Estimate material
pricing.
Quantities answer how much. Pricing answers how much it costs. Here is how to turn a BOQ into priced lines and sanity-check the unit costs.
From quantities to a price
Once the quantities are right, the next step is putting a number on them. From the home screen, click Estimate material pricing, or type a request like price the drywall materials for this floor. Pilars uses the BOQ it already built — counts, LF and SF by material line — and attaches unit costs to produce a priced bill of quantities.
The pricing workflow
Pricing is layered on top of the takeoff, so the structure is identical to the BOQ you already reviewed. Every material line keeps its quantity and unit; pricing adds the cost dimension. Because the quantities trace back to the wall overlays and the legend, a priced line is auditable all the way down to the segment on the plan that generated it.
Step by step
- Run or open the takeoff so the quantities exist before you price them.
- Click Estimate material pricing. Pilars applies unit costs to each BOQ line — studs, track, board, insulation.
- Read the priced rows. Each line now carries its quantity, unit, unit cost and extended total.
- Sanity-check the unit costs. Compare a few against your last buyout or a supplier quote. Local pricing and current market move fast, so this step protects the bid.
- Adjust to your numbers. Where your purchasing knows better, swap in your unit cost and let the extension recompute.
Sanity-checking unit costs
An AI-suggested unit cost is a starting point, not gospel — material markets move weekly and regional pricing varies. The discipline that keeps you safe is simple: pick the three or four lines that carry the most dollars (usually board, stud and insulation by volume), and check those unit costs against a recent quote. If the big lines are right, the total is close. If one is off, fix that line rather than re-pricing everything. The point of pricing in Pilars is to get to a defensible number fast, then apply your own buyout knowledge where it matters most.
The reason this works is that material cost is heavily concentrated. On a typical drywall package a handful of lines carry the overwhelming share of the dollars, and the long tail of small accessory items barely moves the total. So your review effort should be concentrated the same way: spend your attention on the few lines that decide the number, and let the rest ride on the AI's figures. That is how you keep the speed of an automated price while still standing behind it in a bid review — the priced BOQ is fast to produce, and fast to defend, because you know exactly which lines you checked and why.
Pro tips
- Always validate the highest-dollar lines first — they decide whether the total is trustworthy.
- Keep your own current unit costs handy and override the suggested ones for materials you buy regularly.
- Re-price after any revision so quantity changes flow through to cost — see the revisions tutorial.
- Export the priced BOQ to Excel and let your estimate template own the final margins and markups.
Frequently asked
How does pricing relate to the takeoff?
Pricing layers unit costs onto the existing BOQ. Each material line keeps its quantity and unit, and pricing adds unit cost and an extended total.
Can I trust the suggested unit costs?
Treat them as a fast starting point. Validate the highest-dollar lines against a recent quote or buyout, since material markets and regional pricing change frequently.
Can I use my own unit costs?
Yes. Override the suggested cost on any line with your own number and the extended total recomputes; many estimators export to Excel and apply final markups there.
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