Steel Estimator
From one bid an hour to one every ten minutes.
Built for contractors, subs, and vendors. Zero learning curve.
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The shift
One estimate an hour.
One every ten minutes.
“I used to burn a full morning on one bid. Now I’m clearing three before lunch.”
“No training day. No thick manual. Drop the job in and go.”
“Our fab shop finally stops waiting on takeoffs stuck in someone’s inbox.”
“Subcontractor life is volume. Ten-minute turns mean we chase the work we used to skip.”
“It asks me the hard calls and leaves the busywork alone. That’s the whole product.”
How it works
Three steps. No dashboard clutter.
Drop the job in, clear the few calls that matter, and walk out with the bid pack.
Drop the job in.
PDFs, sheets, drawings — start without a setup seminar. Plan PDFs and estimator Excel run now; CAD, BIM, photos, and ZIPs land on the same job so nothing gets lost in email.
Only the calls that matter.
Clear the few judgment questions. Skip the busywork. You see the next unclear size, length, or conflict — one at a time — instead of hunting through a wall of red flags.
Walk out with the bid pack.
Takeoff and quote files ready to send — not another dashboard. Hours back on the busywork so your team can chase more bids.
Where it fits
Not another generic “AI takeoff.”
Honest fit check against how steel bids get done today — not magic accuracy scores.
| What you need | Spreadsheets & email | Architectural AI takeoff | Fab shop MIS | Steel Estimator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reads structural steel drawings | Manual | Wrong fit | If modeled | Built for this |
| Asks people only where drawings are unclear | Everything | Varies | Shop-focused | One at a time |
| Uses your shop’s prices and methods | By hand | Rarely | Strong | Yes |
| Leaves an audit trail for the bid pack | Scattered | Limited | Ops trail | Line by line |
| Runs the fab shop floor | No | No | Yes | Not the goal |
Architectural takeoff tools shine on area and count work — not structural member schedules. Fab shop systems (for example Tekla PowerFab–class tools) run production well; they are not a drawing intake and review path for every bid that hits the inbox. Steel Estimator is assist-mode estimating: more bids with a trail you can defend — not unsupervised quoting.
Who it’s for
Contractors, subs, and vendors who price the work.
General contractors
Get clearer packages from your steel partners — fewer mystery totals, fewer late surprises when sizes don’t match the drawings.
Steel fabricators
Spend estimator hours on judgment, not retyping. Same method your shop already trusts — waste, freight, exclusions, and all.
Vendors & trade partners
Align on scope early. Share takeoffs and quotes that show what was assumed and what still needs a human call.
Pilot
More bids. Same day.
Intuitive from the first job. Built for the people who price the work.