Job Check

Cost Estimators

US evidence · AI already used for 0 of 10 main tasks · Check another job

Prepare cost estimates for product manufacturing, construction projects, or services to aid management in bidding on or determining price of product or service. May specialize according to particular service performed or type of product manufactured.

10 main tasks · most important first

Your main tasks and AI

Importance

01Analyze blueprints and other documentation to prepare time, cost, materials, and labor estimates.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
02Confer with engineers, architects, owners, contractors, and subcontractors on changes and adjustments to cost estimates.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
03Collect historical cost data to estimate costs for current or future products.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
04Assess cost effectiveness of products, projects or services, tracking actual costs relative to bids as the project develops.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
05Consult with clients, vendors, personnel in other departments, or construction foremen to discuss and formulate estimates and resolve issues.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
06Establish and maintain tendering process, and conduct negotiations.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
07Prepare estimates for use in selecting vendors or subcontractors.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
08Prepare estimates used by management for purposes such as planning, organizing, and scheduling work.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
09Set up cost monitoring and reporting systems and procedures.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
10Review material and labor requirements to decide whether it is more cost-effective to produce or purchase components.AI could speed this up, with extra tools

Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.

Checked O*NET 31.0, August 2026Corrections

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Where these numbers come from

O*NET 31.0 Database, US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), 2026-08. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (observed exposure), Anthropic, 2026-03-05. Licence: CC BY.

Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations (v1.1), Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025-12. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

GPTs are GPTs: labor market impact potential of LLMs (Science, 2024), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023. Licence: MIT.

What work can robots do? (robot exposure index), Anthropic, 2026-09-30. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. We have modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. How the Job Check works.

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