The Intelligent Business Resource

Main Contractor Estimating Software That Builds Quotes in Minutes

Talk through the job. Tibr breaks it into trade packages, lines up your subbie prices, prompts for the bits that get missed, and turns it into one clear, itemised quote — on your own rates.

Site team in hi-vis working together on a concrete pour — A dozen trades, one number that has to hold them all.

Who it’s for

Main contractors pricing multi-trade refurbs, fit-outs and new builds
Firms coordinating several subbies and trade packages on one job
Estimators who need bids out faster without missing scope

Why Tibr

Keep every trade package in its own section — no lumping it all together
Line up subbie prices without re-typing them from emailed PDFs
Catch the scope gaps between trades with prompts tuned to building work
Scope, assumptions and exclusions spelled out, so there's no argument later
Clean, itemised PDF you can send — your data exports out whenever you want

Try Tibr free

Free plan — no card needed.

Where main-contractor quotes leak time and margin

A big job means a dozen trades, a stack of subbie quotes that come back in different formats, and a scope that runs to forty pages. It's easy to miss a package, hard to compare quotes like for like, and slow to roll it all into one quote you'd be happy to send. When you're up against other firms, every re-do and every forgotten line eats your margin — and sometimes the job.

Scope gaps between trades → extras you have to swallow or argue over
Subbie quotes in every format → hard to line up and hard to trust
Hours re-typing prices into one sheet → quotes go out late and jobs go cold

How Tibr works for main contractors

Talk through the job. Describe the fit-out, refurb or new build in plain words, or paste your notes from the site visit and the drawings.
Tibr breaks it into packages. Every trade in its own section — labour, materials, prelims and exclusions — structured on your own rates.
Subbie prices drop into place. Each quote lands in the right section instead of being re-typed from emailed PDFs into a master sheet.
Prompts catch the gaps. Site setup, temporary protection, scaffolding and access, muck-away, making good, permits, final clean.
Review, then send. Edit every line — prices, quantities and scope stay yours — then send a clean, itemised PDF.

How a main-contractor quote comes together in Tibr

You've been asked to price an office fit-out over two floors, with the usual run of trades. You paste the scope from the drawings and start talking through your site notes — "strip out the old partitions, new stud walls and doors, suspended ceilings, carpet and vinyl, full decoration, new small-power and lighting, comms containment, air-con to the meeting rooms, plus a small tea-point." Within seconds the quote is laid out package by package: strip-out, partitions and doors, ceilings, flooring, decoration, electrical, mechanical, joinery and the tea-point.

Then the prompts start. Working out of hours in a live building? Temporary protection and dust screens? Scaffolding or access towers for the high-level work? Muck-away and skips for the strip-out? Making good where the new work meets the old? Building control and a final clean? You confirm or dismiss each one and the lines adjust — so you don't find out mid-job that you never priced the out-of-hours premium because it was buried in the scope.

Your subbie prices drop into the right package as they come in — you're not re-typing numbers off emailed PDFs into a master sheet, and you can see at a glance which packages are still to land. You pull your assumptions and exclusions across from a past similar fit-out, tweak the quantities, and send a clean, branded quote with every package itemised, assumptions listed and any options broken out. Time taken: same day, not the best part of a week — and every line was yours to review before it went out.

Tibr vs. pulling a bid together by hand

The usual job starts by copying the last fit-out's spreadsheet and hoping the packages still apply. You ring or email a stack of subbies and wait days for numbers — half come back in different formats, one never replies. You roll it all into one quote late at night, re-typing each subbie's price into your layout. Next morning you spot you never carried the scaffolding in the prelims, but the quote's already gone. The shortfall turns up as an awkward conversation six weeks later.

In Tibr, that same job starts from a reusable template off your last similar fit-out. The packages are already there. Subbie prices drop into the right section when they come in, no reformatting. Prompted checklists walk you through the bits that usually get missed: temporary protection, out-of-hours premiums, scaffolding, muck-away, final clean, permits. Your assumptions and exclusions carry across. You review every line, then send a tidy, branded PDF. Same scope, same day — not same scope, three days and a prayer.

Jobs main contractors price with Tibr

Commercial fit-outs. Offices, shops and units — partitions, ceilings, flooring, decoration and the M&E to suit. Working around a live building means phasing, out-of-hours work and temporary barriers. Tibr prompts for these specifically so they don't disappear into a lump sum for prelims.

Refurbs & renovations. Strip-out, re-plaster, new services, redecorate — often with the client still in the building. The risk is in the making good and the bits you can't see until you open it up. Tibr keeps every trade package in its own section and flags the gaps before the price goes out.

Extensions & new builds. Full scope from groundworks through to handover, with several trades running in sequence. On a bigger job the risk is the package you forget to price because the spec ran long. Tibr walks every trade and checks for gaps before you send the number.

Design & build. You're pricing off an outline before the drawings are firm, then refining as the design develops. Tibr lets you start from a budget number and tighten it package by package, so you can show the client what changed and what drove the cost between rounds.

