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 Virginia bid different
Virginia has one building code. That sounds like good news, and mostly it is.
The Uniform Statewide Building Code is the law from Arlington to Bristol. The current edition is the 2021 USBC, in force since January 18, 2024, and it brings the 2021 I-codes and the 2020 National Electrical Code with it. Fairfax County doesn’t write its own code. Neither does Richmond or Virginia Beach. They enforce the state’s. So a detail that passes in Loudoun passes in Henrico, and your estimator isn’t chasing six different code years the way they would in Texas.
The catch is that the code comes in parts. New work runs under the Virginia Construction Code. Work inside a building that already exists runs under a separate volume, the Virginia Existing Building Code. A tenant fit-out and a ground-up shell in the same shopping center are being read against two different books. Price the fit-out off the new-construction rules and you’ll carry scope the inspector never asks for, or miss the scope he does.
Then there’s the tax, and this is where Virginia gets local. The state rate is 5.3% everywhere else, but Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and the Richmond area all run 6%. A handful of Southside counties run 6.3%. Williamsburg, James City County and York County are at 7%. A contractor in Virginia is the consumer of the materials he installs. You pay the tax when you buy them, you can’t collect it from the owner, and separately stated installation labor is exempt. So the tax is buried in your material costs, at a rate that depends on where the job sits. Same lumber package, four different numbers across the state.
And the license class is written into the contract value. A single job of $150,000 or more needs a Class A contractor. That’s the state’s number, not a suggestion, and it decides who can legally hold the contract before anyone opens the drawings.
Four things that get missed on a Virginia construction estimate
Every one of these has cost somebody real money. We see them monthly.
1. The license threshold. Class A starts at $150,000 on a single contract, or $1 million of work in any twelve months. Class B runs from $30,000 to $150,000. Class C covers anything over $1,000 up to $30,000. If your estimate lands at $149,000 and the change orders push it past the line, you’ve got a licensing problem, not a pricing problem. Know which side of $150,000 the real number sits on before you sign.
2. The regional tax rate. A material package bought for a Fairfax job carries 6%. The same package for a Roanoke job carries 5.3%. Buy it for Williamsburg and it’s 7%. On a $2M building with half the cost in materials, the spread between the lowest rate and the highest is a real line. Price it at the rate where the job is, not the rate where your yard is.
3. The prevailing wage line. Any public work paid for in whole or in part with state money over $250,000 carries a prevailing wage set by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, and it can never be lower than the federal Davis-Bacon rate. Counties and cities can adopt the same rule for their own money, and some have. If you price a school addition off your private-work labor rates, you’re going to eat the difference on every trade.
4. The existing-building book. Renovation work is priced under the Virginia Existing Building Code, not the construction code. What you have to bring up to current standard depends on what you’re touching and how much. That’s a scope decision before it’s a pricing decision, and it belongs in the estimate as a written assumption, not a surprise at plan review.
Virginia projects we’ve actually priced
We don’t ask you to take our word for it. Sixteen real Virginia estimates are on this page, four in each of the four categories we work in. $64.8M of construction value across 159 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.
- Balaji Temple – Hindu Temple of Virginia, Leesburg – $7.9M (20175)
- From the Heart Church, Richmond – $2.3M (23223)
- Hampton Retail – $2.1M (Hampton 23666)
- Dunkin Donuts, Waynesboro – $886K (22980)
Multi Family and Apartments — apartments, condos and multi-unit housing.
- Commerce St Project, Stuart – $22.1M (24171)
- Aaron Mills Apts, Martinsville – $9.3M (24112)
- BRHA Project, Bristol – $1.6M (24201)
- 2700 Leigh Apts, Richmond – $1.3M (23220)
Residential — custom homes, ADUs and whole-house remodels.
- Laurelwood Project, McLean – $7M (22102)
- 1008 Pine Hill Residence, McLean – $6M (22101)
- Fred Warren Ln, Charlottesville – $2.3M (22901)
- House Renovation at 7616 Sommerset Ln, Manassas – $133K (20111)
Tenant Buildouts — interior fit-outs in existing buildings.
- 5 Suite Renovations, Reston – $1M (20191)
- Bolay Fresh Bold Kitchen, Gainesville – $561K (20155)
- Cinnaholic VB, Virginia Beach – $259K (23462)
- Rockwell Hall Gym, Virginia Beach – $55K (23455)
Four building types. Loudoun down to the Blue Ridge, Richmond out to the beach, and three jobs in the far southwest corner most estimators never see. From a $55K gym renovation to a $22.1M six-building apartment project. That range is the whole point. Most shops price one lane and call it a service.
Look at the Commerce Street job. Six wood-framed buildings in Stuart, 53 pages, every unit taken off separately, from footings through LVT floors and bath tile. That’s a Class A contract by a wide margin and a rural county tax rate. Both of those are in the number.
Now look at the two McLean houses. $7M and $6M, thirteen and seven pages, both under the Fairfax County 6% rate, both full-trade takeoffs from concrete to finishes. The Laurelwood job removes the existing house first, so it’s demolition and new construction on one estimate. That’s the existing-building question answered on page one instead of at permit.
Where we work in Virginia
We estimate statewide. Here’s where the volume actually is.
Northern Virginia. Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun, Prince William, McLean, Reston, Leesburg, Manassas and Gainesville. Six of the sixteen estimates above are Northern Virginia jobs, and the temple, both McLean houses and the Reston suites are all here. Everything in this region prices at 6%.
Richmond and Central Virginia. Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover and Glen Allen. The From the Heart church and the Leigh Street apartments are both Richmond estimates. 6% here too.
Hampton Roads. Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth and Suffolk. Three of the sixteen are on this page: the Hampton retail building and two Virginia Beach fit-outs. Williamsburg and York County sit next door at 7%, and that line matters.
Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley. Charlottesville, Waynesboro, Harrisonburg, Staunton and Winchester. The Fred Warren Lane house and the Waynesboro Dunkin are both here, at the 5.3% base rate.
Roanoke and Southwest Virginia. Roanoke, Blacksburg, Bristol, Martinsville and Stuart. Three multi-family jobs on this page, including the largest one, come from this corner of the state. Long hauls, thin sub markets, and a tax rate that helps.
Every one of those cities has its own page with local detail. Start there if you want the county-level specifics.
Who our Virginia 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.
Virginia had 224,800 people working in construction in July 2026, down 2.5% from a year earlier. That’s a tighter market, and a tighter market punishes slow bidders. If you’re a GC in Virginia 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 Virginia 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 USBC, at your county’s tax rate, on the right side of the license line. Not a national square-foot average with the word Virginia written on top.
Send us your plans. We’ll tell you what it costs.
