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.
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 South Carolina bid different
South Carolina gives you one building code. Then it takes the certainty back one county at a time.
The Building Codes Council adopts a single statewide package. The 2021 South Carolina codes took effect 1 January 2023, and they’re the same codes in Greenville that they are in Charleston. There’s a notice of intent out to modify and adopt the 2024 family, but it isn’t law yet, so anything you’re bidding today is a 2021 job. That’s a real advantage over the states next door, where you check the ordinance before you check the drawings.
What moves is the map. The Council publishes a wind map and a seismic map for every one of the 46 counties, and those maps — not the code book — set the boundaries. York County is a 115 mph county in seismic design category B. Abbeville County sits under 115 mph and in category C. Same state, same week, two different schedules of straps, hold-downs and anchorage.
Then there’s who’s allowed to sign the bid. Over $10,000 of construction cost you need a licence, and the licence itself carries a ceiling. A Group One general contractor can bid $100,000 a job. Group Three stops at $1 million, Group Four at $3 million, Group Five is unlimited. Mechanical licences are tighter — Group One is $35,000. That isn’t paperwork. That’s whether the estimate you’re building is a job you can legally take.
And the tax lives somewhere different than you’d think. In South Carolina the contractor is the user and consumer of the materials. You pay sales or use tax when you buy them — 6% state plus the local option in the county where they’re delivered — and installation labor isn’t taxed at all as long as it’s separately stated and reasonable. The tax is inside your material line. It is not a percentage you bolt onto the bottom of the contract.
Four things that get missed on a South Carolina construction estimate
Every one of these has cost somebody real money. We see them monthly.
1. The county map, not the state line. Wind speed and seismic category come off the Building Codes Council’s county maps, and those maps are the primary source for defining the boundaries. A Charleston County job and a Greenville County job are the same code and a different structure. If you price the Lowcountry off an Upstate template, you’re going to be short on connectors, anchorage and glazing before you ever get to the roof.
2. The licence group ceiling. Section 40-11-260 caps bids by licence group. The Parris Island building on this page is $2.4M — a Group Three contractor can’t touch it and a Group Four one is sitting near the line. Check the ceiling before you spend a week on the takeoff.
3. Tax in the wrong line. Because labor is exempt when it’s separately stated, a South Carolina estimate that adds a flat tax percentage to the whole contract is high. One that forgets material tax entirely is low by 6% plus local on every purchased item. Both happen. Both surface at buyout, when it’s too late to reprice.
4. Permit and plan review, together. Charleston charges $1,660 for the first $500,000 of valuation plus $2.00 for every additional thousand, on top of a $40 application — and then plan review at 50% of the permit fee. A $5M commercial job runs about $10,660 in permit and another $5,330 in review. That’s sixteen thousand dollars of General Conditions that a lot of estimates carry as a guess.
South Carolina projects we’ve actually priced
We don’t ask you to take our word for it. Sixteen real estimates are on this page — four in each of the four categories we work in. $54.3M of construction value across 100 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 and renovation work in hospitality, institutional and retail.
- FY22 MCAF Flight Line, Charleston – $16.4M (29401)
- Home2Suites by Hilton, Fort Mill – $13M (29715)
- Revitalization Bldg. 700, Parris Island – $2.4M (29905)
- Liberty Brew Project, Conway – $874K (29526)
Multi Family and Apartments — apartments, townhomes and multi-unit housing.
- Park at Windy Hill Apts, Norcross GA – $4.1M (30093)
- Beatties Ford Rd Townhomes, Charlotte NC – $3.5M (28216)
- Goose Creek Apartments – $3.5M (29445)
- Harrington Duplex, Beaufort – $495K (29902)
Residential — custom homes, coastal builds and whole-house renovations.
- Retriever Lane, Wadmalaw Island – $2.6M (29487)
- 89 Cannon, Charleston – $2.6M (29403)
- Waterway Palms, Myrtle Beach – $1.3M (29588)
- The Tuxedo Park, Darlington – $963K (29532)
Tenant Buildouts — interior fit-outs in existing buildings.
- Five Below Parkland Plaza, Cayce – $953K (29033)
- Salons by JC, Greenville – $760K (29607)
- Bakery Cafe Project, Fort Mill – $626K (29707)
- United Rentals, Greer – $283K (29651)
Fourteen of the sixteen are South Carolina jobs. Two are just over the line — the Norcross apartments and the Charlotte townhomes — because our South Carolina multi-family file is thin, and we’d rather show you a real apartment estimate from across the border than pad the section with a concrete package and call it a building.
Look at the range. A $283K equipment-rental fit-out in Greer up to a $16.4M military flight-line facility in Charleston. That range is the whole point — most shops price one lane and call it a service.
Look at 89 Cannon too. $2.6M, fourteen pages, a Charleston peninsula zip. Sitework and demolition, masonry, doors and windows, all of it priced against what’s actually standing. That’s what a downtown Charleston renovation has to look like on paper. A square-foot average can’t do it.
Where we work in South Carolina
We estimate statewide. Here’s where the volume actually is.
Charleston and the Lowcountry. Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Goose Creek, Johns Island, Wadmalaw Island and Summerville. Four of the sixteen estimates above are Charleston-area jobs. Coastal exposure, historic fabric downtown, and the county wind and seismic map on every structural page.
The Upstate. Greenville, Spartanburg, Greer, Anderson and Easley. Manufacturing, distribution and the retail that follows them. Salons by JC and the Greer branch fit-out are both up here.
York County and the Charlotte border. Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Tega Cay and Indian Land. The fastest-moving corner of the state, and it prices half like South Carolina and half like Charlotte. The Home2Suites hotel and the Fort Mill café buildout are both here.
The Grand Strand. Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway and Murrells Inlet. Coastal residential and hospitality — a house at Waterway Palms and a brewery in Conway are both on this page.
The Midlands. Columbia, Cayce, West Columbia, Lexington and Santee. State work, retail, and the Five Below buildout in Cayce.
Beaufort and the southern Lowcountry. Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head and Parris Island. Two of the sixteen are down here, including a federal building.
The Pee Dee. Florence, Darlington, Hartsville and Marion. Smaller market, longer hauls, thinner sub coverage. That belongs in your durations, not in a footnote.
Every one of those cities has its own page with local detail. Start there if you want the county-level specifics.
Who our South 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.
If you’re a GC in South 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 South 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 2021 South Carolina code, off your county’s wind and seismic map, with the material tax in the right line. Not a national square-foot average with a palmetto printed on top.
Send us your plans. We’ll tell you what it costs.
