What does REAL use to build an early construction estimate?

REAL combines delivered project costs, relevant comparable projects, current market benchmarks, scope, standards, available drawings and specifications, and other project assumptions to build the working estimate.

Does REAL need complete construction drawings?

No. REAL is built to support estimating before the bid set is complete. It uses the evidence available at each stage and keeps assumptions and missing information explicit as the design develops.

How does REAL use market data?

REAL compares internal project history with relevant current market benchmarks, so the estimate reflects both what your organization has historically paid and where costs are moving now.

Can REAL flag unusually high costs?

Yes. REAL compares a cost item with historical projects, market benchmarks, and the current project context to identify material outliers or assumptions that should be reviewed.

Can REAL identify missing scope?

REAL compares the estimate with current scope, client standards, specifications, work-letter requirements, and available project documentation to surface required items that do not appear to be represented in the budget.

How is this different from Bid Evaluation?

Estimating establishes what the project should cost before bids arrive. Bid Evaluation uses that context to normalize contractor proposals, expose omissions and qualifications, and support the award decision.

How does REAL handle changes after the first estimate?

REAL updates the existing model as scope, design, market inputs, bids, commitments, changes, and actual costs arrive, preserving the original basis and showing what changed.

Construction / Estimating & Design-to-Budget

Build the budget before the bid set is complete.

REAL combines your delivered project costs, current market benchmarks, scope, standards, and available design information to build the early estimate, then flags what looks high, missing, or needs review before the budget is set.

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Start with your actual costs. Adjust for today’s market.

Today, 12:45 PMconstruction

REAL finds the most relevant completed projects and line-item actuals, then compares them with current market benchmarks so yesterday’s project does not automatically become today’s price. The match can consider project type, scope, size, geography, building type, delivery history, and cost category.

Estimate basis · New build · Denver

Comparable projects

11 matched

Internal baseline

Delivered project actuals

Market position

Current Denver benchmark

Project adjustment

Scope + location + standards

Working estimate

$284 / sq ft

Example figures for illustration.

Know what the project should cost, not just what the last one cost.

Your own projects provide the strongest starting point, but costs move, scope changes, and requirements get missed
REAL combines your actual delivery history with current market benchmarks and the requirements of the new project, so the estimate reflects both how you build and what it should cost now

Your own projects provide the strongest starting point, but costs move, scope changes, and requirements get missed
REAL combines your actual delivery history with current market benchmarks and the requirements of the new project, so the estimate reflects both how you build and what it should cost now

Know what the project should cost, not just what the last one cost.

Start with your actual costs. Adjust for today’s market.

Estimate basis · New build · Denver

Comparable projects

11 matched

Internal baseline

Delivered project actuals

Market position

Current Denver benchmark

Project adjustment

Scope + location + standards

Working estimate

$284 / sq ft

Example figures for illustration.

Flag the cost that does not belong.

REAL compares major cost items with your own historical range, current market benchmarks, and project context to identify where a number deserves attention before it becomes part of the approved budget.

Cost exceptions · New build · Denver

Electrical

Above your history and current market

High

HVAC

Within historical and market range

Within range

Millwork

Allowance inconsistent with scope

Review

Site work

Limited internal history

Benchmark needed

Catch what the budget is missing.

REAL checks the estimate against scope, client standards, specifications, and available design to identify work that should be represented in the budget but appears to be missing. That is a different question from whether the design meets requirements (Design QA/QC) or whether bidders priced the required scope (Bid Evaluation).

Estimate completeness · New build · Denver

Client-standard storefront

Not represented in estimate

Missing scope

Electrical service upgrade

Included

Covered

Landlord-required HVAC work

Found in work letter, not in estimate

Missing scope

Accessible restroom requirements

Allowance included

Review basis

Demolition

Scope referenced, no cost line found

Missing cost

Review 4 missing items

Know the basis behind every number.

Incomplete information is normal in early-stage estimating. Instead of forcing every line into confirmed or estimated, every line keeps its source, assumption, and reason attached, so the team knows what is grounded, what is provisional, and what needs attention next.

Estimator checking building materials staged on a job site

Know what the design costs at every stage.

The same cost model gets more precise as the design develops, connecting each material revision back to its budget impact without losing the assumptions that came before it.

Design-to-Budget · Same cost model

Concept

Comparable projects and market benchmarks

Schematic Design (SD)

Program, area and major systems

Design Development (DD)

Quantities and specified materials

Construction Documents (CD)

Detailed scope and standards

Bid Set

Benchmark for contractor pricing

Award Baseline

Approved budget carried into delivery

Concept → SD → DD → CD → Bid Set → Award Baseline

Every material design change carries a cost impact.

