Construction Estimating Software That Builds Quotes in Minutes

Talk your scope. TIBR turns it into a structured, accurate quote — line items, labor, materials, and exclusions handled.

Who it’s for

GCs & builders bidding tenant improvements, fit-outs, and remodels
Trade contractors: drywall, flooring, millwork, glazing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical
Owners’ reps needing apples-to-apples pricing from vendors

Why

Catch missed line items with AI prompts tuned for construction scopes
Produce consistent quote structure — no more ad-hoc spreadsheets
Attach clarifications/exclusions automatically to de-risk bids
Export to PDF/Word/CSV; share a branded proposal link

Try TIBR free

No credit card required.

The estimating problem construction teams face

Estimating lives in scattered spreadsheets and one-off templates. It’s easy to miss scope, hard to normalize vendor formats, and slow to produce a clean proposal. In competitive bid cycles, rework and clarifications cost margin — and sometimes the win.

Missed line items → change orders and margin risk
Inconsistent structure → difficult apples-to-apples vendor comparison
Manual admin → slow turnarounds and lost opportunities

How TIBR works for construction estimating

Talk your scope. Describe your TI/remodel/ground-up in plain language or paste notes from walks and plans.
AI structures the quote. Divisions, line items, labor, materials, allowances, and exclusions.
Guided prompts catch gaps. Demo, patch & paint, mobilization, waste, firestopping, permits.
Clarifications & exclusions. Standard language to de-risk award and reduce RFIs.
Export & share. PDF/Word/CSV or a branded proposal link with version history.

How a construction bid actually works in

You get invited to bid a 15,000 SF tenant improvement with 6 trades. You paste the scope narrative from the bid documents into TIBR and start talking through the walk notes — "demo existing walls on the east side, new framing and drywall for 12 offices, ACT ceilings, LVT in corridors, carpet tile in offices, new VAV boxes tying into existing ductwork, 40 new circuits." Within seconds the estimate is structured by CSI division: general requirements, selective demo, framing, drywall, flooring, ceilings, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire protection.

Then the prompts start. Temporary protection for the occupied floors? Phasing logistics and after-hours premium? Patch and paint at demo boundaries? Final clean? Permit allowance? Fire alarm modifications? You confirm or dismiss each one, and the line items adjust. No more discovering at the GC meeting that you left out Division 10 specialties because the spec section was buried on page 38.

Sub pricing drops into designated slots by trade — you're not re-typing numbers from emailed PDFs into a master spreadsheet. You pull your clarifications and exclusions from a past similar TI, adjust the square footage, and export a branded proposal with division-by-division detail, assumptions listed, and alternates broken out. Total time: same day, not three days.

TIBR vs. estimating construction jobs by hand

The typical construction bid starts by copying last job's spreadsheet and hoping the divisions still apply. You email 8 subs and wait 4 days for numbers — half come back in different formats, two don't respond at all. You manually roll everything into one bid document at midnight before bid day, reformatting each sub's pricing into your template. The next morning you realize you forgot to carry the dumpster allowance in general conditions, but the bid is already submitted. The change order shows up six weeks later.

In TIBR, that same job starts with a reusable template from your last similar TI. The divisions are already structured. Sub pricing slots are pre-built — when numbers come in, they drop into the right section without reformatting. Prompted checklists walk through the items that typically get missed: temporary protection, phasing, final clean, permit fees, bonding. Your clarifications and exclusions carry over from the template. The proposal exports with division-by-division detail, branded with your logo, ready to submit. Same scope, same day — not same scope, three days and a prayer.

Project types contractors estimate with

Tenant improvements. The bread-and-butter mid-market GC job — selective demo, new partitions, ceiling grids, flooring, MEP modifications. The challenge is that every TI looks similar but the details are different. TIBR lets you start from a past TI template and adjust division by division instead of rebuilding the scope from scratch.

Ground-up commercial (office, retail, medical). Full CSI scope from sitework through closeout. The risk is in the divisions you forget to price because the spec was 200 pages. TIBR prompts through every relevant division and flags gaps before the number goes out.

Design-build vs. hard-bid. Design-build estimates evolve through multiple pricing rounds as drawings develop. Hard-bid is one shot on bid day. TIBR handles both — version history tracks each pricing iteration on design-build, and prompted checklists prevent bid-day oversights on hard-bid.

Multi-phase occupied renovations. Working around tenants means phasing logistics, after-hours premiums, temporary barriers, and noise restrictions. TIBR prompts for these items specifically so they don't get buried in a general conditions lump sum.

Specialty work (hazmat, clean rooms, data centres). Unique testing, certification, and containment requirements that standard templates miss. TIBR keeps specialty scopes in their own sections with custom checklists so they're priced explicitly, not folded into general construction and underestimated.

Typical scope divisions covered

TIBR structures construction estimates by CSI MasterFormat divisions so every scope area gets priced, clarified, and checked for gaps. Instead of a flat spreadsheet where divisions blur together, each section has its own line items, allowances, and exclusions.

