Measuring up in five minutes
- Break the job into rectangles. A driveway with a flared apron is a long rectangle plus a short wide one. Work each out and add them.
- Pace it if you have no tape. A long adult stride is close to a metre, which is near enough for a budget.
- Measure the concrete, not the block. Garden beds, the footpath and the council verge are not part of your slab.
- Leave the crossing out at first. The strip between boundary and kerb is priced with the job but built to the council's standard, so run it as a separate line if you want to see it.
What the range leaves out
The figure covers supply and laying at the published rate. It does not know about a pump where a truck cannot reach, unusual amounts of ground preparation, retaining edges on a steep block, drainage pits, or council application fees. Those are found at the site measure and written into the quote, which is why a range is the right answer at this stage and a single number is not.
Next reading: the Section 138 guide if the job meets the street, the specification for what belongs under the slab, and the shed slab cost guide for worked garage and shed sizes.