PART 12: The Real Interior Estimate
Items You Must Check on Your Estimate!
After your consultation and finalizing the design, the contractor provides an estimate.
You must thoroughly verify that all requested and agreed-upon items appear on that estimate.
If disagreements arise mid-project, an omission can cause serious issues, so discuss the estimate in detail before signing.
A typical estimate includes work items, detailed descriptions, labor costs, material costs, other expenses, company profit, total amount, and VAT.
“Other expenses” often cover insurance like workers’ compensation, employment insurance, health insurance, and national pension, which scale with labor costs.
Now let’s compare a provisional estimate vs. the real one.
1Provisional Estimate
A provisional estimate is a rough calculation made when planning is underway but before detailed work plans are set.
Because specific materials and methods aren’t finalized, there will be a price gap compared to the final estimate.
Provisional estimates are useful for initial price comparisons between contractors.
2Final Estimate
Once you’ve compared provisional estimates and settled on your budget, design, materials, and methods, you select a contractor and finalize details.
You then receive the final drawings and the real estimate.
The final estimate must be checked carefully because it’s drawn up after all items are confirmed.
Two key checks: are all work items listed? and what is the total project cost?
Compare line by line with the final drawings to catch any missing elements.