Estimating Services Terms

Each estimating engagement is formed by a written proposal (the "Proposal") issued by MAAK Management and accepted by you. The Proposal states the project, the scope being priced, the basis of the estimate, the fee, and the delivery date. These terms are incorporated into every Proposal. Where a Proposal and these terms conflict, the Proposal controls for that engagement.

MAAK Management prepares a cost estimate for the scope identified in the Proposal, built from quantities we have measured and unit costs from published construction cost data, adjusted as described in the Proposal.

We do not provide engineering, architectural, or licensed design services; we do not perform means-and-methods, constructability, or code review; and we do not solicit, level, or negotiate subcontractor or supplier quotations unless the Proposal expressly says so.

Unit costs are derived from published national construction cost data for the edition year stated in the Proposal, adjusted for location where the Proposal says a city or regional index has been applied. Cost data reflects conditions as of its publication date and is not a forecast. Quantities are taken from the drawing set identified in the Proposal, by its date and revision.

An estimate is a professional opinion of probable cost. It is not a prediction of what the work will actually cost. Actual costs depend on market conditions, bidder appetite, schedule, means and methods, and terms MAAK Management does not control and does not attempt to model.

Before we quote an engagement you tell us how the project is set up — among other things, whether the work is subject to prevailing wage or Davis-Bacon determinations, whether labor is union or open shop, whether you are self-performing or subcontracting the scope, your role on the project, and which markups the estimate should carry. We prepare the estimate on the basis of those answers and do not independently verify them.

Wage basis is the single largest driver of a labor estimate. If you indicate the project is not subject to prevailing wage, or that you are unsure, the estimate is prepared using open-market rates and prevailing-wage or Davis-Bacon compliance is an express exclusion. If those answers are incomplete or incorrect, the estimate will be wrong in proportion, and correcting it is a new engagement rather than a warranty claim.

The Proposal lists what the estimate includes. Anything not expressly included is excluded. Unless the Proposal states otherwise, the estimate excludes: prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon compliance; overhead and profit; general conditions and general requirements; payment, performance, and bid bonds; insurance and liability coverage; permits, fees, and municipal charges; sales and use tax; escalation beyond the cost data's publication date; premium, overtime, and shift work; winter conditions and weather protection; hazardous material abatement; owner-furnished items; design or engineering fees; financing and carrying costs; and contingency of any kind.

An estimate delivered under these terms is not a bid, not a quotation, and not an offer to perform work. MAAK Management does not guarantee that any bid, subcontract, or purchase order will be obtained at or below the estimated amount, and does not warrant that the estimate matches any other estimator's, contractor's, or owner's figure.

The Proposal records the use you told us the estimate is for. Relying on it for a materially different purpose — in particular, submitting it as a bid when it was prepared as an internal budget — is outside the scope of the engagement and outside any responsibility MAAK Management accepts for it.

You remain responsible for your own numbers. Before relying on an estimate for a bid, a contract, a budget commitment, or a financing decision, you must review every line against the current bid documents, obtain your own subcontractor and supplier quotations for scopes that carry real market risk, and apply your own judgment about productivity, crew composition, and site conditions.

MAAK Management is not responsible for scope omitted from the drawings, for items a qualified estimator's review would have caught, or for decisions you make on the strength of the estimate.

The estimate is tied to the drawing set named in the Proposal. Revisions, addenda, bulletins, or re-issued sets published after that date are not reflected, and MAAK Management has no obligation to monitor for them. Updating an estimate for a revised set is a separate engagement or a written change to the existing one.

The fee is stated in the Proposal and is earned on delivery of the estimate. Payment terms are stated in the Proposal; unless it says otherwise, invoices are due net 15 from delivery. The fee covers preparation of the estimate, not its outcome — it is not contingent on the project being awarded, on your bid being successful, or on actual costs matching the estimate. Fees for delivered work are non-refundable except where required by law.

You receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the estimate for the project and the purpose named in the Proposal, within your own organization. You may not resell, publish, or distribute the estimate outside your organization, and you may not extract, reproduce, or redistribute the underlying published cost data — whether as unit costs, as a database, or in any form that would substitute for a license to that data. Sharing the estimate with your own project team, lender, or the project owner in connection with the named project is permitted.

MAAK Management treats your drawings, budgets, and project information as confidential and does not disclose them to third parties except as needed to perform the engagement or as required by law. We may describe the engagement in general terms (project type, scale, trade) without identifying you or the project.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, MAAK Management's total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to an estimating engagement — in contract, tort, or otherwise — is limited to the fee you paid for that engagement. MAAK Management is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost bids, bid-day losses, cost overruns, delay, or damages arising from a bid submitted at, above, or below the estimated amount.

Either party may terminate an engagement in writing before delivery. If you terminate, you owe the portion of the fee corresponding to work performed to that point. MAAK Management may decline or withdraw from an engagement — including where the information provided is insufficient to estimate responsibly — and will refund any fee paid for work not performed.

These terms and every engagement under them are governed by the laws of the State of New Jersey, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

Questions about these terms or about an engagement? Reach us through the contact page at maakmanagement.com.