Building your first estimate with 1build

This guide will walk you through the main components of 1build and will teach you how to create your first estimate from start to finish.

Overview

A step-by-step walkthrough to help you get started in 1build.

Welcome to 1build! 1build is the only estimating software that enables you to create fast and accurate bids with live local pricing data.

This guide will walk you through the main components of 1build and will teach you how to create your first estimate from start to finish.

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1) Dashboard

This part of the product provides you with your list of projects and analytics about your bidding pipeline. Here you can quickly discover insights like what jobs have upcoming bid deadlines or what was your win rate in the last month.

Click Organizing your dashboard to learn about how to organize your project info with 1build.

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2) Project info

Once you’ve created a project, this page will help you keep track of important information regarding your bid, like construction end and start date. This is also a space where you can collaborate with your team by posting notes and comments as well as tracking the status of the job.

Click Using project info page to learn about how to organize your project info with 1build.

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3) Estimate Builder

1build has created the most easy to use estimate builder that will enable you to breeze through your bids and estimates in minutes. No more confusing and broken spreadsheets!

Click Creating an estimate to learn about the main components of the estimate builder, like sections, items, and assemblies.

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4) 1build live cost data

Live material, labor, equipment and assemblies data is what makes 1build a mission-critical product for building contractors. 1build tracks 40,000+ items for every neighborhood in the US on a daily basis—so you don’t have to worry about how prices are changing.

Learn more in Using 1build’s Live Cost Library to become a pro at navigating our library of construction prices.

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5) Assemblies

Assemblies is one of the most exciting features of 1build: assemblies allow you to punch in your quantities and quickly calculate material, labor and equipment counts and prices for any complex scope. Adding an interior partition wall? Pouring concrete foundation? Assemblies will help you budget these in seconds.

You can learn about how to create your own assemblies or use 1build assemblies by clicking on Adding and editing Assemblies

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6) Templates

Templates is what would enable you to never have to estimate a project from scratch again. You can start by using one of the dozes of pre-built templates from 1build library, covering most aspects of residential and light commercial scope. Or you can create your own templates by saving an estimate you just built.

Learn how to add and create templates by navigating to Adding and Creating Templates.

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7) Exporting and Sharing

Once you’ve finished building an estimate with 1build live cost data, go ahead and click on “Review and Share” button to export your estimate to share it with your clients. 1build’s exporting functionality offers you powerful control over what information gets presented and how it gets presented. Add expiry date, hide markups, provide detailed notes—1build enables you to present your bid with the highest degree of professional polish so you can win even more.

Learn how to create professional proposals by heading over to Exporting an Estimate