How to compare subcontractor bids with different exclusions

Define the scope the comparison is meant to cover

Identify the project, bid package, document revisions, quantities, units, schedule basis and required commercial information. A headline quote can cover a different area or time period from another bidder's offer. Confirm that basis before interpreting the lower number as the lower cost for the intended scope.

Use a scope checklist with stable line identities. The list should come from the actual package and estimating process rather than a universal set of inclusions applied without review. Where the scope is ambiguous, record the question and responsible estimator. A comparison cannot settle an undefined requirement simply by adding more spreadsheet columns.

Preserve the current source for every quote and later clarification. The original proposal, a telephone note and a revised priced document may have different authority or scope. Identify what each response establishes and what still needs confirmation before treating it as part of the comparison basis.

Record the bidder’s statement before assigning a number

Use distinct states for included, excluded, unclear and not applicable under the reviewed requirement. Silence is not a reliable included statement, and excluded does not necessarily mean the bidder can provide the item for a price you invent. Keep the actual wording or source reference with the state.

Ask a specific clarification when a response is ambiguous. Please confirm whether testing reference T-6 is included in quote revision 1 is more actionable than please confirm full scope. If the answer introduces a qualification, preserve it. Do not reduce a conditional response to an unconditional yes because the comparison template expects a checkbox.

Record the response owner and next checkpoint. Some questions belong to the bidder, others to the estimator interpreting the package. Keep the requirement question separate from the price question so the bidder is not repeatedly asked to price scope the project team has not yet defined.

Normalize the basis without rewriting the quote

Confirm currency, quantity, unit, alternate treatment, tax basis, freight, testing and other relevant terms under the actual package. Not every item needs an adjustment, and not every difference can be converted into dollars immediately. First establish whether the prices are describing comparable work.

Where the estimator uses an internal adjustment, label it as such and retain the evidence or estimate basis. The adjustment belongs to the comparison scenario, not the bidder's original price. If the bidder later offers a priced change, preserve that new quote separately and review how it affects the earlier assumptions.

Autodesk's official BuildingConnected explanation describes plugs, highlights and notes for line-level bid comparisons. It provides one product example of making adjustments and commentary visible. This guide does not claim a hands-on evaluation, an automatic pricing decision or a Buildalytic integration with those API features.

Sources: Autodesk Platform Services: BuildingConnected bid-leveling plugs, highlights and notes

Give every internal adjustment an explainable source

Record the scope line, adjustment amount and currency, source or estimating assumption, reason, author and review state. A number labeled miscellaneous plug is difficult to challenge or update. The reviewer needs to know whether it represents an actual supplier response, an internal allowance or a provisional estimate awaiting confirmation.

Use a consistent sign convention and state it. In this article's exercise, a positive adjustment adds a defined excluded cost to the comparison scenario. A deduction or credit would need its own stated basis. Do not mix add and deduct conventions without labels, especially when several people edit the same workbook.

Keep unresolved items outside any claim of a complete comparison. An unpriced permit requirement should remain visible rather than become zero by default. A conditional subtotal can still help the estimator understand known differences, provided the exclusions and remaining uncertainty travel with that figure.

Worked example: a lower quote becomes a higher conditional subtotal

The following bidders, quotes and costs are fictional, in US dollars. Assume the two quotes cover the same defined package and quantity basis except for the stated items. Bidder A quotes $87,400 and excludes freight and testing. Bidder B quotes $93,200 and states those two items are included under the exercise's reviewed scope.

The estimator uses internal comparison assumptions of $4,200 for A's excluded freight and $3,800 for its excluded testing. A's conditional known-scope subtotal becomes $87,400 plus $4,200 plus $3,800, or $95,400. B remains $93,200 on that limited basis, a $2,200 difference. These are comparison calculations, not a revised offer from A or an award decision.

A permit-related requirement remains unpriced and unresolved in the example. Neither conditional figure is presented as a complete project cost. The estimator must obtain the missing scope decision and any required pricing before relying on a final comparison. The arithmetic does not establish that B is the correct subcontractor to award.

Reconcile the next quote before carrying adjustments forward

Continue the fictional case. A submits revision 2 at $91,000 and now includes the freight scope previously adjusted by $4,200. Testing remains excluded on the exercise's stated basis. Preserve revision 1 and create a new comparison linked to revision 2 rather than overwriting the original quote history.

Remove the earlier freight adjustment from the new scenario because that scope is now included under the reviewed revision. With the same provisional $3,800 testing assumption, A's new conditional known-scope subtotal is $94,800. Its difference from B's $93,200 becomes $1,600, while the permit question remains unresolved.

Do not add $4,200 again merely because it existed in the prior column. Conversely, do not assume every prior clarification remains applicable after a revised proposal changes its scope. Review the changed lines and carry forward only the assumptions whose basis remains valid and documented.

