Free Construction Cost Estimator & BOQ Calculator
Use this free construction cost calculator to work out what a building will cost: multiply the covered (built-up) area by a cost per sq ft or m², or build a full bill of quantities (BOQ) with material and labour rates. Default rates for the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan. Excel and PDF downloads, no sign-up.
By Aaghaz360 teamRates reviewed Methodology and sources
Step 1 of 4
Choose a method
Pick how much detail you want. You can switch later without losing your work.
How to use the construction cost calculator
Pick Quick Estimate for a budget from area and cost per square foot, or Detailed Estimate to price a bill of quantities item by item. Both lead to the same results, and you can switch between them without losing your inputs.
Two methods
Quick estimate: covered area × cost per sq ft or m²
Choose where you’re building, enter the covered area of all floors and the number of storeys, then pick grey structure or complete construction and the finish. The calculator applies a default cost per square foot or square metre for that country, split into material and labour, and adds a basement if you have one. Change either rate to match a local quote. The result is an indicative budget and says so.
Detailed estimate: a free bill of quantities (BOQ) generator
Choose the work categories (foundations, frame, walls, roof, finishes, doors and windows, services), enter quantities from your drawings, and set a material and a labour rate for each item. Some quantities, like roof and floor areas, are calculated from your areas with the working shown. Add overhead, contingency and other costs such as permits. Leave out anything you’re pricing elsewhere: the estimate lists it as excluded and marks the total partial, so a part-priced job is never mistaken for a full budget.
Download your estimate in Excel or as a PDF report
Download Excel saves the whole breakdown, with the bill of quantities, as a spreadsheet you can keep editing. The PDF report is a print-ready summary recalculated on our server. Both come from the same calculation as the numbers on screen. Prefer to work offline? Download the free BOQ template in Excel, with formulas.
How to calculate construction cost per square foot
Construction cost = covered area × cost per square foot (or per m²) for your scope and finish. Turn it around to check a budget: budget ÷ cost per square foot = the area you can afford to build.
At the United States standard default of $161.77 per sq ft, from the NAHB (average construction cost $428,215 for 2,647 sq ft of finished area), a budget of $300,000 builds about 1,850 sq ft before land, fees and contingency.
Which area to enter: covered area or built-up area
Use the floor area of every storey measured to the outside of the walls. It is called covered area in Pakistan, built-up area (BUA) in India and the Gulf, and gross internal or external floor area in the UK. Carpet area, which leaves out the walls, is smaller and will understate the cost. Count a basement separately.
Worked example: what a 2,000 sq ft house costs
The same 2,000 sq ft (about 186 m²) house at each country’s standard default, complete construction, before land and fees:
| Country | Area | Default rate | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States (national average)NAHB, 2025-01 | 2,000 sq ft | $161.77 per sq ft | $323,540 |
| United KingdomSelf Build, 2026 | 186 m² | £2,750 per m² | £511,500 |
| IndiaBeyondWalls, 2025-12 | 2,000 sq ft | ₹2,300 per sq ft | ₹4,600,000 |
| Pakistan (Lahore)Zameen.com, 2026-10 | 2,000 sq ft | Rs 4,582 per sq ft | Rs 9,164,000 |
Illustrative only: your own design, location and builder change the rate. Run the calculator above with local rates for your figure.
Grey structure vs complete (turnkey) construction
Grey structure, or shell and core, is the foundations, frame, walls and roof. Complete (turnkey) construction adds plaster, floors, paint, doors and windows, plumbing and electrical work, so the building is ready to live in.
How the cost splits depends on how buildings are made. In the United States, where most houses are timber frame, foundations, framing and roofing are about 31% of construction cost (NAHB). For a reinforced-concrete house in Lahore, grey structure is about 62% of the complete cost (Zameen.com). That is why the calculator keeps separate grey-structure and complete rates for each country rather than one ratio.
Basic, standard and premium finishes
The finish level changes materials and fittings rather than the structure, and it is the biggest single driver of cost per square foot: builder-grade for basic, mid-range for standard and high-end stone, joinery and fixtures for premium.
The defaults show how wide the spread is: in the United States, $125, $162 and $350 per sq ft; in the United Kingdom, £2,200, £2,750 and £3,200 per m² (Self Build). Where a source gives only one tier, the other tiers are left blank for you to fill in rather than guessed.
Material vs labour: how construction cost splits
Labour’s share of construction cost ranges from roughly half in high-wage countries to under a quarter where labour is cheap. The calculator uses about 50% in the United States, 40% in the United Kingdom and 23% in India.
