RFQ Man-Hour
Estimator

An RFQ (Request For Quotation) man-hour estimator is a sizing tool that converts EPC project scope (P&ID count, scope type, project size, disciplines in scope) into estimated engineering man-hours and cost. It is the document EPC consultancy practice heads and proposal managers use to size bids before issuing a commercial RFQ response. It is also the document owner-operators use to sanity-check vendor proposals against a public-reference baseline.

The man-hours-per-P&ID benchmarks are derived from public industry sources: AACE International Recommended Practice 18R-97 cost estimate classification, public EPC consultancy rate cards published in industry trade press, and public man-hour studies for FEED and detailed-engineering scope. These are conservative reference numbers, not proprietary Pathnovo numbers. EPC contractors with proprietary estimating data should calibrate against their internal benchmarks before issuing any commercial RFQ response.

Scope type drives the man-hours-per-P&ID baseline. FEED scope is lowest (concept-level engineering, ~3 to 8 hours per P&ID per discipline). Detailed engineering is the bulk of the lifecycle (~8 to 28 hours per P&ID per discipline). Brownfield revamp carries the highest per-P&ID load (~12 to 40 hours per P&ID per discipline) because of survey, redline, and existing-condition validation work. Capacity expansion sits in between detailed engineering and brownfield.

Regional rates are blended consultancy rates in USD per hour, covering loaded cost of senior engineer plus technical support. India: $35/hr (mid-range Indian consultancy and PSU EPC rate-card). Gulf: $75/hr (ADNOC, Aramco, QatarEnergy contractor rate-card mid-range). Global: $145/hr (US/EU/Australia engineering firm rate-card mid-range). For project-specific rate calibration, use proprietary internal rate cards or your client's procurement rate-card.

Pathnovo, an engineering document intelligence platform, automates the extraction, reconciliation, and register-population workflows that historically consume P&ID-driven engineering hours. The conservative public-benchmark saving is around 30 percent of automatable engineering work per P&ID, or roughly 20 hours per P&ID at the full-discipline coverage band. The saving scales with how many disciplines are in scope: more disciplines = more automatable work captured. See the P&ID extraction workflow and the engineering handover workflow for the underlying delivery shape.

The numbers are public-reference benchmarks suitable for early-stage sizing, sanity-checking vendor proposals, and identifying ballpark scope risk. For a commercial bid, you should overlay your firm's proprietary estimating data, project-specific risk factors, contingency, and client-specific contractual terms. The estimator is most useful as a baseline against which to negotiate Pathnovo-automated delivery for the P&ID-driven scope. Contact Pathnovo for a project-specific estimate calibrated to your scope.

Pathnovo delivers as a managed service: P&IDs (scanned, PDF, native CAD) go in; structured registers (equipment list, line list, valve list, I/O list, cable schedule, MTO, plus OISD / PESO / CCOE / IBR compliance) come out in 48 hours with a 99.5 percent contractual accuracy SLA. The EPC consultancy team focuses on engineering judgement, vendor management, and client interface. See the solutions overview and the resources templates hub for the deliverable shape.