TRUSTED BY 3,500+ CONTRACTORS & DEVELOPERS
We work with:
General Contractors
- Subcontractors
- Remodeling Contractors
Homebuilders
- Developers
Architects
“Most contractors are missing out on over $200,000 per month in project contracts and they don’t even know it. They are busy, have no time for takeoffs, and they are leaving money on the table. A lot of money.
We designed our construction takeoff service with the goal of helping our clients win projects and ultimately be successful.”
-Daniel Quindemil
Founder, I AM Builders
WHO IS I AM BUILDERS?
I AM Builders is a National Construction Estimating Firm in the business of helping contractors win projects.
With our construction estimating and takeoff services, we’ll help you prepare a budget for your new project.
Most contractors are so busy running their job sites that they NEGLECT their bidding. You’re supervising jobs, making deliveries, going to jobsite meetings, and the only time to work on bidding is NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS.
It doesn’t have to be that way!
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU WIN MORE PROJECTS?
“I have NO TIME to estimate projects”
– Every Contractor in America
The enemy of every contractor is the lack of time. Most contractors are busy working IN the business rather than working ON the business. If that’s the case, you’re not alone. We’ve worked with over 1,400 contractors nationwide estimating and consulting, and that’s normal.
But you’ve probably tried doing it yourself, working at night after work…. probably even on the weekends on the kitchen table. We’ll find your leads for you and can even takeoff your complete construction project after so you can focus on running your business and getting your nights and weekends back.
Stop missing out on bids because of time.
You’re probably MISSING OUT on $200,000 per month because you’re busy
We did an analysis and more contractors are missing out on several projects per month that they can actually win because they are so busy they just pass them up.
Depending on what your average contract value is, most contractors are missing between $200-500K per month in sales because of being busy.
We’ll prepare your entire estimate for you so can keep bidding those jobs.
We can estimate your entire project for you based on your LOCAL PRICING so the numbers will be accurate
I AM Builders is US Based and a licensed General Contractor, so we have actual building experience.
We use a combination of a cost database and our experience to price your projects based on the zip code of your project (Note: Everyone at I AM Builders has actual field experience in construction, not just theory or “paper estimating”).
Pricing for labor and material varies by area and zip code, so we make adjustments for local labor rates, material pricing, and even look at the area’s property value to determine accurate pricing. That’s what makes our construction estimating service a great option for busy contractors.
We even back our estimates with a $1 MILLION ACCURACY GUARANTEE which covers all of our clients by our Errors and Omissions Insurance.
We can help you NEGOTIATE AND CLOSE based on proven strategies
Estimating is only a small part of what it takes to win a job. We like to see this as a TEAM EFFORT.
What do you do after the estimate to give yourself the best chance of winning? We can help you work the numbers when you’re negotiating, and even jump on a conference call with your client (as your estimating team) to help you close.
We can even advise you on EXACTLY WHAT TO DO to have them wanting to USE YOU instead of your competitor.
Over the last 10 years, and after speaking and working with THOUSANDS of Contractors, we get to see what WORKS and what DOESN’T. We have some clients landing 50% of their bids by implementing some of the strategies we can easily show you.
These aren’t strategies we made up – we listened to our clients and created our blueprint based on what they are doing right, and avoiding what they were doing wrong. Best of all….. it works for ANY CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
You Send in Your Plans
You can upload your plans here or email us at info@iambuilders.com. Whichever is more convenient for you.
Be sure to let us know your scope of work and any details regarding your project.
We Send you a Quote for Our Services
Before starting, we’ll send you a detailed quote for our services. Every client is unique so we take the time to review each situation individually. We’ll factor in things like project range, difficulty, trades, and more.
We Estimate and Deliver Your Cost Estimate
Our team will takeoff and estimate your project. When we deliver you’ll receive a PDF and an Excel file of your estimate. We can also offer construction lead generation services for the jobs you’d like to pursue further.
What makes a North Carolina bid different
North Carolina has one building code. This year that’s not as simple as it sounds.
