Insights
Formwork, estimating & site classification, explained
Straight answers to the questions builders, subbies and developers actually ask us.
- What's Included in a Full Construction Estimate?A true estimate prices five things, not just the building. Here is what a real Bill of Quantities covers, and why budgets blow out when it doesn't.
- How Much Does a Formwork Takeoff Cost?Formwork is priced on complexity and scale, not a flat hourly rate. Here are the three factors that move the price, and why square-metre rates are dangerous.
- AS 2870 Site Classifications ExplainedClass A to Class P, explained. What the AS 2870 site classes actually mean for your slab and footing design, and why reactive clay cracks slabs.
- PC and PS Sums in Construction ContractsPrime Cost and Provisional Sums are placeholders, not prices. Here is the difference, and why treating a PS sum as a firm quote eats subcontractor margin.
- Why AI Can't Read a Structural Drawing (Yet)AI is great at counting labelled items. It misses unscheduled columns, vertical faces, and methodology. Why the number still needs a human who has built structures.
- The Set-Down That Moves Your Price 8%Set-downs are subtle on a plan and brutal on a margin. Why they're measured in lineal metres, why estimators miss them, and how they move a price 8% or more.
- Takeoff vs. Full Estimate: What's the Difference?A takeoff is quantities. An estimate is quantities plus rates. Which one subcontractors need, which one builders need, and why it matters before you tender.
- How We Price a Suspended SlabThe cost of a suspended slab is driven by the formwork, not the concrete. Soffit, edgeboard, vertical faces, and the Bondek-versus-conventional decision.
- What Is a Class 3 Cost Estimate?Class 3 sits between a rough guess and a tender price. What the AACE classification actually means, and when a developer or owner-builder needs one.
- Bill of Quantities (BOQ) ExplainedA BOQ is quantities, not price. What goes into one, who measures it, and how subcontractors use it to tender without measuring the job themselves.
- Takeoff vs Estimate vs Quote: What You Need at Each StageSketch, DA, CC, tender: each stage needs a different product. Why paying for tender-ready detail on a concept scheme wastes money, and what tender-ready actually means.
- How to Check a Construction Estimate Before You Rely on ItA number on its own tells you nothing. The basis of estimate, the exclusions register, and the questions to ask any estimator before you trust their figure.
- Design and Construct (D&C) Estimates ExplainedA D&C estimate prices a whole project before the design is finished. Why the answer comes as three numbers, not one, and what a proper turnkey estimate contains.