What Are Sitework and Demolition Estimating Services?
Sitework estimating measures and prices everything needed to turn raw or occupied ground into a buildable site — clearing, excavation, earthwork, grading, utilities, drainage and paving. Demolition estimating prices the removal of what is already there, including loading, hauling and disposal of the debris it produces.
The two go together because they happen in sequence on the same ground. An estimate that separates them misses the handoffs — the slab that becomes fill material, the basement that becomes a hole needing backfill, the driveway that must come out before the utility trench can be cut. The order matters:
Site conditions and civil plans → clearing and grubbing → demolition → excavation → cut and fill → balance → grading → backfill and compaction → utilities and drainage → haul-off and disposal → site ready to build.
Quantities come from the civil drawings — grading, demolition and utility plans plus the survey — not the architectural set. A site plan shows where things go. A grading plan shows what elevation the ground is now and what it needs to be, and that difference is the earthwork quantity.
Bank, Loose and Compacted: Why One Pile of Dirt Has Three Volumes
The same soil occupies three different volumes: bank cubic yards in the ground, loose cubic yards after excavation, and compacted cubic yards once placed and rolled. Soil typically swells 20–40% when dug and shrinks 10–25% when compacted, so a quantity is meaningless until you know which state it is quoted in.
This is the most common place a sitework number goes wrong, and it goes wrong quietly.
In the ground. Undisturbed, as measured off the grading plan. This is what excavation quantities are stated in.
In the truck. After excavation, swelled by 20–40%. This is what haul quantities and truck counts are based on.
In the fill. Placed and rolled, shrunk by 10–25%. This is what fill and import requirements are stated in.
Swell varies by material: most soils expand roughly 20 to 40 percent when excavated, heavy clay 30 to 40 percent, and rock considerably more — 40 to 65 percent depending on fragmentation. Ranges reflect published earthwork estimating guidance; actual factors are material-specific and should come from the geotechnical report where one exists.
Why it matters on a bid
Suppose the grading plan shows 10,000 CY of cut and 10,000 CY of fill. The site looks balanced — no import, no export, no haul cost.
It usually is not. That 10,000 CY of cut is a bank measurement. Placed and compacted at a 15 percent shrink factor it produces closer to 8,500 CY of fill, leaving roughly 1,500 CY short. That shortfall gets imported, at both a material and a haul cost. On the truck side the same cut hauls as about 12,500 loose cubic yards, not 10,000, which changes the truck count.
A site that looks balanced on the plan can still need several hundred loads of imported fill — and the difference comes entirely from which cubic yard you were quoted.
Every quantity we deliver states its volume state
Cut in bank cubic yards, haul in loose, fill in compacted, with the swell and shrink factors shown as separate editable cells. Change a factor and the import figure recalculates — so if the geotechnical report specifies different ones, you apply them yourself.
What Does a Sitework Estimate Include?
A sitework estimate covers mobilization, clearing and grubbing, topsoil stripping, excavation, cut and fill, grading, backfill and compaction, imported or exported material, hauling and disposal, erosion control, storm drainage, utility trenching, access roads, paving and site concrete — with labor and equipment priced against each.
Scope depends on the plans, the specification and what you are bidding — a grading subcontractor and a GC bidding the full site package need different documents from the same drawings.
| Scope | Typical units | What drives the number |
|---|---|---|
| Excavation | BCY | Depth, soil type, groundwater, access |
| Cut and fill | BCY / CCY | Balance, shrink factor, over-excavation |
| Import / export | LCY, TON | Shortfall or surplus, haul distance, tipping or purchase cost |
| Utility trenching | LF, BCY | Depth, width, bedding, surface restoration |
| Paving & site concrete | SF, SY, CY, LF | Section thickness, subbase, curb and walk lengths |
Units: CY cubic yard, SF square foot, SY square yard, LF linear foot, AC acre, EA each, TON tons, LS lump sum. BCY, LCY and CCY are the bank, loose and compacted cubic yards above.
What Does a Demolition Estimate Include?
A demolition estimate covers the structures and surfaces to be removed, the method and equipment used, temporary protection of what stays, debris loading, hauling, disposal and any salvage or recycling credit. It is priced by what leaves the site, not by the floor area of what is being removed.