General requirements
Existing conditions & demo
Concrete
Masonry
Metals
Wood, plastics & composites
Thermal & moisture protection
Openings (doors & windows)
Finishes
Specialties
Equipment
Furnishings
Special construction
Conveying equipment
Mechanical / plumbing
Electrical
Fire protection
Sitework & utilities

General Contractors

Faster bid turnarounds with consistent structure
Normalize vendor quotes for true A-to-A comparisons
Reduce change-order exposure with standard exclusions

Trade Contractors

Generate polished proposals from field notes in minutes
Save reusable cost libraries per discipline
Win more bids by eliminating scope gaps

Owners’ Reps

Standardize vendor submissions for better oversight
Fewer clarifications; clearer audit trail
Reliable comparisons to keep decisions objective

Integrations & outputs

Exported proposals are organized division by division — each section shows line items, quantities, unit costs, and subtotals with your company branding on the cover. Clarifications, exclusions, and allowances are called out explicitly so the owner or CM can compare your bid against others without guessing what's included.

Cost libraries store your rates by division, trade, and region. Update drywall labor pricing once and it carries into every future TI estimate — no more copying numbers from an old spreadsheet and hoping they're current. Export to PDF, Word, or CSV depending on what the GC or owner requires.

Accounting integrations with QuickBooks Online and Xero are on the roadmap. See pricing for current plan details.

Security & governance

Project-scoped access with team roles
Version history and immutable audit trail on proposals
Data encryption in transit and at rest

Results construction teams see

A TI bid that took three days to assemble now goes out same-day. The time savings come from not rebuilding the division structure on every job, not reformatting sub pricing into your template, and not spending the last hour before bid day hunting for the exclusions you forgot to attach. Division-by-division prompts mean fewer missed items — and fewer change orders showing up six weeks after award.

The proposals themselves change the conversation. Instead of a lump-sum number with a one-page scope letter, owners and CMs get a structured breakdown they can compare line by line against other bids. Contractors using TIBR report higher win rates not because the price is lower, but because the submission is the one the project team can actually evaluate and defend to their stakeholders.

Try TIBR free

FAQs

How do I estimate a construction project?

Organize the scope by CSI divisions, then price each division using takeoff quantities, sub quotes, and your own unit costs for labor and material. The hard part isn't the math — it's catching every scope gap before bid day, especially on multi-trade projects where divisions overlap. TIBR structures the breakdown by division and prompts for the items that typically fall between the cracks.

What's the best estimating software for contractors?

It depends on where your bottleneck is. If you need help with takeoffs, tools like Bluebeam and PlanSwift handle quantity measurement. If your problem is scope organization, bid structure, and proposal quality — turning takeoff numbers into a defensible, professional quote — that's where TIBR fits.

How do contractors calculate job costs?

Most contractors build a cost estimate by combining sub pricing for specialty trades, unit-rate takeoffs for self-performed work, and allowances for general conditions, overhead, and profit. The risk is in the gaps — divisions you forgot to price, exclusions you didn't list, and allowances you underestimated because the spec was 40 pages deep.

How accurate is AI for construction estimating?

AI won't replace a seasoned estimator's judgment on pricing, but it's very good at enforcing structure — making sure every division has a line, every scope section has clarifications, and common allowances aren't skipped. Think of it as a checklist that learns from your past bids. TIBR uses domain-trained prompts to flag scope gaps before the number goes out.

Can TIBR handle complex multi-trade scopes?

Yes. A typical TI might involve demo, framing, drywall, flooring, ceilings, HVAC modifications, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection — each with its own sub pricing and allowances. TIBR structures the estimate by CSI division so every trade has its own section with line items, clarifications, and exclusions. Sub pricing drops into designated slots by trade instead of getting re-typed from emailed PDFs into a master spreadsheet.

Can I keep my own cost libraries?

Yes. Build cost libraries by division, trade, and region — for example, your drywall labor rates for the metro area or your standard general conditions percentages for TI work. Clone a library for a new market or project type and adjust the rates without affecting the original. When material pricing changes, update it once and the new numbers flow into every future estimate that references that library.

Will it replace my estimating software?

It depends on your current workflow. If you're estimating from spreadsheets, copy-pasted templates, or handwritten notes, TIBR replaces that entire process. If you use dedicated takeoff software like Bluebeam or PlanSwift for quantities, TIBR handles the next step — organizing those quantities into a structured, division-by-division estimate with clarifications, exclusions, and a professional proposal format. The two tools complement each other.

How does AI improve accuracy?

The AI doesn't guess at pricing — your rates, your libraries, your numbers. What it does is enforce structure. Division-level prompts flag commonly missed items: temporary protection on occupied renovations, phasing logistics, permit allowances, final clean, bonding. It also forces clarifications and exclusions into every proposal so the scope gaps that typically surface as change orders are addressed before the bid goes out.

Do you integrate with QuickBooks or Xero?

Today, estimates export to PDF, Word, and CSV — the PDF is branded and organized by division with line items, subtotals, and appendices for clarifications and exclusions. Direct accounting integrations with QuickBooks Online and Xero are on the roadmap. In the meantime, the CSV export maps cleanly to most accounting import formats.