How to Bid Construction Jobs: From Bid Research to Securing Your Own Projects
Contractors need to win construction projects to run their business successful and for that they have to bid construction jobs. So, in this article we will discuss how to bid construction jobs to earn more business. Here are the steps:
1. How to Find Construction Jobs to Bid on
First of all we have to find the construction project that is open to bid and is similar to your expertise and size of the company. To find the projects there are several platforms:
Construction Bidding Websites
For online search of projects visit websites mentioned below on these websites they list construction projects which are open for bidding. You can find the project of your type and size with its location.
| Website Name | Features | Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| BidClerk | Commercial and residential projects, detailed reports | Paid |
| Dodge Data & Analytics | Comprehensive project database, industry insights | Paid |
| Construction Bid Source | Free public bids, regional focus | Free/Paid |
| Government Bids | Government contracts, local and federal opportunities | Paid |
| BidCentral | Construction bid management, contractor database | Paid |
| The Blue Book | National construction network, free access | Free/Paid |
| iSqFt | Project leads, contractor communication | Paid |
| PlanHub | Bid management, document sharing | Paid |
| BuildingConnected | Preconstruction software, bid tracking | Paid |
| ConstructConnect | Lead generation, project information | Paid |
Government Contracts
For government projects check public procurement websites on daily basis where public construction bids are posted.
Networking and Referrals
Make good connections in the industry with the consultants and contractors of other trades so that you get projects on a referral basis.
Make sure you are not wasting time by bidding on the projects which are too large then your capability or you are not capable of.
2. Purchase and Review Bid Documents
Once you found the job to bid now its time to get the documents some projects documents are available for free and some you may need to pay. After getting the documents next step is to carefully review all the documents in detail. These documents include:
- Project Scope: Scope of work is the part of bidding documents from where check the details of the work to be done, including the materials, timelines, and quality expectations.
- Drawings and Specifications: Drawings and specifications provide the technical details about the construction, so understand every aspect of the project in detail from it.
- Bid Instructions: Instructions to bidder is important part of the bidding documents from where you will get the details of you how to submit your bid, its deadlines, and any specific format requirements for every form submission.
Take your time to understand every detail in the documents. If anything is unclear, prepare RFI and send it to client or consultant with sign and stamp also discuss the queries in pre bid meeting so it should be part of minutes of meeting and should be answered in proper documents form.
3. Perform a Site Visit
It is important to visit the construction site to know the actual conditions of the location. By doing this you will come to know that what challenges you are going to face during the project. To do site visit contact to client through mail or letter and ask him to arrange the site visit. During the site visit follow the construction site visit checklist carefully:
- Site access like roads and streets condition for material transportation.
- See existing conditions like utilities, drainage, and soil quality.
- See possible difficulties like adjacent properties or environmental factors.
To create a n accurate and realistic bid this visit will help a lot with cost estimation.
4. Prepare Technical Bid
In the bidding documents instructions to bidders you will see a lot of forms and company documents are asked so fill the forms carefully and attach the required registrations, financial statements, equipment and man power documents carefully and recheck them multiple times as every document can earn or lose the number so it will decide whether you are technically capable of doing this job or not. If you pass this test then they will check Financial bid.
5. Prepare Financial Bid or Estimate Costs
The most important part of bidding is cost estimation as the result of win and lose will be decided by the rate of bid submitted. Consider the following things while doing estimation.
- Material takeoff: Large projects provide the BOQ (Bill of Quantities) so no need to do this step for that otherwise perform material quantity takeoff using planswift or bluebeam and make the spread sheet with full detailed calculation.
- Labor Costs: Calculate the no of labor hours require with respect to the material takeoff and get the per hour rate to determine the labor cost also consider the benefits, overtime, and subcontractors if require.
- Material Costs: Get the three quotations for every individual material from suppliers. If the quantity of the material is small try to get the quotation from shops if bulk quantity is required then get the rates from factory or whole salaries. Also use the scheduled rates for the month provided by public procurement agencies and you can get help from top notch trusted websites and software’s like Rsmeans. Make sure taxes and transportation charges are included In the material rates.
- Equipment and Rentals: Calculate the machines working hours and include the equipment rental cost for them and calculate the fuel require for number of hours. Include the equipment mobilization cost. Read the documents sometimes clients provide electricity or fuel cost of generator if yes then don’t include that cost.
- Subcontractors: If you are a general contractor you then you may need subcontractors for different trades like (HVAC, Electrical) so find the contractors for it and go through there profile and if they are trust worthy and professional then ask them for quotation,
- Overhead: Also include the overheads for the factors like company overhead, insurance, office expenses and taxes and mobilization cost.
6. Set Your Profit Margin
After preparing cost estimation add the profit margin for 10 to 20% depend on complexity, competition and size of the project. As we know increase and decrease in margin value can lead you to win or lose the project but by keeping low margin may lead You to financial challenges.
7. Submit a Professional Bid Proposal
Complete the Technical and financial bid two days before the bid submission and print them. Now see the instruction to bidders and arrange the documents accordingly. After that sign and stemp on each page of the technical and financial bid. Now make 3 copies if need to submit in hard form or read the instructions that how many number of copies required. Also scan the documents and attach the usb with the documents. If bid is online then just upload the scanned copy no need to make 3 hard copies. Now put the bids in the envelop or cottons so that no one can see the documents before opening time and put tags on them so they should not missplace. Make sure documents are enveloped as per client requirement as sometime client as for single envelope or some time different envelope for technical and financial bid. A well-organized bid proposal can set you apart from competitors.