Square footage tells you how big the building is, not what it is made of — and material determines both equipment hours and disposal cost. A 10,000 SF wood-framed warehouse and a 10,000 SF cast-in-place concrete structure are not comparable jobs. The concrete building produces several times the debris tonnage and costs considerably more to dispose of.
| Component | Typical units | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Structural demolition | SF, CY, TON | Measured by structure and material, not by floor area alone |
| Concrete removal | SF, CY, TON | Slab thickness and reinforcement drive both breaking and hauling |
| Asphalt & pavement removal | SF, SY, TON | Section depth, and whether it is milled or removed full depth |
| Disposal | TON | Tipping fees vary by facility, material and market |
Hazardous material
Asbestos, lead paint and contaminated soil change a demolition number substantially, and none of it can be quantified from drawings. Where a hazardous materials survey exists, we price the abatement scope it identifies. Where one does not, we carry an allowance or state the exclusion rather than assuming the building is clean. We do not perform surveys.
Our Sitework and Demolition Estimating Services
Sitework scope
- Sitework takeoffs — the full Division 31 and 32 package, organized so trades split out
- Earthwork and excavation — bank, loose and compacted quantities with balance and haul; see earthwork estimating
- Grading — rough and fine grade areas, tolerances and pass counts
- Utility trenching — water, sewer, storm, electrical, gas and communications
- Erosion and sediment control — the scope most often left out of a first-pass bid
- Site preparation — see site preparation estimating
Full demolition versus selective demolition
Full demolition removes an entire structure and clears the site. Selective demolition removes specified elements while the building stays standing and in use. The second is slower per unit and priced differently, because protection, access and sequencing govern the work rather than raw production.
Full demolition
Building and structural demolition, foundation and slab removal, site demolition, pavement and hardscape removal. Priced on debris volume and tonnage, equipment production, haul cycles and disposal.
Selective demolition
Interior strip-out, partial structural removal, tenant improvement demolition, MEP removal. Priced on access, protection, working hours and sequencing as much as on quantity.
More on our demolition estimating page. Concrete and asphalt removal, hauling, disposal and recycling sit within either scope.
Earthwork & Excavation Estimating
Earthwork quantities come from comparing two surfaces — existing ground from the topographic survey, proposed ground from the grading plan. The volume between them is the cut and the fill. Everything else follows from that comparison.
The estimate covers excavation by depth and material, structural and mass excavation separated, trench excavation, spoil handling, backfill by specification, compaction by lift, over-excavation where the specification requires it, and the import or export the balance produces.
Where haul distance enters
Haul cost is a function of cycle time, not volume. A truck moving material 2 miles completes several times as many round trips per day as one moving it 25 miles, so the same 5,000 loose cubic yards can cost very differently depending only on destination.
We ask about spoil destination and import source when scope is confirmed. Where it is unknown, we state the assumption and show haul on a separate line you can change.
Grading and Cut-and-Fill Estimating
Cut and fill is calculated by comparing existing elevations against proposed elevations and totaling the volume above and below the design surface. Cut is what comes out, fill what goes in, and the difference between them — after shrink — is the import or export figure.
The balance matters most on a sitework bid, and it is the figure most often reported without its assumptions:
| Condition | What it means | Cost consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Cut exceeds fill | Surplus material | Export, haul and disposal or placement cost |
| Fill exceeds cut | Shortfall | Imported material purchased and hauled in |
| Apparent balance | Cut and fill match on the plan | Usually still a shortfall once shrink is applied |
| Over-excavation required | Unsuitable material removed below design grade | Additional excavation, disposal and replacement fill |
Over-excavation usually sits in the specification rather than on the drawings. A recommendation to remove and replace two feet of unsuitable material beneath a building pad adds a large quantity no reading of the grading plan would show.
Site Clearing & Grubbing Estimating
Clearing removes surface vegetation and trees. Grubbing removes roots, stumps and buried organic material. Both are measured by area within the clearing limits, with trees counted individually above a threshold size, and both produce debris that has to go somewhere.
Clearing is often underpriced because the area looks straightforward on a plan. Density and disposal drive the cost. A heavily wooded acre carries far more equipment time and haul volume than an acre of scrub, and stumps are bulky, awkward to load and frequently restricted at disposal facilities.
Topsoil stripping sits alongside it. Strip depth comes from the specification, and whether it is stockpiled for reuse or hauled off changes the number substantially.
Utility Trenching & Site Utility Estimating
Site utility estimating covers water, sewer, storm drainage, electrical, gas and communications. Each run is measured as trench length by depth and width, with bedding, pipe, structures, backfill, compaction and restoration priced against it.
