management of projects working closely with the Operations Manager
- Project Oversight: Overseeing projects to ensure costs remain in line with FFM% and milestones are delivered to control cash flow
- Tender Management: Compiling tenders from client specifications ensuring all requirements are covered with subcontract delivery and liaising with subcontractors to confirm such items