Each figure comes from the source listed with that country (Angi/HomeAdvisor, Self Build, BeyondWalls). The split lets you price labour-only contracts, where the client supplies materials, and compare a builder’s labour quote with the default. In the Detailed Estimate every item has its own material and labour rate.
Overhead, contingency and other costs
On top of the direct cost of materials and labour, add the builder's overhead and profit, a contingency for risks you can't price yet, and any other costs such as permits or design fees. Keep each as its own line so it can be managed.
For scale: in the NAHB survey, builders’ overhead was 5.7% and profit 11.0% of the sales price of a new US home (NAHB). Contingency is usually set between 3% and 20% depending on how much is still unknown; see what contingency percentage to add. The Detailed Estimate shows overhead, contingency and each other cost as separate lines.
What a construction cost estimate includes, and what it doesn't
A construction cost estimate covers the building work itself, the hard costs. Land, permits and approvals, design and engineering fees, utility connections, external works, furniture and financing are separate.
Published averages differ on this, so check before comparing: the NAHB figure includes permits, site work and landscaping, while the Altus Group rates for Canada are hard construction cost only. Every result from this calculator lists what it includes and excludes, and you can add soft costs under Other costs in the Detailed Estimate.
Basement construction cost
Tick Include a basement and the Quick Estimate prices it as a multiple of the above-ground rate where a source gives one (about 0.76× in the UK, 0.9× in the UAE). Where there’s no reliable figure, the basement is listed as excluded and the total is marked partial; price it item by item in the Detailed Estimate.
Construction cost per square foot and m² by country
Construction costs vary several-fold between countries with wages, material prices, codes and taxes. These are the defaults the calculator starts from, in each country's currency and usual unit.
| Country | Grey structure | Basic | Standard | Premium | Per | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States (national average) | $50 | $125 | $162 | $350 | sq ft | 2025-01 |
| Canada (Greater Toronto Area) | — | $200 | $238 | $825 | sq ft | 2025-03 |
| United Kingdom | — | £2,200 | £2,750 | £3,200 | m² | 2026 |
| Australia | — | $1,850 | $1,967 | $3,300 | m² | 2026-04 |
| United Arab Emirates | — | AED 4,500 | AED 6,700 | AED 13,300 | m² | 2025 |
| Saudi Arabia | SAR 575 | SAR 1,350 | SAR 1,750 | SAR 2,500 | m² | 2026-05 |
| India | ₹1,250 | ₹1,750 | ₹2,300 | ₹3,150 | sq ft | 2025-12 |
| Pakistan (Lahore) | Rs 2,845 | — | Rs 4,582 | — | sq ft | 2026-10 |
Basic, standard and premium are complete-construction rates. A dash means no reliable source; enter your own. Sources and what each includes are listed under methodology and sources. Building in Pakistan? See the house construction checklist for Pakistan.
What is a bill of quantities (BOQ)?
A bill of quantities (BOQ) is an itemised list of the work in a project, each line with a unit, a quantity and a rate. Contractors use it to price tenders, compare bids, set the budget and bill progress.
You prepare one by measuring quantities from the drawings, category by category, and pricing each with current material and labour rates; our guide shows quantity takeoff and unit cost estimating with a worked example. The Detailed Estimate above builds the BOQ for you and exports it to Excel. To learn the whole process, read how to estimate construction costs.
Methodology and sources
The calculator multiplies your quantities by rates, nothing more: area × cost per area for the Quick Estimate, and quantity × (material rate + labour rate) per item for the Detailed Estimate, plus the overhead, contingency and other costs you add. Default rates were last reviewed on .
Defaults come from published surveys, cost guides and quantity surveyors’ reports, listed below with the date of their data. Where a source gives a range we use the midpoint; where it gives a supply-and-install rate we split it into material and labour with that country’s labour share, and say so next to the rate. Where no reliable source exists we leave the value blank and ask you for it rather than guess. None of the defaults has yet been checked against live local quotes, so each is labelled “Default, unverified” in the tool. Rates in another currency are never converted silently; converted figures are labelled indicative.
- United States (national average) · USD per sq ft · data as of 2025-01
- Canada (Greater Toronto Area) · CAD per sq ft · data as of 2025-03
- United Kingdom · GBP per m² · data as of 2026
- Australia · AUD per m² · data as of 2026-04
- United Arab Emirates · AED per m² · data as of 2025
- Saudi Arabia · SAR per m² · data as of 2026-05
- Raghdan, How to reduce construction costs in Saudi Arabia 2026 (Q1 2026 prices, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam) (2026-05)
- Raghdan, Complete guide to building a house in Saudi Arabia 2025 (2025-12)
- Stonehaven, KSA Construction Cost Benchmarking Report 2025 (2025)
- Site Engineer, Building cost guide (contingency) (undated)
- India · INR per sq ft · data as of 2025-12
- Pakistan (Lahore) · PKR per sq ft · data as of 2026-10
Spotted a rate that’s out of date for your area? Tell us and we’ll review it.