Trench work is measured differently from mass excavation because cost per cubic yard is higher and depth-dependent. A trench at 12 feet needs shoring, produces more spoil per linear foot and runs slower than the same length at 4 feet. Depth is the primary variable.
| Element | Units | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Trench excavation | LF, BCY | By depth band, with shoring or benching where depth requires it |
| Pipe | LF | By size, material and class |
| Structures | EA | Manholes, inlets, valves, hydrants, cleanouts |
| Surface restoration | SF, SY, LF | Pavement patch, curb replacement, seeding |
Restoration is the line most often missed. A trench cut through an existing parking lot must be backfilled, compacted, patched and often striped — that belongs in the utility number, not a change order later.
How Soil and Site Conditions Affect Cost
Soil type determines how fast material can be excavated and whether it can be reused as fill. Rock, groundwater, unsuitable soils and poor bearing each add scope that does not appear on a grading plan. These come from the geotechnical report, not the drawings.
| Condition | Effect on the estimate |
|---|---|
| Soil type | Governs excavation production rate and whether cut material is suitable for structural fill |
| Rock | May require ripping, hammering or blasting. Production drops sharply and swell rises to 40–65% |
| Unsuitable soils | Over-excavation, disposal and replacement with imported structural fill |
| Groundwater | Dewatering, trench stability measures, slower production, sometimes discharge permitting |
| Site access | Constrains equipment size, which lowers production across every earthwork line |
Send the geotechnical report with the drawings where you have one — it changes the earthwork number more than any other single document. Where there is none, we state the soil assumptions used.
We estimate quantities and cost. We do not make geotechnical determinations, and nothing in an estimate substitutes for the project engineer's judgment on soil suitability, bearing capacity or slope stability.
Demolition Cost Factors
There is no reliable national price per square foot for demolition. Cost is governed by what the structure is made of, how accessible it is, and what disposal costs locally. A wood-framed building and a concrete one of identical floor area can differ by a multiple.
- Structure material. Wood, steel, masonry and concrete produce very different debris volumes and need different equipment.
- Site access. Room to work determines equipment size, and equipment size determines production.
- Adjacent structures. Protection, shoring and restricted methods where something stays standing next door.
- Haul distance and disposal. On heavy structures this is often the largest single line.
- Hazardous material. Established by survey, not by drawings.
We do not publish a demolition cost per square foot, because any single figure would be wrong for most projects it was applied to.
How We Estimate Earthwork Quantities
We build the existing surface from the survey and the proposed surface from the grading plan, compare the two to produce cut and fill volumes, then apply swell and shrink to convert those into haul and import figures.
Review the civil set
Grading, demolition, utility, paving and erosion control sheets, plus specification and geotechnical report.
Establish the existing surface
From survey contours and spot elevations.
Establish the proposed surface
From finish grades, pad elevations and pavement sections.
Compare the two surfaces
To calculate cut and fill volumes across the site.
Apply subgrade adjustments
Pavement and building sections sit below finish grade, and that thickness is extra excavation.
Add over-excavation
Where the specification or geotechnical report requires it.
Apply swell and shrink
Converting bank volumes into loose haul volumes and compacted fill volumes.
Determine import or export
From the resulting balance.
Price and review
Equipment and labor against production rates, then a second estimator checks quantities against the marked-up plans.
Steps five and seven are where most differences between two estimates of the same site originate. A number that ignores pavement section thickness or applies no shrink factor looks lower — and is wrong.
Sitework vs. Demolition Estimating
Sitework builds the site up — moving, shaping and improving ground so it can be built on. Demolition takes what is there down and removes it. Sitework prices mainly on volume and distance moved; demolition on debris produced and its disposal.
| Sitework | Demolition | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Prepare and improve the site | Remove existing structures and surfaces |
| Main quantities | Cubic yards of cut and fill, linear feet of utility, area graded | Debris volume and tonnage, area and structure counts |
| Disposal | Surplus soil, where the site does not balance | Central to the cost — tonnage, haul and tipping fees |
| Main cost drivers | Balance, haul distance, soil conditions, access | Structure material, access, disposal cost, protection |
Sitework Estimating vs. Earthwork Estimating
Earthwork is one part of sitework. Sitework covers everything needed to make ground buildable — clearing, earthwork, grading, utilities, drainage, paving and erosion control. Earthwork covers the soil itself: excavation, cut, fill, backfill and compaction.
