Everything you’d want from an estimating service
HBXL is a leading estimating service providing estimating and take-off services to building firms, builders merchants and self builders, operating since 2012. Our professional, experienced estimators use market-leading EstimatorXpress estimating and Take-off software to produce accurate, fast estimates and take-offs with 100% guaranteed delivery on time, every time.
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Experienced, professional estimators
HBXL only use estimators who are highly experienced and based in the UK, familiar with UK building regs. Estimators only work on a single job at a time and are not targeted to rush a job through. Accuracy is key. This is quite different to many services where their goal is the conveyor belt approach. That said, we hit deadlines 100%, every time, just allowing a little more time for an estimate that is spot on.
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Absolute accuracy
Our estimators only use EstimatorXpress estimating and take-off software to produce your quotes and take-offs. It’s been 20 years in the making and is THE leading software on the market. It’s been used to price up literally Billions of £ worth of work so we’re confident in its accuracy. And of course it’s up to date with latest building regs and construction technologies. As you’d expect.
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White-labelled service available
We offer a personal service. You can white-label the service as if it were your own. Get the take-off requests off your desk and on to ours. And we’ll brand up the estimate outputs with your logos and wording. We act 100% on your behalf fielding enquiries, reviewing the plans, taking payment and of course doing the estimate itself – simply returning you with the completed estimate. Job done.
An estimating service you can trust and rely on
Fed up with cheap but unreliable and inaccurate estimating companies? Why not make the switch to a service which provides estimates which are worth the paper they’re written on. Simply upload your plans and our experienced estimating team will provide a delivery date and fixed price for completion the estimate and take-off. One estimator will scrutinise the plans and complete the work. And if you want, we can integrate with your price list.
How does it work?
What does your client need to provide you with?
Ask your customer to supply you with proposed floor plans elevation plans, plus existing plans (for extensions, loft or garage conversions), and any relevant specification notes and/or tender documents. You can email us the plans or use the nifty drag and drop uploader. The estimators examine the plans and then provide a no-obligation estimating fee and delivery date.
What goes into their completed estimate pack?
Well heaps! They get a customer quotation for THEIR client, a full cost breakdown in summary and detail, a materials schedule in summary by type of resource and by every single product they need, cashflow, profit forecast and lots more. Check out an example estimate pack here. And don’t forget we can brand this pack as your company if you’d like.
Can the client quotation and take-off be personalised?
Yes of course! We brand up the Estimate Pack with your builders merchant branding AND we can integrate with your price list (talk to us for details). We also encourage the builder to provide their labour rates and mark-up percentage as well as any specific specification detail. The HBXL Estimating Service will also add their company details and the client’s, and if they provide it, the customer’s company logo as well.
What does it cost?
Our focus is on quality. We have a full price list but this is a guide and each job is assessed job by job. Extensions up to 25m2 cost £299 if you supply Building Reg Drawings or £249 with planning drawings only. New Builds up to 100m2 cost £349 with Building Reg drawings or £299 with only the planning drawings.
What is the lead time?
As we’re a quality service, and quality takes a little time as I’m sure you’d appreciate, we don’t offer a 24-hour or 48-hour service. Our aim is to deliver smaller jobs in 3-4 days, on average. Larger jobs will take 7-10 days. We always hit out deadlines.
Why offer the service
There’s lots of reasons and in fact we have a whole article on it that you can read here.
The number one reason is usually that you’d like to win more of your building clients materials spend. How? Add value to their business by HELPING them and taking the stress of quoting and scheduling materials off their plate. Show that you support and understand your customers pain point. And more than that it will differentiate you from other builders merchants. And get you the complete list of building materials your client needs – and when.
Why our estimating service is different
OK so there are other estimating and take-off service providers out there BUT in our experience MOST are not worth the paper the quote is written on. Why? They’re inaccurate, full of assumptions and omissions, under-price the job for your client and get you a bad reputation for offering or referring a poor service.
So what’s different about HBXL?
Experienced construction specialists undertake estimates
Estimators are based in the UK and not outsourced
Committed to service, accuracy and working in partnership with you
Fully insured with Professional Indemnity
Estimators utilise market-leading, Tried & Trusted EstimatorXpress software, which is kept in line with latest building regulations
4000+ building projects worth £600,000,000+ (£0.6BN) to the end user have been estimated (jobs averaging £126,000)
Customers enjoy a 1 in 2 job win rate due to quality of estimate
Typically client pays HBXL which means contract and all liability remains with HBXL
Professional communications directly with customers rather than ‘hands off’ approach of some estimating provider
How much does it cost the customer to get their estimate?
Let’s put this out there. We are not cheap. We are not a cut-rate and cheerful service. We are unashamedly quality and a bit pricier because of the quality of our estimators and the attention to detail we provide. That said we’re lower priced than a Quantity Surveyor but you get the QS quality. Here’s our starter for 10:
A garage starts from £129+VAT
Extensions and loft conversions from £249+VAT
New builds from £299+VAT
Customers get 20% off their first estimate
What’s the process?
1. You or your client sends over full building plans via our online plans uploader. (We can create you a personalised, branded uploader if you’d like)
2. The building plans are reviewed by the HBXL team. We review the feasibility and then quote a price and delivery date. if that’s satisfactory, we then process payment with the client or bill the Builders Merchant
It’s an easy 5 step process.
3. Your client completes an ‘Estimate Details’ online form, supplied by HBXL which enables us to personalise the quote to the building firms exact set up
4. The estimate is undertaken, and we will field queries direct to the client as required
5. We send the completed estimate to the client, and also to the Builders Merchant representative
What does the customer receive?
The client receives a highly professional, comprehensive estimate pack. It contains;
Project cost summary
Detailed cost breakdown for material and labour
Detailed cost breakdown by build phase
Full schedule of materials required
A business-winning customer quotation
Indicative Build Programme
The Builders’ Merchant receives the Build Programme and Materials required reports.