From estimate to project budget
Once the job is won, the estimate becomes the budget to track against.
In Aaghaz360, bills, wage sheets, material issues and expenses post to the project and phase they belong to, so you see spend against budget per phase while the work is running, and quotations priced from your rates become the project’s bill of quantities. Read how to track construction budget vs actual, see all features or check pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate construction cost per square foot?
Multiply the covered area by the cost per square foot for your scope and finish: area × rate = construction cost. To find the rate from a finished project, divide its total construction cost by its covered area. The same works per square metre. This calculator does the multiplication for you and splits the result into material and labour.
How much does it cost to build a 2,000 sq ft house?
It depends on the country and the finish. At this estimator's standard defaults, 2,000 sq ft comes to about $323,540 in the United States ($161.77 per sq ft, from NAHB's construction cost survey), £511,500 in the UK for 186 m², ₹4,600,000 in India and Rs 9,164,000 in Lahore, Pakistan. These exclude land and fees; enter your own rates for a local figure.
What is included in construction cost?
Construction (hard) cost is the building work itself: foundations, frame, walls, roof, finishes and services. Soft costs such as design and engineering fees, permits and approvals, financing and insurance are usually separate, and land is never included. This estimator lists exactly what each result includes and excludes.
What is the difference between grey structure and complete (turnkey) construction?
Grey structure, also called shell and core, covers the foundations, frame, walls and roof. Complete or turnkey construction adds everything needed to move in: plaster, flooring, paint, doors and windows, and plumbing and electrical work. How the cost splits between the two depends mostly on the finish level.
Is covered area the same as built-up area?
Near enough for estimating. Covered area (the usual term in Pakistan) and built-up area (in India) both mean the floor area of every storey measured to the outside of the walls. Carpet area is smaller because it leaves out the walls, and super built-up area is larger because it adds a share of common areas. Enter the covered or built-up area of all floors.
What is a bill of quantities (BOQ) in construction?
A bill of quantities (BOQ) is an itemised list of the work, each line with a unit, a quantity and a rate. Contractors use it to price tenders, compare bids, set budgets and bill progress. The Detailed Estimate in this tool builds one from your quantities and rates.
Is there a free BOQ generator?
Yes. The Detailed Estimate on this page is a free bill of quantities generator: choose the work categories, enter quantities, use or change the default material and labour rates, add overhead and contingency, and download the result as an Excel file. No sign-up is needed.
What is the ratio of material to labour cost in construction?
It varies by country, mainly with the cost of labour. The defaults in this estimator put labour at about United States 50%, United Kingdom 40%, India 23%, Pakistan 11% of construction cost, each taken from the source listed with that country's rates. Change the split in the tool if your builder's quote differs.
How much contingency should a construction project have?
Size it to the risk: commonly 3–5% for a fully designed, low-risk new build, 5–10% for typical commercial work, 10–15% or more for renovation and 15–20% for buildings with many unknowns. Our guide to estimating construction costs explains how to set it.
What contingency percentage to add →Does the estimate include a basement?
Yes, if you tick Include a basement. The Quick Estimate prices it as a multiple of the above-ground rate where a source gives one (the UK, the UAE and Saudi Arabia); elsewhere it lists the basement as excluded so the total isn't misleading. In the Detailed Estimate you price the basement item by item.
Can I download a construction cost estimate in Excel?
Yes. Download Excel saves the full breakdown, including the bill of quantities, as a spreadsheet you can keep editing, straight away and without an email. The PDF report is a print-ready summary; we ask for an email before creating it. Both use the same calculation as the figures on screen.
How accurate is a construction cost estimator?
A quick, area-based estimate is for early budgeting and can be well out for an individual project. A detailed BOQ priced with local quotes is much closer to what you'll pay. Every default rate here shows its source and date, and you can replace any of them with a supplier or subcontractor quote.
Types of construction estimates and their accuracy →Can I build a house for $300,000?
Divide the budget by the cost per square foot to see what it buys: at the US standard default of $161.77 per sq ft, $300,000 covers about 1,850 sq ft of construction, before land, fees and contingency. Use the Quick Estimate with your local rate to check your own budget.
Track every cost against your estimate
Aaghaz360 connects purchasing, site expenses and payments to your project budget.