The excavation estimate checklist
Twenty-five things that eat your margin. Walk it before you bid and check it before you send.
What should an excavation estimate checklist cover? Five things: the site visit (access, overhead lines, 811, private utilities, soil, water, photos), the scope words that protect you (rock, bad soil, dewatering, haul-off, restoration, weather), how you price machine time and trucking, how change orders get signed, and the payment terms (deposit, progress billing, retainage).
The five sections
Access, overhead lines, 811, private utilities, soil, water and drainage, photos and notes. Do not price from the truck.
Rock, unsuitable soil, dewatering, haul-off and dump fees, restoration, weather days and delays, in plain words on the estimate.
A machine rate built from your own costs, hours instead of feet, operator and burden, trucking by the cycle, mobilization, then overhead and margin as their own line.
Name the trigger, stop and write it up, get a signature before the work, and keep it with the job.
Deposit, progress billing at points you can see, and retainage with how much, what releases it and by when.
Checklist, printable
Use your own terms and your own numbers. This is a thinking aid, not a price list.
| # | Check | Section | Done |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Access for the lowboy and trucks, wet weather included | A. Site visit | [ ] |
| 2 | Overhead lines near the dig or the dump bed | A. Site visit | [ ] |
| 3 | 811 ticket number and date written on the estimate | A. Site visit | [ ] |
| 4 | Private utilities: well, septic, propane, irrigation, buried electric | A. Site visit | [ ] |
| 5 | Soil: clay, sand, fill, ledge, boulders, old debris | A. Site visit | [ ] |
| 6 | Water table and drainage | A. Site visit | [ ] |
| 7 | Dated photos of the site before you touch it | A. Site visit | [ ] |
| 8 | Rock clause: what is priced, how rock is measured and approved | B. Scope words | [ ] |
| 9 | Unsuitable soil: who decides, what comes out and goes in | B. Scope words | [ ] |
| 10 | Dewatering in or out | B. Scope words | [ ] |
| 11 | Haul-off, dump and scale fees, and who owns the spoil | B. Scope words | [ ] |
| 12 | Restoration: what you put back and what you do not | B. Scope words | [ ] |
| 13 | Weather days, delays and extra machine moves | B. Scope words | [ ] |
| 14 | Machine rate from your own costs and real working hours | C. Pricing | [ ] |
| 15 | Hours by task, plus moving, waiting and cleanup | C. Pricing | [ ] |
| 16 | Operator and crew at real cost with burden | C. Pricing | [ ] |
| 17 | Trucking by the round-trip cycle | C. Pricing | [ ] |
| 18 | Mobilization, then overhead and margin as their own line | C. Pricing | [ ] |
| 19 | Change order triggers listed on the estimate | D. Change orders | [ ] |
| 20 | Stop, photograph and write up the change | D. Change orders | [ ] |
| 21 | Signature or written reply before the work | D. Change orders | [ ] |
| 22 | Signed change filed with the estimate and photos | D. Change orders | [ ] |
| 23 | Deposit before a machine moves | E. Payment terms | [ ] |
| 24 | Progress billing points and due dates | E. Payment terms | [ ] |
| 25 | Retainage: how much, what releases it, by what date | E. Payment terms | [ ] |
Before you send it: estimate valid until a date, who pulls permits, 811 ticket number, deposit due date, photos filed, change order form attached, and a customer signature line. Contract rules vary by state, so check yours. This list is a practical aid, not legal advice.
Common questions
Five things: the site visit (access, overhead lines, 811, private utilities, soil, water, photos), the scope words that protect you (rock, bad soil, dewatering, haul-off, restoration, weather), how you price machine time and trucking, how change orders get signed, and the payment terms (deposit, progress billing, retainage).
Because pricing from the truck misses the things that cost hours: a tight turn for the lowboy, wires over the dig, soft ground, a private line nobody marked. Photos with the date on them also protect you on existing damage.
A line on the estimate that says you priced soil only, and what happens if you hit rock, ledge or boulders: how it is measured, how it is priced, and that the customer approves it before you go on.
Before you dig the changed part. When a trigger such as rock, water or a line you did not know about shows up, pause that part, photograph it, write the change in plain words with the added cost and time, and get a signature or written reply. A phone call is not a record.
Yes. No email, no signup, no watermark. Print it and use your own terms and numbers. Check your state's contract rules before relying on any wording.
Related: estimate template, excavation invoice template, change orders, TrackOver for excavation
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