The state writes its own code and every county and city enforces the same book. Right now that book is the 2018 North Carolina Codes, built on the 2015 I-codes and in force since January 1, 2019. Houses moved on: the 2024 NC Residential Code became mandatory on January 1, 2025. Commercial didn’t. The 2024 commercial volumes were supposed to start July 1, 2025, then the legislature pushed them to twelve months after the State Fire Marshal certifies the new code and the new Residential Code Council. Lawyers reading that bill put the earliest date at the end of July 2026. So a shell you price this fall might be reviewed under a code that’s eight years old, or one that’s brand new. Ask the plan reviewer which book. Then price to it.
Then there’s the tax. On a real property contract you’re the consumer of your own materials. You pay sales tax when you buy the lumber and the fixtures, and you don’t charge the owner tax on the job. That’s a capital improvement, and the Affidavit of Capital Improvement, Form E-589CI, has to be issued and kept on file for it. Repair, maintenance and installation work is a different animal. RMI services to real property are taxable at the state rate plus the local rate, and a mixed contract has to be split into the part that’s a capital improvement and the part that isn’t.
And the license limits are real money. Any job at $40,000 or more needs a licensed general contractor. A Limited license caps a single project at $500,000 and calls for $17,000 in working capital. Intermediate stops at $1,000,000 with $75,000. Unlimited has no cap and wants $150,000 on the books. If your estimate lands at $1.05M and your license is Intermediate, you’re going to need a bigger license or a smaller job before you can sign.
Four things that get missed on a North Carolina construction estimate
Every one of these has cost somebody real money. We see them monthly.
1. Which code the reviewer is holding. Residential is on the 2024 code. Commercial may or may not be, depending on the certification date. The two books don’t agree on energy, egress or structural detail, and a bid written against the wrong one is either overbuilt or coming back with comments. Ask on day one.
2. The affidavit and the RMI split. A tenant fit-out that pulls a permit is a capital improvement and the owner sees no tax on the contract. Swap out a water heater, replace gutters, service the rooftop unit, and that’s RMI and it’s taxable. Most remodels have both in them. If you don’t split the scope, you’re going to eat the tax on one side or overcharge the owner on the other.
3. Raleigh’s fee stack. Raleigh’s fiscal 2027 schedule charges a new commercial building 0.21% of calculated value up to $500,000, then $1,050 plus 0.06% up to $10,000,000, then $7,250 plus 0.01% above that. Plan review is 65% of the building permit. The trade permits ride on top as a share of the building permit: electrical 100%, mechanical 76%, plumbing 56%. So the permit line on a Raleigh estimate is really four or five lines.
4. Capacity fees and the thoroughfare fee. Still Raleigh: a 5/8-inch meter carries a $1,447 water capital facility fee and a $2,223 sewer capital facility fee before a drop of water flows. Retail and commercial floor area pays a transportation thoroughfare fee of $3,924.62 per 1,000 square feet gross. A single-family unit under 1,000 square feet pays $1,833. None of it is on a takeoff. All of it is at the counter.
North Carolina projects we’ve actually priced
We don’t ask you to take our word for it. Sixteen real North Carolina estimates are on this page — four in each of the four categories we work in. $38.9M of construction value across 125 pages of takeoff and pricing. Open them. Read the line items. See exactly what you get before you send us a single sheet.
Commercial Buildings — ground-up retail, hospitality and institutional.
- Home2 Suites Project, Charlotte – $19.6M (28217)
- Academy Sports, Knightdale – $3.4M (27545)
- The Fresh Market, Greensboro – $1.1M (27401)
- Sure Promise Church, Raleigh – $710K (27610)
Multi Family and Apartments — apartments, townhomes, senior living and multi-unit housing.
- Beatties Ford Rd Townhomes, Charlotte – $3.5M (28216)
- Kisco Senior Living Abbotswood, Raleigh – $2.8M (27613)
- 808 Church Street Apartments, Albemarle – $1.6M (28001)
- 1300 & 1302 East 10th Street (Duplex), Charlotte – $1.3M (28204)
Residential — custom homes, spec homes and whole-house builds.