Typical trade packages covered

Tibr lays a main-contractor quote out package by package, so every trade gets priced, spelled out and checked for gaps. Instead of a flat spreadsheet where it all blurs together, each package has its own lines, allowances and exclusions — and subbie prices drop straight into the right section.

Prelims & site setup
Enabling works & strip-out
Groundworks & drainage
Structure & frame
Brickwork & blockwork
Roofing & cladding
Windows & external doors
Partitions & dry lining
Suspended ceilings
Electrical (M&E)
Mechanical, heating & air-con
Plumbing & drainage
Joinery & second fix
Flooring & tiling
Decorating & making good
External works & landscaping
Scaffolding & access
Muck-away, skips & final clean

Estimators

The same clear package structure across every bid
Compare subbie quotes like for like, without reformatting
Reusable templates get the next bid out faster

Project managers

Clear inclusions and exclusions cut the queries on site
A clean handover with scope and options laid out by package
A record of what changed between pricing rounds

Clients & owners

A clear, itemised quote they can actually understand
Scope, assumptions and exclusions spelled out up front
Fewer surprises — so fewer arguments once the job starts

What you send, and what comes out

The quote comes out as a clean PDF, laid out package by package — each section showing line items, quantities, rates and subtotals, with your branding on the front. Assumptions, exclusions and any allowances are called out plainly, so the client can see exactly what's included without having to guess.

Your rates stay saved and reusable — put your labour and material prices in once and they carry into every future quote. Update a price once and the new number flows through, so you're not copying figures off an old spreadsheet and hoping they're still right. Your data is yours: export it out whenever you need to.

You stay in control

Nothing reaches the client until you've reviewed and edited it
Built on your own rates — Tibr never invents numbers or sets your margin
Your data is encrypted, and it's yours to export whenever you want

What main contractors get out of it

A bid that used to take the best part of a week to pull together goes out same-day. The time comes back from not rebuilding the packages on every job, not re-typing subbie prices into your layout, and not spending the last hour hunting for the exclusions you forgot to add. Package-by-package prompts mean fewer missed lines — and fewer awkward conversations six weeks in.

The quotes themselves change the conversation. Instead of a lump sum with a one-line scope, the client gets a clear breakdown they can read package by package and compare against other firms. Not because you're the cheapest — because yours is the quote they can actually understand and trust.

Try Tibr free

FAQs

How do I price a job as a main contractor?

You build the price from the trade packages — groundworks, structure, roofing, M&E, finishes and the rest — combining subbie quotes for the specialist work with your own rates for anything you self-deliver, plus prelims, overheads and profit. The hard part isn't the sums, it's catching every bit of scope and lining up quotes that come back in different formats. Tibr structures the job by package and prompts for the items that usually slip through.

Can Tibr handle a job with lots of trades?

Yes — that's the point of it. A fit-out or refurb might run to a dozen trade packages, each with its own subbie price, assumptions and exclusions. Tibr keeps every package in its own section with line items, so nothing gets lumped together and lost, and the gaps between trades — who's making good, who's taking the muck away — get flagged before the price goes out.

How do I keep subbie quotes lined up?

Instead of re-typing every subbie's number off an emailed PDF into one master spreadsheet, Tibr drops each price into the right trade section. You can see at a glance which packages are priced, which are still to land, and where a quote looks light against the scope — so you're comparing like for like instead of hoping the formats match up.

Will it help me avoid scope gaps and missed items?

Tibr prompts for the bits that usually get forgotten across a multi-trade job — prelims and site setup, temporary protection, scaffolding and access, muck-away and skips, making good, permits and final clean — so they get priced instead of eaten. It also puts your assumptions and exclusions in writing on every quote, so the gaps that would normally turn up as an argument on site are dealt with before you send the number.

Can I use my own prices and templates?

Yes. Tibr always builds the quote around your own rates, never someone else's, and never decides your margin. Save your labour and material rates for the work you self-deliver, reuse a package structure off a past similar job, and update a price once so it flows into every future quote. Your prices, your numbers, your layout.

Does it work for commercial and industrial jobs?

Yes. Whether it's an office or shop fit-out, an industrial unit, a school refurb or a new build, the approach is the same: break the job into trade packages, price each one, spell out the assumptions and exclusions, and check for the gaps between trades. Tibr keeps phasing, out-of-hours work and temporary works in their own lines so they don't disappear into a lump sum for prelims.

How accurate is AI for a main contractor's estimate?

AI won't replace your judgement on the numbers — the rates and the margin stay yours. What it's good at is structure: making sure every trade package has a section, every section has its assumptions, and the usual allowances aren't skipped. Think of it as a checklist that has seen every job you've priced. Tibr flags the gaps before the price goes out, and you review and edit every line before it's sent.

How do I send the finished quote?

Tibr produces a clean, itemised PDF with your branding — every trade package shown with quantities, rates and subtotals, and your assumptions and exclusions spelled out so the client can see exactly what's in and what's not. Send it as a PDF, and your data exports out whenever you need it. There's a free plan with no card needed, and paid plans start from £49/mo with a 14-day trial.