Send a scope question that preserves the quote reference

A starting request is: For [package] and your quote [revision/date], please confirm whether [specific scope reference] is included, excluded or requires clarification. Identify any qualification and provide revised pricing through the approved route if the answer changes your offer. Our comparison currently records [actual quoted state], not an assumption that you accepted additional scope.

Keep questions from becoming informal commercial commitments. An estimator asking about an option and a bidder agreeing to a priced revision are different events. Preserve the actual response and route any change through the required review. Do not treat a quick conversational yes as an unconditional replacement for a qualified written proposal.

If a requirement changes for the package, use the approved clarification or addendum process. Avoid giving one bidder an undocumented version of the scope while others price another basis. The comparison needs a clear record of which package revision each proposal actually addresses.

Check overlaps as well as omissions

An apparent exclusion can be covered by another line or another trade, while two bidders can both include the same interface. Identify the allocation basis before adding a comparison amount. Otherwise, a well-intended adjustment can double count scope already represented elsewhere in the estimate.

Record who owns interfaces such as supply versus installation, temporary versus permanent work or testing by another party. Use the actual package requirements and responsible estimator. The purpose is to expose the boundary, not invent a universal trade split that may conflict with the project's documents.

Review alternates separately from the base scope. An alternate price may replace, add to or deduct from a defined basis. Preserve the bidder's actual meaning and the selection assumption in the comparison. Do not sum every number on a proposal and call the result the base bid.

Use the comparison as evidence for a reviewed decision

Present the quoted amount, internal adjustments, conditional subtotal, unresolved items and source references together. A polished total without its assumptions can be copied into the estimate as though the scope were settled. Make the remaining decision visible to the person who owns it.

Cost is one part of the authorized evaluation. The project may also review qualifications, capacity, schedule, exclusions and other applicable criteria. This guide does not prescribe an award formula or claim the lowest conditional subtotal is the best offer. Preserve the actual evaluation and commercial decision separately from the worksheet arithmetic.

When the team selects a basis, retain the quote revision and accepted scope used for that decision. If buyout later changes the terms, link the new source rather than rewriting the historical comparison. The next reviewer should be able to understand what the estimate assumed at the time.

Use the exclusions-comparison register

The free blank CSV includes project, package and revision basis, bidder, quote reference, actual quoted amount and currency, scope line, bidder statement, inclusion state, clarification source, internal adjustment, assumption basis, comparison version, conditional subtotal, unresolved item, reviewer and next action. It has no embedded award formula.

Enter the fictional A and B quotes, then reproduce A's $95,400 conditional subtotal. Add A revision 2 and remove the freight assumption before calculating $94,800. Keep the permit question visible in both versions. A new reader should be able to distinguish original prices from your internal comparison work.

Pilot one package with the estimator and commercial reviewer. Ask them to explain every adjustment and identify the unpriced gaps. Resolve ambiguous units, scope allocations and quote revisions before importing a much larger bid set or automatically requesting clarification from every bidder.

Freeze a comparison version before the review meeting

Choose a clear cutoff and identify the quote revisions included in the review set. If A's revision 2 arrives while someone is presenting revision 1, the meeting can otherwise compare two different versions without realizing it. Preserve the earlier comparison, create the replacement and identify which figures and assumptions changed.

For the fictional case, the replacement should explain that the actual quote moved from $87,400 to $91,000, freight moved from excluded to included, and the internal testing assumption remains $3,800. The conditional subtotal changes from $95,400 to $94,800 because the comparison basis changed. It is not simply a $3,600 increase applied to an unchanged scope. Keep the unresolved permit question beside both versions.

If B's quote has an expiration or schedule qualification relevant to the review, record it from the actual source rather than assuming the earlier offer remains available indefinitely. Ask the authorized estimating or commercial owner whether a fresh confirmation is needed. Do not invent a validity period or remove an inconvenient qualification from the meeting summary.

A concise review header can name the package basis, cutoff, included quote revisions, comparison author and unresolved items. That lets the decision owner assess a defined set of evidence while later arrivals remain traceable as later information.

Coordinate scope follow-up with Buildalytic

Buildalytic's subcontractor-bid-follow-up page describes document and intent confirmation, logged replies and routing questions to the estimator. Bring a redacted quote and one unresolved exclusion question to a demo. Ask how the approved request reaches the bidder and how its response stays linked to the package and source revision.

Keep bid leveling, internal assumptions, price negotiation and award decisions with your estimating and commercial team. Confirm the supported connections and approved outreach scope for your deployment. Do not assume a follow-up workflow independently prices missing scope or selects a winning bidder. The useful demonstration exposes the question that still needs an estimator.

Use the two-quote case to inspect a clear response and a qualified reply that leaves pricing open. Start with a defined package and a small clarification list. The fictional values demonstrate comparison arithmetic and do not claim real savings, bid accuracy improvements or a verified customer award outcome.

Sources: Buildalytic subcontractor bid solicitation and follow-up