The Bolster guide to construction bidding

If you own a construction company that has traditionally received most of its business from word-of-mouth referrals or local advertising, you might wonder whether construction bidding could help you get more work.

And if you’ve ever looked into construction bidding, you might also have lots of questions about where to find bid opportunities: what kind of bid opportunities are out there, how do I work out a bid price that gets jobs and makes a profit, etc. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s the Difference Between Construction Quotes and Construction Bidding?

The first question most people have about construction bidding is the difference between bidding and construction quotes.

When you get right down to it, there isn’t really that big of a difference.

Construction bids tend to be for commercial or government projects rather than consumers. They’re also more formal and usually include a detailed specification and scope of work. So you’re not designing a total solution for your client; you’re quoting based on their existing design.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Construction Bidding?

We’ll get to where you can find construction bid opportunities and how to bid them in a moment, but first, let’s look at the pros and cons of construction bidding for construction companies, maintenance companies, renovation companies, and sub-trades, starting with the pros.

• Access to a larger pool of customers who need your services
• Clear and comprehensive specifications outlining what the customer wants and needs
• Corporate and government clients mean less risk when taking on new clients
• Possible repeat work if you deliver great service to a particular client
• There is often less competition for the same projects and a fair adjudication process to decide who gets the job
• It is relatively easy to find new bid opportunities online

As for the cons of construction bidding instead of sticking to construction quotes, there are a few:

• It's harder to negotiate with customers after you've provided your price
• There is no guarantee that the project will be awarded to anyone
• You often need to provide supporting documentation and similar project references, which can be harder when you are just starting out
• Commercial and government clients often have longer payment cycles, so you might wait longer to be paid

Bidding construction projects is different from quoting customers directly, but it’s still a good option for getting more business, even if you are a smaller company.

Where to Find Construction Bidding Opportunities

If you’ve got this far and you think construction bidding might be a good idea for your construction business, the next question you might have is where to find construction bidding opportunities.

One good place to look is your city's or state’s website. Regional construction bidding opportunities are often advertised on the “doing business with” section of those websites, or they might have a separate bid or tender page.

Large construction companies and general contractors might advertise and manage their own bidding opportunities and often have a page on their website where you can find current opportunities.

There are lots of free and paid construction bid aggregators too, where you can search a much larger variety of open bidding opportunities in one place.

While you are searching for bid opportunities, don’t ignore larger projects that might have subcontracting opportunities built into the main bid package. Look for a list of bidders or companies that have expressed interest in bidding, and then contact them to offer a quote on that part of the project.

How Do Construction Bids Work?

Most construction bids already have designs by architects and engineers, with the exception of design/build bids, which, as their name suggests, include the design of the work or building.

That means that when you find a bid that looks like it might be a good fit for your company, you can download bid documents and read the specifications and scope of work to see if it’s something you can and want to provide a quote for.

Construction bids usually have a fixed closing date and time, and often there’s a mandatory site visit when all prospective bidders will visit the site and have the opportunity to ask questions, take pictures and measurements, and otherwise familiarize themselves with the work that needs to be done.

Many smaller construction bids are lump sum prices, but others might be broken down into line items; however, those line items usually have quantities, too, so that everyone bidding on the project will work according to the same information.

One of the biggest differences between construction quotes and construction bidding is that companies seeking construction bids usually want to compare apples with apples. That means that everyone who submits a bid will be bidding on the same thing. If you do want to offer a different option or product, you can usually submit a second, alternative bid.

The Construction Bidding Process

Every construction bid is a little different, but the process is usually the same, and it looks a little like this:

• Identify bid opportunities that you would like to provide a construction estimate for
• Download bid documents and drawings, and review them carefully
• Attend the site visit, ask questions, make notes about site conditions, and listen to the owner’s representatives describing the project
• Submit any additional questions as an RFI or Request for Information
• Calculate your bid price. you can do this any way you like, but good construction estimating software makes it a lot easier!
• Decide if you want to offer any alternative bids, and use your contractor estimating software to generate it (or them if you want to offer more than one alternative)
• Submit your construction bid before the closing date and time. be sure to include any supporting documentation requested, bid bonds, and other requirements, and be sure to sign and date all the necessary forms
• Wait for the adjudication team to review bids; they will usually contact you if there’s something they need to know
• Receive an award or regret letter, depending on whether you won or lost the bid

Usually, if you win a construction bid, you will be told when you need to be on-site, how long you have to complete the work, and all the other contractual information upfront. This makes planning your projects easier, but remember that you will probably need to pay more attention to project management when you are working on projects that you got by construction bidding.

The Right Construction estimation Software Makes All the Difference

Whether you’re quoting directly to customers, bidding on construction projects via a formal bid process, or something in between, the estimating process does not change that much.

If you’re still trying to estimate using spreadsheets, pencils, and calculators, you’re probably spending too much time and doing too much hard work on each construction estimate you do.

A good construction estimating software makes it easier to do your take-offs, allows you to create a library of assemblies and line items that you can combine quickly, and gives you fast, accurate, and predictable results every time.

Whether you’re considering venturing into construction bidding or you just want to improve your direct-to-consumer construction business, the right kitchen estimating software, bathroom estimating software, construction estimating software or remodeling estimate software can completely change the way you approach the estimating process.

Bolster has created an estimating platform that’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before, and our team would love to show you how it works. So before you start looking for construction bidding opportunities, book a live demo and find out how we can cut your estimating time down to a fraction of whatever it is right now.