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Demolition Estimate Template

Tonnage, tipping fees, machine time and the abatement clause — a teardown priced before the survey. Free PDF.

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Demolition is priced by weight nobody has weighed. A structure's tonnage is estimated from its footprint and what it appears to be made of, then multiplied by a tipping rate the landfill sets and revises without asking anyone. Add the parts of the job that are legally not yours — abatement, utility disconnection certificates — and a demolition estimate becomes a document mostly about boundaries: how much material you expect, at whose rate, and what has to be certified done before a machine may start.

ESTIMATE Issued
Estimate number:EST-8231
Date of issue:August 6, 2026
Valid until:September 5, 2026
Currency:USD
Issued by
Halloran Demolition Inc.
3417 West 65th Street
44113 Cleveland, OH
United States
bids@hallorandemo.example
Bill to
Sixth Street Development
820 Euclid Avenue
44114 Cleveland, OH
United States
projects@sixthstdev.example
Estimated total
$25,766.00
Valid for 30 more days · Sep 5, 2026
This is an estimate, not a bill. Prices may change.
Basis of estimate
Tonnage is estimated from the footprint and visible construction type. Nothing below the basement slab has been investigated, including a possible cistern noted by the owner.
Description Qty Rate Tax Amount
Structure teardown — 2,400 sq ft wood frame, two storey
Machine demolition, including basement walls to 4 ft below grade
1$14,800.00$14,800.00
Disposal — estimated tonnage
68 tons estimated at the posted tipping rate; billed by scale ticket
68$62.00$4,216.00
Hazardous material survey
Pre-demolition survey by a licensed inspector; abatement excluded
1$1,350.00$1,350.00
Backfill and rough grade
Imported fill to existing grade, compacted in lifts
1$5,400.00$5,400.00
Subtotal$25,766.00
Total$25,766.00
Terms
Billed on completion against scale tickets. Disposal is reconciled to actual weight; the estimate carries the tonnage above only.
Estimate #EST-8231 · Halloran Demolition Inc. · Page 1 of 1

What this estimate commits you to

How long it stands
Thirty days, and the disposal portion only until the landfill posts its next tipping rate — the tonnage is ours to estimate and the rate is not ours at all.
What it does not cover
Regulated material. Asbestos, lead and any licensed abatement is another trade's work, as is the disconnection and capping of gas, water, sewer and electrical service, which must be certified complete before we mobilise.
What would change the price
Weight over the estimated tonnage, a slab or foundation thicker or more heavily reinforced than it looked, anything buried that the survey did not reach — a cistern, an oil tank, a previous foundation — and a structure that has to come down by hand because of what it is attached to.
How the client accepts it
Sign, then send the demolition permit and the disconnection certificates; the machine is scheduled for the first available day after both are on file and any abatement clearance is issued.

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What to put on a demolition estimate

  • The structure by footprint, storey count and construction type, because tonnage is estimated from all three
  • Disposal separated into tonnage and tipping rate, so a landfill increase is visible rather than absorbed
  • Which utilities must be disconnected and capped, and that certificates are required before mobilisation
  • Whether a hazardous material survey exists, and that abatement is a separately licensed trade
  • Salvage: what the client keeps, what you keep, and what the credit for it is worth
  • Site condition at handover — slab left or removed, hole backfilled or open, and to what grade

Questions

How do I estimate demolition tonnage?

From volume and construction type, then check it against the last three jobs like it. Wood frame runs far lighter per square foot than masonry, and a basement or a slab can double the total on its own — which is why the estimate should price disposal per ton rather than as a lump.

Can I include asbestos abatement in a demolition estimate?

Only if you hold the licence for it, and most demolition contractors deliberately do not. Price the survey, exclude the abatement, and make the abatement clearance a condition of your start date — a machine that disturbs regulated material before clearance is a regulatory problem, not a change order.

What has to be in place before the machine arrives?

The demolition permit, the utility disconnection certificates and, where one was required, the abatement clearance. Name all three on the estimate as conditions of the schedule, because every one of them is issued by somebody who does not work for you.

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