The distinction matters when buying. A grading subcontractor usually needs earthwork only. A GC bidding the site package needs all of it, organized so utility and paving scopes go to the subs bidding them.
| Sitework includes | Earthwork covers |
|---|---|
| Clearing and grubbing | Excavation |
| Earthwork (the whole column at right) | Cut and fill |
| Grading | Soil movement and haul |
| Utilities and storm drainage | Backfill |
| Access roads, paving, erosion control | Compaction |
Who Needs Sitework & Demolition Estimating?
| Who | Why they use it |
|---|---|
| General contractors | To bid the full site package and level sub quotes against a known scope |
| Sitework and civil contractors | To price a complete site package without tying up an estimator for days |
| Excavation and earthwork contractors | To get cut, fill and haul quantities in the volume states they actually work in |
| Demolition contractors | To price debris tonnage, haul and disposal rather than guess from building size |
| Developers | To test whether a site's earthwork cost makes a scheme viable before buying it |
| Subcontractors generally | Overflow capacity during peak bid periods without permanent hiring |
Estimating by Project Type
| Type | Covers | What complicates it |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial | Office, retail, warehouse, industrial, multifamily, mixed-use, institutional | Restricted access, existing utilities to protect, phasing around occupied buildings, traffic control |
| Residential | New home sites, custom builds, subdivisions, additions, teardowns, ADUs, driveway and garage removal | Small sites with limited access, neighboring structures close by, disposal costs disproportionate to job size |
| Public & government | Municipal, education, civil and publicly funded site work | Unit price schedules, completeness against the specification, quantities that must match the bid form exactly |
On public work the bid form governs. Where a unit price schedule is issued, we match the takeoff to its line items and units so your numbers drop straight into the form.
How Our Estimating Process Works
Send the civil set, receive a fixed-fee quote within two hours, approve it, and receive the takeoff. Most projects deliver in 24 to 72 hours depending on site size and drawing volume. Nothing is billed until you approve.
Submit plans
Grading, demolition, utility and paving sheets, the specification and the geotechnical report. PDF, DWG, DXF and DWF all work.
Scope review
An estimator confirms what is in and out, flags missing sheets, and returns a fixed fee and delivery date.
Specification review
Over-excavation, compaction, bedding and restoration standards live in the specification, not on the plans.
Quantity takeoff
Surfaces built and compared, areas and lengths measured, structures counted — every figure linked to its sheet.
Analysis
Balance calculated, swell and shrink applied, import or export determined, debris tonnage established.
Pricing
Production rates matched to material and access, with local wage and rental rates.
Quality review
A second estimator checks quantities against the marked-up drawings.
Delivery
Workbook, marked-up plans, assumptions and exclusions, sent together.
Turnaround describes typical delivery, not a guarantee. Large civil sets sit at the longer end. If your bid date is tighter, say so on submission and we will confirm feasibility first.
Bidding a site package this week?
Email the civil set to plans@edgeestimates.us with the bid date in the subject line. We will tell you whether it can be met before you commit.
What You Receive
| Deliverable | Format | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity takeoff | .xlsx | Quantities by scope with units and volume states, each traced to its drawing sheet |
| Cost estimate | .xlsx | Labor, equipment, material and disposal separated by line |
| Cut and fill summary | In workbook | Cut, fill, shrink applied, and the resulting import or export figure |
| Marked-up drawings | Color-coded by scope so any quantity can be checked against a sheet | |
| Assumptions & exclusions | In workbook | Soil assumptions, haul distances used, and what is deliberately not in the number |
Workbooks arrive unlocked with live formulas. Swell and shrink factors, haul distances, unit rates and markup sit in editable cells — change one and totals recalculate.
Software and Tools
Surfaces are compared in Trimble and quantities measured in Bluebeam Revu, with pricing from RSMeans adjusted to the project zip code and delivery in Excel. Software speeds measurement and makes it traceable. It does not decide what to measure.
| Tool | Used for |
|---|---|
| Trimble | Civil earthwork surface comparison — existing against proposed, producing cut and fill volumes |
| Bluebeam Revu | Measurement and markup on PDF civil sets; produces the color-coded plans delivered with each takeoff |
| STACK | Cloud takeoff where several estimators work the same set concurrently |
| RSMeans | Labor, equipment and material cost data adjusted by project zip code |
Surface comparison software calculates a volume between whatever two surfaces it is given. It will not notice that the survey predates a stockpile now on site, that the pavement section was never subtracted, or that the specification requires two feet of over-excavation. Those are found by reading.
How Much Does Sitework or Demolition Estimating Cost?
Edge Estimates charges a fixed fee per project, quoted before work starts. Single-trade takeoffs typically run $300 to $800; multi-trade and full site packages run $800 to $2,500. The fee is driven by drawing count, scope count and document quality — not by the value of the project.
Sitework has one variable other trades do not: survey quality. A set with a full topographic survey measures efficiently. One with sparse contours, or grades shown only at building corners, needs interpolation and documented assumptions, and prices at the upper end.