When a revision changes a material, a system or a quantity, REAL traces it to the affected line items and shows what it does to the current estimate before the design moves on.

Design revision · Cost trace

Original assumption

Standard storefront glazing

New evidence

DD set specifies upgraded glazing system

Affected quantity

1,240 sq ft of storefront

Cost impact

+$62K against the SD estimate

Review

Current estimate

Updated with the basis attached

Example figures for illustration.

Original assumption → New evidence → Affected quantity → Cost impact → Current estimate

Keep the original assumption visible.

Every update keeps the earlier assumption beside the current one, so the team can see what was believed at each stage, what changed it and why the number moved.

Assumption history · Electrical

Original assumptionCurrent basis

SD: allowance from comparable projects

DD: quantities from the drawing set

Existing service assumed adequate

Service upgrade required by load calc

$182K allowance

$214K estimate · +$32K

Not a cost database. A live project cost model.

A cost database can tell you what something cost. REAL uses your history, current market conditions, project requirements, and evolving project record to determine what the project should cost now, and what needs review before the budget is set.

Active commercial build-out with framing and overhead services in progress

10 agents

From first plan to operational handoff.

REAL connects plans, specifications, standards, estimates, bids, contracts, schedules and project history so construction teams can plan, price, coordinate and control delivery through opening and closeout.

Plan & Validate

Estimate & Procure

Control Delivery

One agent is powerful.
A suite is transformative.

Each REAL agent is an expert in its domain, built to share context and act on what the others know. The more agents work in your portfolio, the more complete each one’s view of it becomes, and the stronger every decision your team makes.

FacilitiesRight issue. Right owner. Right action.Connect asset condition, service history, contracts, work orders and site context to prevent failures and route the work that needs attention.Explore Facilities

ConstructionCatch the gap before it becomes cost.Connect drawings, standards, estimates, bids, scope, contracts and project history from first plan through final cost.Explore Construction

Portfolio StrategyRun the portfolio decision across every location.Combine economics, leases, physical feasibility, operations, market context and external constraints to rank what to do next.Explore Portfolio Strategy

Lease AccountingFrom ASC 842 to every lease-related payment.Maintain lease accounting, validate CAM and rent changes, control payments and trace every calculation back to the governing source.Explore Lease Accounting

Lease AdministrationTurn every lease term into action.Keep rights, obligations, dates, notices and recoveries current across the full lease portfolio, with the governing clause attached to every action.Explore Lease Administration

FAQ

REAL combines delivered project costs, relevant comparable projects, current market benchmarks, scope, standards, available drawings and specifications, and other project assumptions to build the working estimate.
No. REAL is built to support estimating before the bid set is complete. It uses the evidence available at each stage and keeps assumptions and missing information explicit as the design develops.
REAL compares internal project history with relevant current market benchmarks, so the estimate reflects both what your organization has historically paid and where costs are moving now.
Yes. REAL compares a cost item with historical projects, market benchmarks, and the current project context to identify material outliers or assumptions that should be reviewed.
REAL compares the estimate with current scope, client standards, specifications, work-letter requirements, and available project documentation to surface required items that do not appear to be represented in the budget.
Estimating establishes what the project should cost before bids arrive. Bid Evaluation uses that context to normalize contractor proposals, expose omissions and qualifications, and support the award decision.
REAL updates the existing model as scope, design, market inputs, bids, commitments, changes, and actual costs arrive, preserving the original basis and showing what changed.

Initial agents live in two weeks.

Start with one or two high-value workflows, connect the required data and documents, measure the result, then expand across domains.

A tailored onboarding for every enterprise.
Fitted to how you actually work.
Continuous support as your portfolio evolves.

Get a dedicated demo

Build the budget before the bid set is complete.

Know what the project should cost, not just what the last one cost.

Know what the project should cost, not just what the last one cost.

Start with your actual costs. Adjust for today’s market.

Flag the cost that does not belong.

Catch what the budget is missing.

Know the basis behind every number.

Know what the design costs at every stage.

Every material design change carries a cost impact.

Re-estimate when the change matters.

Keep the original assumption visible.

Not a cost database. A live project cost model.

From first plan to operational handoff.

Plan & Validate

Estimate & Procure

Control Delivery

One agent is powerful. A suite is transformative.

FAQ

What does REAL use to build an early construction estimate?

Does REAL need complete construction drawings?

How does REAL use market data?

Can REAL flag unusually high costs?

Can REAL identify missing scope?

How is this different from Bid Evaluation?

How does REAL handle changes after the first estimate?

Initial agents live in two weeks.

One agent is powerful.
A suite is transformative.