References and review
Know what is behind your estimate
CostKit creates a first-pass estimate for contractor review. AI selects scope, quantities, and prices using available reference data. It can make mistakes, including when it cites a reference. Check supplier quotes, local labor costs, scope, and quantities before using an estimate for a bid or contract.
What the pricing labels mean
- AI reference citation
- The AI selected an identifier from the line-item references supplied during generation. CostKit checks that the identifier was present. This does not independently verify that the reference matches the work, or that the quantity or price is correct.
- Needs contractor verification
- No valid line-item reference citation was recorded, or the line was adjusted afterward. A price may be based on broader context or an AI assumption. Review it against your own quotes and experience.
- Coverage unavailable
- Reference lookup failed, the location or trade is unsupported, or the estimate predates coverage tracking. The absence of a warning on an older PDF is not evidence of verified pricing.
Sources and their limits
The US pipeline can supply an NCE 2026 construction cost reference, state labor wage data and material price indices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and regional material, permit, climate, and other context. Contractor-reported actuals may contribute aggregated benchmarks where sufficient data is available. Not every source or line item is available for every project.
Coverage is recorded when an estimate is generated. That date is not a source refresh date. Source publication dates vary, and a regional reference is not a live supplier quote or a verified price for a particular city. The line-item citation count is a coverage measure, not an accuracy percentage.
How the internal benchmark works
The saved May 17, 2026 benchmark snapshot evaluated 12 synthetic residential scenarios across trades and US regions, with three generations per scenario. It checked broad total-cost ranges and expected scope items. The expected ranges were derived from the same construction reference used by the estimating pipeline and estimator rules of thumb.
These were not completed, contractor-verified jobs. Passing a range check does not measure error against a final invoice, establish a confidence interval, or guarantee a profitable bid. Historical results are not a measurement of the current model or current data.
We do not yet publish a validated error rate against completed jobs. A stronger benchmark needs independent completed-job costs, matching scope, trade and region breakdowns, and dated model and data versions. Until then, review every estimate before committing to a price.