Construction Cost Estimation Platform
A dual-system construction estimation platform for Verona Building Partners. Features a public-facing 4-step estimation wizard that captures leads by walking prospects through project scoping, CSI division details, and cost calculations — paired with an admin dashboard for managing rates, estimates, and lead conversion.
The Challenge
Verona Building Partners, a boutique architectural firm, spent hours manually calculating construction costs across 17 CSI trade divisions using inconsistent spreadsheet-based rate tables. Their estimation process was slow, error-prone, and couldn't capture inbound leads. They needed a system that generated accurate ballpark estimates in minutes while automatically feeding their sales pipeline.
The Solution
Built a dual-system platform: (1) A public 4-step wizard that guides prospects through project scope, CSI division complexity selection, and contact capture — generating instant cost estimates with low/high ranges. (2) An admin suite with rate management across 204+ records, configurable markup/adjustment defaults, lead tracking with conversion metrics, and internal estimate creation with PDF export.
Results & Impact
Estimation time dropped from 2-3 hours to under 5 minutes. The wizard now auto-captures leads with project context, giving the sales team qualified prospects with attached cost data. Rate consistency across all estimates eliminated pricing disputes.
Key Features
4-step public estimation wizard
17 CSI trade division calculator
Admin rate management (204+ records)
Lead capture & conversion tracking
PDF estimate generation with branding
Configurable adjustment & markup percentages
Project Deep Dive
This project required converting a sprawling set of Excel estimation sheets — each covering different construction project types (Tenant Improvements, Commercial Ground-Up, Multi-Family Remodels) — into a unified web platform that serves two distinct user groups: external prospects and internal estimators.
The core calculation engine handles both acre-based (site work) and square footage-based divisions, applies complexity-level multipliers across 4 tiers (none, simple, intermediate, advanced), and chains through adjustment percentages, markup rates, and range factors to produce low/high cost bounds. All of this had to match the firm's existing Excel methodology exactly.
The public wizard uses Laravel sessions to maintain state across 4 steps without requiring authentication, keeping the experience frictionless. Only at the final step does the prospect provide contact information, at which point their estimate is saved and the lead is created in the admin pipeline. The admin dashboard gives the team full control over 204+ rate records, global estimation defaults, and lead lifecycle management with conversion metrics.
The entire system is backed by 82 automated tests with 320 assertions, ensuring calculation accuracy and preventing regressions as new rate tables or project types are added.
Technologies Used
"We went from spending half a day putting together a ballpark number to having the wizard do it in real time. And the leads come in with all the project context attached — our close rate jumped because we can respond with a detailed quote the same day."
Ready to Transform Your Excel?
Stop struggling with complex spreadsheets. Get a professional web application built to your exact specifications.