Concrete Estimate Template for Driveways, Patios and Slabs

• Concrete contractor and estimate details: business name, address, phone or email and a license number line, then the estimate number, date, "Valid until" date and who prepared it.
• Client and job site: the client's name and contact details, the job address and the "Existing surface".
• Slab details: slab type, area, thickness, concrete volume and finish.
• Removal and base: description, quantity, unit, unit price and amount, with a subtotal.
• Forming and reinforcement: the same columns, with a subtotal.
• Concrete and finishing: the same columns, with a subtotal.
• Totals: subtotal, "Disposal fee, passed through", "Sales tax on work and materials, if applicable" and the estimated total.
• Notes: "Scope notes" and "Exclusions".
• Acceptance: client signature, print name and date.

The sample prices a 16 ft by 40 ft driveway replacing a cracked asphalt one. Removal and a gravel base come to 2,464.00, forming and reinforcement to 1,416.00, and concrete and finishing to 3,386.50. With the 380.00 disposal fee for the old asphalt and tax at 0%, the estimated total is 7,646.50. Every figure is a sample to overwrite, not a market price.

The sample prices the work before the pour in two sections, mostly by the square foot or linear foot so the client can see how each line scales with the size of the job.

• Removal and base. Breaking out the old surface and loading it for hauling, then the base. The sample breaks out the asphalt driveway (640 sq ft at 2.25) and puts down a 4 in. compacted gravel base (640 sq ft at 1.60). The cost of hauling and dumping the old asphalt goes below the subtotal as "Disposal fee, passed through", at cost, so the client can see it apart from your labor.
• Forming. Forms along the edges, priced by the linear foot: 112 lin ft in the sample, the driveway's perimeter.
• Reinforcement. Name the type and spacing so the client can compare like with like. The sample has "Rebar, #4 at 18 in. on center, on chairs", plus an expansion joint where the driveway meets the garage slab.

In the US, if the job involves digging, 811 is the free national before-you-dig service: anyone who plans to dig should contact 811 or their state 811 center a few business days before digging to have buried utility lines marked. Say on the estimate who will make the request.

Fresh concrete needs time and the right conditions to cure, and hot, cold, wet or windy weather can change when you can pour and how you protect the slab. Follow the curing and protection guidance from your concrete supplier or the product manufacturer rather than a rule of thumb, and tell the client in plain terms how long to keep foot and vehicle traffic off the new concrete.

Put it on the estimate as a scope note. The sample's third note says "Vehicles stay off the new driveway for 7 days after the pour"; replace that with the time you and your supplier recommend for the mix and conditions. Say how weather affects the schedule too: whether the pour date can move, and how you'll handle protection such as covers if it's needed.

Whether a driveway, patio or slab needs a permit depends on the work and where it is. Check what your jurisdiction requires, for example with the local building or public works department, especially for work that touches a sidewalk or street. The template has no permit line; the sample lists "Permit fees, if any" as an exclusion. If you pull the permit and include the fee, add it as a line in the estimate and take it out of the exclusions.

Licensing depends on where you work too. In California, for example, the Contractors State License Board has a C-8 Concrete Contractor classification for contractors who form, pour, place, finish and install concrete work. Elsewhere, check the licensing rules where you work.

1. Add your business details and license number, the estimate number, the date and the "Valid until" date.
2. Enter the client, the job address and the existing surface.
3. Fill in the slab details: type, area, thickness, the concrete volume you worked out and the finish.
4. Price removal and base, forming and reinforcement, and concrete and finishing, with quantity, unit and unit price on each line.
5. Enter the disposal fee, or 0.00 if there's none. In the Excel file, each line amount, the three section subtotals, the subtotal, the tax and the estimated total are calculated by formulas; the concrete volume isn't. The tax rate starts at 0% and is applied to the subtotal; the file leaves the disposal fee out of that base. That's how the template is set up, not a statement about what is taxable. Whether sales tax applies to construction work, materials or both depends on where you work, so check the rules there, for example with your state or local tax agency, and change the rate, or the formula, to match. To leave out tax, set its rate to 0%; to leave out the disposal fee, set it to 0.00. Don't delete those rows, because the totals refer to them. Each section has one blank row; if you need more lines, insert rows inside the section and copy the amount formula down. In Word or on the PDF, work out the amounts yourself.
6. Edit the scope notes and exclusions for this job, then send the estimate to the client and keep a copy.

The PDF is a blank form for printing and filling in by hand on the site visit. The Word and Excel files have the same layout with the sample driveway filled in, so you can overwrite them and save a copy for each job.