Complex drawings. Conflicting specs. Not enough hours in the day.
Building plans are more detailed than ever – and often more confusing. At first glance, the documents look thorough. But dig deeper and you often find inconsistencies, vague details, and specifications that don’t match the drawings.
If you’re a builder trying to quote accurately, it’s becoming a serious issue. And if you get it wrong? The fallout can be expensive.
The reality for today’s builder
Builders are under pressure. You’ve got projects to manage, customers to update, and teams to oversee. The idea of sitting down for hours to comb through every detail of a plan to spot discrepancies and check buildability isn’t just unappealing – it’s often unfeasible. Yet skipping that level of scrutiny can lead to huge issues down the line: missed materials, unrealistic timelines, under-costed jobs, or worse – costly reworks and margin-eating surprises.
What’s worse – when plans and specifications don’t line up, it takes a sharp eye and experience to catch it. Some estimating services skip this step entirely. They push estimates through at speed, focusing on volume whilst glossing over discrepencies.
Why rushed estimates are risky
Some big-name estimating services operate on tight deadlines and high volumes. There’s little to no technical input. And limited understanding of how a project actually comes together on site. Builders tell us that in their experience these services lack ‘intuition’, and the ‘reading between the lines’ that’s so important. I guess you get what you pay for?
Which results in key issues being missed – like unrealistic (and too many) assumptions, missing materials, incorrect sequencing, or simply things that don’t add up.
And when that happens, guess who foots the bill?
That’s where HBXL’s Estimating Service is different
And that’s why we’re the go-to for serious builders who want their estimates done properly. We take time over every estimate. Your assigned estimator – with real construction knowledge – reviews your drawings and specs meticulously. They cross-check everything. They question unclear details. They’re not afraid to pick up the phone to flag up inconsistencies. Importantly, they highlight anything that could trip you up during the build. Because your estimate should be a tool for success, not a disaster waiting to happen.
It’s more than just a quote – it’s risk reduction and margin protection
Your HBXL estimator doesn’t just price up what’s on the page. They consider:
- Is the spec realistic?
- Are the plans buildable as shown?
- Is anything missing or contradictory?
- Are you at risk of under-pricing?
- Could the proposed design cause delays or reworks?
That’s how we help protect your profit – and save you stress on site.
You quote. We back you up.
Estimating is a vital part of your business. And you deserve better than rushed numbers from someone who’s never stepped foot on a building site. We want you to win work and make a profit – not spend your earnings fixing things that should have been flagged from day one.
So, if you’re fed up with conflicting plans, patchy specs, second-guessing other people’s work – and estimates you don’t quite trust – let HBXL take a look.
We’ll help you quote with confidence, win the work and keep a tight hold of your margin. And if the job is appropriate, you even get a set of 3D models to accompany your estimating pack!
What next?
Send us your full set of plans, and we’ll get the fee (cost of doing the estimating) back to you promptly, along with a date for completion of the work. It’s free with no obligation to proceed. What’s not to like?
So call us on 0117 916 7894 to chat through your job, or upload your plans to the website or email them to estimatingservice@hbxl.co.uk and we can take it from there.