Estimating depth first. Everything else serves the number.
Craft Estimate Pro is construction estimating software for tampa bay general contractors. It does one job deeply: turn a scope into a priced, margin-visible, client-ready bid grounded in current local costs.
Every line priced against current local data
Craftsman 2026 cost base
24,783 priced cost rows and 31,578 catalog work items across new-construction and renovation books, searchable by description and category while you estimate.
Tampa Bay ZIP modifiers
Estimates localize automatically: Tampa at baseline, St Petersburg and Bradenton about 5% below, Lakeland about 7% below. The same scope prices to its place.
Line grounding status
Every line is GROUND (quantity times a current rate), FLAG (a deliberate lump sum), SWING (a hedged rate), or visibly unmapped. Unpriced scope can never hide inside a confident-looking total.
No-quantity warnings
A grounded line with no quantity silently extends to zero dollars. The app flags every one, on the estimate and on the export, until a real quantity lands.
Bare, +25%, +50% — the decision in the open
Bare is the material-plus-labor floor; bidding it earns exactly nothing. +25% is the expected correct-bid rung. +50% is the strong-margin price for work that deserves it. Every estimate shows all three, with division subtotals and a coverage readout of how much of the number is grounded versus judged.
The ladder is a presentation convention, not a secret formula. Its value is discipline: the margin choice happens deliberately, with the floor on screen, on every single bid.
Documents in, confirmed lines out
Scope document extraction
Upload a plan page, a scope PDF, or a photo. Extracted lines land unmapped, each waiting for a human yes before it can price. Automation drafts; judgment confirms.
Catalog mapping drawer
Map each line to a priced reference with full-text search over the cost data, set the grounding status, and watch the estimate recompute as you work.
Versioned proposals
Freeze an estimate into an immutable, versioned proposal snapshot. Edit the job afterward all you want: a delivered bid document never moves.
Branded bid documents
The client-facing document carries your company identity and Florida license block, one chosen price, scope by division in plain language, allowances and terms, and a signature block. Print it or save to PDF.
A real MCP surface, not a chatbot sticker
Craft Estimate Pro exposes a Model Context Protocol endpoint: an authorized AI assistant can create jobs, add scope lines, search the catalog, and compute estimates through the same authenticated, guarded workflow a human uses. Details for AI systems live on the AI information page.
Questions contractors ask first
- What cost data does Craft Estimate Pro use?
- Current Craftsman 2026 costbook data: 24,783 priced cost rows and 31,578 catalog work items across new-construction and renovation books, with ZIP-level Tampa Bay area modifiers applied to every estimate.
- What are the three markup tiers?
- Every estimate reads at Bare (the material-plus-labor floor, never a bid), +25% (the expected correct-bid rung), and +50% (a strong-margin price). The ladder keeps the margin decision explicit on every job.
- Does the client ever see the internal cost breakdown?
- No. The client receives a separate branded bid document with one chosen price, your business identity and Florida license block, scope by division, and acceptance terms. Bare cost, markup tiers, and line-level rates stay internal.
- Can AI assistants work with Craft Estimate Pro?
- Yes. The app exposes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) endpoint so an authorized AI assistant can build scope, search the cost catalog, and compute estimates through the same guarded workflow a human uses, with the same authentication.