Transparent pricing
The Perfect Estimate
Our contract-grade estimating system — developed by Kyle Zanetto, built on data, and open for you to inspect. It's what turns your 48-Hour Estimate into a number you can sign.
The Perfect Estimate breaks your project into the three things every build is made of —labour, materials and subcontractors — and prices each from real data, not averages. It follows your 48-Hour Estimate and turns it into a contract-grade number — the engine of our transparent pricing process.
Why this exists
The story behind the method
Every budget blowout in this industry starts the same way: with an estimate that was never real. A floor area multiplied by a rate someone half-remembers. An allowance that was really a hope. A margin buried where nobody would ask about it. The build doesn't blow the budget — the estimate was broken before the first sod turned.
Kyle Zanetto's answer was to stop estimating and start measuring. Zanetto Builders went back through the timesheets of more than $20 million worth of completed custom homes — every task, every hour, every home — and back-costed all of it into 30 labour categories that cover everything that goes into building a project. That database is why our labour numbers aren't opinions. Your home is estimated against what the same work actually took, on homes we actually built.
Materials got the same treatment. The typical approach — a quantity surveyor scaling off 2D plans with industry-average rates — wasn't good enough, so we replaced it:every home we estimate is 3D-modelled by Vision 2 Estimating (V2E) — independent takeoff specialists, so the quantities aren't even our own claim (watch a real model takeoff). The model yields the true quantities — every sheet, stick and square metre of your actual design — and those quantities are priced against our own SKU codes and live price book, built with our local suppliers and matched to your region of Tasmania. Not last year's rates. Not mainland rates. Your materials, your region, today.
The last piece is the part most builders keep behind the curtain. Every subcontract trade is priced twice — two quotes, every trade, every project — and then the whole thing goes to you as anopen-book negotiated tender. Labour build-ups, material quantities, subbie quotes: whatever you ask to see, you see. And the margin on top is stated, not smuggled — a target net profit of 10%, declared before you sign, because a business that's honest about what it needs to stay healthy is a business that will still be here to look after your home in ten years.
It took years of back-costing to build. It's why we can put our accuracy in writing:within 10% of your real build cost, in 48 hours, for any project.
See the model
Materials, counted from a model of your home
A real 3D model built up stage by stage by our independent estimating partner, Vision 2 Estimating (V2E) — every building layer isolated and quantified.More on 3D model estimating →
The method
Three inputs. No guesswork in any of them.
01
Labour — back-costed, not guessed
Our labour rates aren't industry averages. We've back-costed more than $20 million worth of completed custom homes — extracting every task from the timesheets across 30 labour categories that go into building a project. When we estimate the labour on your home, we're not predicting; we're matching your project against what the work actually took, hour by hour, on homes like yours.
02
Materials — modelled, not measured off plans
No scale ruler, no typical QS take-off. Every home we estimate is 3D-modelled by our independent estimating partner Vision 2 Estimating (V2E) — specialists whose only job is takeoff accuracy — and that model is quantified against Zanetto Builders' own SKU codes and live price book from our local suppliers, priced for your region of Tasmania. See it in action on our 3D model estimating page — the model gives us the exact quantities; the price book gives us the exact rates. Together they produce a material estimate that's specific to your home, your specification, and your part of the state.
03
Subcontractors — two quotes, open tender
For every project we obtain two quotes from every subcontract trade to keep pricing competitive — then run an open-book negotiated tender with you. You see the labour, the materials, and every subcontractor quote you ask for. Nothing is marked "commercial in confidence" between us and the person paying for the home.
The number most builders won't say out loud
10%
That's our target net profit on every project — and we tell you before you sign anything. It's what keeps the business healthy enough to service your home for years after handover. In an open-book negotiated tender, you can see exactly how it's applied. No hidden margins, because there's nowhere to hide one.
How it reaches you
Two ways in, one standard
Start fast: the 48-Hour Estimate gives you a 90-category number within 10%, in two days.
Then go deep: when the number works, The Perfect Estimate builds the contract-grade version — and the open-book tender puts every line in front of you.
Either way it flows into open-book pricing — Fixed Price or Cost-Plus — and the same transparent tender.
Start your Perfect Estimate
Frequently asked questions
The Perfect Estimate — your questions answered
What is The Perfect Estimate?+
The Perfect Estimate is Zanetto Builders' estimating methodology, developed by director Kyle Zanetto. It breaks every project into labour, materials and subcontractors: labour rates back-costed from over $20 million of completed custom homes across 30 labour categories; material quantities taken from a 3D model of your home priced against our supplier price book for your region of Tasmania; and subcontractor pricing kept competitive with two quotes per trade, presented through an open-book negotiated tender.
How accurate is it?+
Contract-grade. Your 48-Hour Estimate already lands within 10% across 90+ cost categories; The Perfect Estimate then replaces every assumption with data — real timesheets from real homes, real quantities from a 3D model of your home, and two live quotes from every subcontract trade — before you sign anything.
What profit does Zanetto Builders make on my project?+
We target a net profit of 10% on every project, and we tell you that up front. It's what the business needs to stay healthy and keep servicing our clients — including you — for years after handover. In an open-book tender you can see exactly how it's applied.
What will I actually see in the open-book tender?+
Whatever you ask for: the labour build-up, the material quantities and rates, and every subcontractor quote. Open-book means the numbers are yours to inspect — that's the point.
I don't have plans yet — can you still estimate my project?+
Yes. We prepare a Qualifying Budget Estimate from your brief — size, site and ambitions — so you know where you stand before spending anything on design. When plans exist, the full Perfect Estimate process takes over.
Want the wider picture first? Readwhat it costs to build in Tasmania in 2026or the story behind the method onthe blog.
Accredited & proud member of