- 3029 Lewis Farm Project, Raleigh – $1.5M (27607)
- 2100 Auburn Lane Residence, Wilmington – $1.5M (28405)
- SFR Custom Home – Base Model, Matthews – $630K (28105)
- Enderly Park – House, Charlotte – $304K (28208)
Tenant Buildouts — interior fit-outs in existing buildings.
- Erd Office, Kernersville – $514K (27284)
- Prep Kitchen Renovation, Charlotte – $262K (28216)
- Office Renovation, Charlotte – $190K (28262)
- Kwench Juice Cafe – Heritage Station, Wake Forest – $33K (27587)
Four building types. Charlotte to the Triangle, the Triad down to the coast. From a $33K juice bar to a $19.6M hotel. That range is the whole point — most shops price one lane and call it a service.
Look at the hotel. Home2 Suites in Charlotte is $19.6M and the estimate runs 31 pages, concrete through electrical, because a select-service hotel is a hundred small rooms and every finish in them repeats a hundred times. Miss one bathroom by fifty dollars and you’ve missed by five figures.
Same story on the Fresh Market in Greensboro, the other way round. $1.1M, fourteen pages, and most of it is the stuff nobody sees: ceilings, stainless, screen mesh, the refrigeration walls. A grocery fit-out is a specialties job wearing a retail badge.
Where we work in North Carolina
We estimate statewide. Here’s where the volume actually is.
Charlotte. Charlotte, Matthews, Huntersville, Concord, Gastonia, Mooresville and Fort Mill across the line. Seven of the sixteen estimates above are Charlotte-area jobs — the hotel, the townhomes, the duplex, two houses and two fit-outs. The state’s biggest permit counter.
The Triangle. Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Chapel Hill and Fuquay-Varina. Five of the sixteen are here, and Raleigh’s fee schedule is the one we quoted above. Fast-growing suburbs mean capacity and thoroughfare fees on almost everything.
The Triad. Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, Kernersville and Burlington. The Fresh Market and the Erd Office are both Triad jobs. A lot of renovation in older masonry buildings, which is where the capital-improvement-versus-RMI question earns its keep.
Wilmington and the coast. Wilmington, Leland, Hampstead, Jacksonville, the Outer Banks and Brunswick County. Where the ultimate design wind speed hits 130 mph the residential code moves into its high wind chapter: the fastener schedule stops being a table and becomes a structural analysis with an engineer’s seal on it. The Auburn Lane house is a Wilmington job and it’s priced that way.
Asheville and the mountains. Asheville, Hendersonville, Boone, Waynesville and Banner Elk. Steep lots, long hauls, thin sub markets. Durations stretch and so should General Conditions.
Fayetteville, Greenville and the east. Fayetteville, Greenville, Rocky Mount, Wilson, Albemarle and the towns in between. The 808 Church Street apartments in Albemarle are on this page.
Every one of those cities has its own page with local detail. Start there if you want the county-level specifics.
Who our North Carolina estimating service is for
General contractors bidding hard-bid and negotiated work. Subs who need a takeoff that survives a scope review. Developers who want a real number before they commit capital. Architects who’d rather price a design now than explain a surprise at bid day.
North Carolina added 15,500 construction jobs in the year to June 2026, second only to Texas, and a 5.6% jump. If you’re a GC in North Carolina turning down invitations because you can’t get numbers out fast enough, you’re going to keep leaving work on the table until somebody else does the takeoff for you. That’s what our North Carolina construction estimating services are built to fix. You send the plans. We send back a priced estimate with the quantities shown, in a format you can hand straight to a client or an owner.
We’re not a lead service and we’re not a software subscription. A person does the takeoff. Another person checks it. You can call and ask why a number is what it is, and get an answer.
What you’re hiring is a cost estimator who has already priced work under the code edition your reviewer is holding, with the affidavit on file, at your city’s fee schedule. Not a national square-foot average with the words North Carolina written on top.
Send us your plans. We’ll tell you what it costs.
We keep separate pages for the markets we price most in North Carolina: Charlotte construction estimating services and Raleigh construction estimating services.