Two projects with identical drawing sets take the same effort whether the contract is worth $2 million or $20 million. A provider quoting a percentage of construction value is pricing your budget.
How Much Does Sitework Cost?
Sitework cost is site-specific to a degree that makes generic pricing unhelpful. Two identical buildings on different sites carry very different site costs based on topography, soil, balance and haul distance alone — none of it visible in a square-foot figure.
For scale, published earthwork guidance puts common excavation in easy soil around $3 to $8 per cubic yard, and imported fill around $8 to $20 per cubic yard including material and hauling. Those ranges are wide because they have to be — the same work in rock or with a 30-mile haul sits outside them.
Source: published US earthwork estimating guidance, 2026. Indicative only — figures vary substantially by market, material and haul distance, and any number used for a real bid should come from a project-specific takeoff.
A sitework budget built from a per-acre assumption tells you very little. The balance figure alone — whether the site imports, exports or genuinely balances — moves the number more than every other assumption combined.
Why Choose Edge Estimates
Edge Estimates has provided construction cost estimating and quantity takeoff services since 2016, working with contractors, builders, developers and owners across all 50 states, from offices in Los Angeles and Dallas.
More on our about page and our construction cost estimating page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sixteen questions contractors ask before sending a first civil set.
What is sitework estimating?
Measuring and pricing everything needed to make ground buildable — clearing, excavation, earthwork, grading, utilities, drainage, paving and erosion control — from the civil drawings and specification.
What is included in a sitework estimate?
Mobilization, clearing and grubbing, topsoil stripping, excavation, cut and fill, grading, backfill, import or export, hauling and disposal, erosion control, drainage, utility trenching and paving, with labor and equipment priced against each.
What is demolition estimating?
Pricing the removal of existing structures and surfaces — method and equipment, temporary protection, debris loading, hauling, disposal and any recycling or salvage credit.
What is the difference between sitework and earthwork?
Earthwork sits inside sitework. It covers the soil — excavation, cut, fill, backfill and compaction. Sitework covers all of that plus clearing, utilities, drainage, paving, erosion control and site improvements.
How are excavation quantities calculated?
By building the existing surface from the survey, the proposed surface from the grading plan, and calculating the volume between them. Pavement and building section thicknesses are added below finish grade, plus over-excavation where the specification requires it.
How is cut and fill estimated?
Cut is the volume above the design surface, fill the volume below it, both calculated from the surface comparison. Shrink is applied to the cut before it is compared against the fill requirement, which produces the import or export figure.
Why does a balanced site still need imported fill?
Because cut is measured in the ground and fill is measured after compaction. Soil loses roughly 10 to 20 percent of its volume when compacted, so 10,000 bank cubic yards of cut typically produces around 8,500 compacted cubic yards of fill. The shortfall has to be imported.
How do soil conditions affect excavation costs?
Soil type sets the production rate and whether cut material can be reused as structural fill. Rock, groundwater, unsuitable soils and poor bearing each add scope — ripping, dewatering, over-excavation and replacement — that a grading plan does not show.
How are demolition quantities measured?
By structure and material rather than floor area. Debris is quantified as volume and tonnage, because that determines truck counts and disposal cost. Areas and counts cover surfaces, fixtures and selective scope.
Do sitework estimates include hauling?
Yes, on a separate line with distance and destination stated. Where the spoil destination or import source is unknown, we state the assumption so you can substitute your own figure.
Do demolition estimates include disposal?
Yes, and it is often the largest single line, particularly on concrete and masonry structures. Tipping fees vary by facility, material and market; the rate used is stated.
Can you estimate utility trenching?
Yes — water, sewer, storm, electrical, gas and communications. Trench excavation is measured by depth band, with bedding, pipe, structures, backfill and surface restoration priced against it.
Can you estimate selective demolition?
Yes. It prices differently from full demolition, because selective work is governed by access, protection and sequencing more than by quantity — the building stays standing and often occupied.
Can you estimate concrete and asphalt removal?
Yes. Both are measured by area and converted to volume and tonnage at section thickness, since disposal is billed by weight. Reinforcement affects both breaking time and handling.
How accurate are sitework estimates?
It depends mainly on survey quality and the completeness of the civil set. A full topographic survey supports a much tighter number than a set with grades shown only at building corners. We do not publish an accuracy percentage; we state the assumptions the estimate rests on.
How do project location and haul distance affect cost?
Cycle time drives haul cost rather than volume, so the same quantity costs very differently depending on distance. Location also sets labor and rental rates, tipping fees, and the availability of import material. Pricing is adjusted to the project zip code.
