Why most small builders still estimate on a spreadsheet
Most estimating software was built for quantity surveyors and main contractors: huge price libraries, bill-of-quantities screens and a week of training before you see a number. A three-person firm pricing a rear extension on a Tuesday evening needs something else — a fast, defensible number that doesn't miss the skip, the scaffold or the building control fee.
BuildLegend starts from the job, not from a blank price book. Pick the build type, give the dimensions, answer the questions about foundations, roof, walls, openings, drainage and finish, and the engine builds the full estimate from rules a builder would recognise.
What the estimate includes
- A full bill of materials with waste allowances, rounded to the packs you actually buy (bags, sheets, lengths, pallets).
- Labour hours by trade from productivity rates you can change, at your own cost and charge-out rates.
- Preliminaries priced once: site set-up, skips, scaffold, deliveries, welfare, building control.
- Provisional sums for anything that can't be known yet — a steel, an unknown ground condition — shown to the customer as provisional, not hidden.
- Overheads, profit and VAT kept separate, so profit is never applied twice and you can see your real margin.
- Stage payments in pounds, ready for the quote and, once accepted, for invoices.
Builds it prices today
Single-storey, two-storey and wraparound extensions; detached and attached garages; garages with an office or a flat above; carports; conservatories; garden rooms; and garage conversions. Several builds can go on one job — an extension and a carport, for example — with site set-up and fees counted once.
No AI guessing your numbers
Every figure comes from a deterministic engine: the same answers always give the same price, and every line can be traced back to a quantity, a rate and a source. If a material has no price, it shows as unpriced — it never quietly becomes £0.
Your prices beat ours
BuildLegend ships with a dated catalogue of UK material allowances so you can price on day one. Type in what your merchant charges you, or import their price list as a CSV, and your prices are used first, automatically.
Questions builders ask
Is there estimating software for small builders in the UK?
Yes. BuildLegend is made for small UK building firms pricing domestic work — extensions, garages, conversions and garden rooms — on a phone, without a price library to set up first. It has a 14-day free trial and costs from £39 a month.
How long does it take to price an extension?
Most builders get a full priced estimate in 10–15 minutes from their measurements: about ten screens of questions, then a review page where you check the assumptions before you send anything.
Can I use my own labour rates and material prices?
Yes. Set a blended hourly rate or rates by trade, with separate cost and charge-out rates, and add your own material prices or import your merchant's list. Your prices are always used before the catalogue.
Does it work on a phone on site?
Yes. It is built phone-first, installs like an app, saves as you go and keeps working with a poor signal.