Orlando, FL
FOUNDATIONS ESTIMATING.

## Foundation Estimating in Orlando Is Not Generic Work Central Florida's soil profile changes block by block. You're dealing with loose sandy fill, peat deposits near wetlands, and karst limestone beneath that can shift load calculations entirely. A foundation contractor in Orlando isn't pulling numbers off a national spreadsheet and calling it a bid. You're accounting for soil borings, varying footing depths, and the Florida Building Code's specific requirements for high-wind zones and soil-bearing capacity documentation. Estimate.Pro is built around that complexity, not despite it. ## What the Florida Building Code Requires on Your Bids The Florida Building Code 2023 (FBC 7th Edition) mandates that foundation designs reference soil-bearing values from a geotechnical report or use the prescriptive values in Chapter 18 of the FBC Residential volume. Your bid needs to reflect that — whether you're pricing a monolithic slab for a new Windermere subdivision home or a grade beam system for a commercial build in Lake Nona. Estimate.Pro lets you document those code references directly inside the scope-of-work. When the permit reviewer asks why you specified a 2,000 psf bearing capacity assumption, it's in the bid, not in your head. ## The 8-Minute Walkthrough-to-Bid Workflow Walk the site. Open Estimate.Pro. Use AR measurement on supported devices to capture footing lengths, pier spacing, and slab footprints. The ONNX-assisted AR detection runs on-device — no cloud round-trip. Camera and photo measurements are marked as estimates automatically so you know what to verify before you sign. From that walkthrough, the AI scope-of-work builder drafts line items: excavation, form work, rebar schedule, concrete volume (in cubic yards), moisture barrier, and anchor bolts. Median time from site walk to sendable bid is 8 minutes. You review it, adjust for current local concrete pricing in your saved material cost workspace, and send. ## Soil and Moisture Conditions That Affect Your Numbers Orlando's water table sits high — in many parts of Orange County it's within 2 to 4 feet of grade. That changes your dewatering line item, your vapor barrier spec, and sometimes your footing type. Estimate.Pro's scope templates include conditional line items you can toggle based on site conditions. You're not editing a PDF template by hand for every job that comes in near a retention pond. The Lake Nona and Horizon West corridors are seeing heavy new construction. The Audubon Park and College Park neighborhoods have older homes with failing stem-wall foundations — repair and underpinning work is a different scope than new construction. You need a tool that handles both without forcing you into one rigid template. ## Permit Fees and Scheduling in Orange County Orange County Building Division charges foundation permit fees based on the valuation of the work. For a typical residential slab-on-grade in the $15,000–$40,000 valuation range, expect permit fees in the $300–$700 range before any state surcharges. The Orange County permitting portal (Accela-based) requires a Notice of Commencement before inspections are scheduled. Experienced Orlando foundation contractors build that lead time into their bid timeline — Estimate.Pro's scope-of-work section includes a project timeline block where you can note NOC filing, slab inspection hold points, and final pour approval. ## Pricing That Fits a Single Crew or a Multi-Crew Operation Estimate.Pro runs on a free forever tier — no credit card, no trial clock. When you're ready to add Stripe Connect invoicing and export to your accounting software, that's Elite at $79 per seat per month. Running a larger crew with multiple estimators? Crew tier is $399 per month flat, unlimited seats. The Free tier charges a 3% platform fee on payments processed. Pro and above drop that to 0%. ## Built for 25 Trades, Including Foundations Estimate.Pro supports 25 trades. Foundation work sits alongside concrete flatwork, structural steel, and site excavation — all with their own line-item logic. If your company also handles flatwork or drainage for the same customer, you're not switching tools or rebuilding a scope from scratch. You do the site work. Estimate.Pro handles the paper.