3 Factors to Consider When Bidding for a Contract: A Guide to Winning Construction Bids
Is your construction business looking for work? Submitting a bid for a construction contract is the first step to getting projects for your construction company, so you don’t want to start on the wrong foot.
We know that bid submittals can sometimes be overwhelming. There is a handful of information you must include, but you also want to ensure you can meet all of the project’s expectations and deadlines.
Having a mess of paperwork and emails to sort through while creating your bid is probably overwhelming, but using cloud-based bidding project management software can make this process simpler and smoother.
Read on to learn about three factors to consider when bidding for a contract in the construction industry and why they’re so important to think through.
- CM Fusion: Cloud-Based Construction Bidding Software
- 3 Key Factors to Consider When Bidding for a Contract
- CM Fusion: Try Our Cloud-Based Bidding Management Software With a Free 30-Day Trial
CM Fusion: Cloud-Based Construction Bidding Software
CM Fusion makes everything related to construction work much more simple. From submitting bids to keeping close track of your projects every step of the way, CM Fusion offers a feature that can help you.
Not only does CM Fusion make managing your construction projects easier, but it is also computer, tablet, and mobile-friendly.
CM Fusion has something for everyone in the construction industry. Whether you’re a…
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General contractor
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Subcontractor
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Architect
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Builder
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Investor
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Engineer; or
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Manager
… CM Fusion is designed to help make your work less of a headache and more of a success.
Some features you can use with CM Fusion include:
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Document management
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Team collaboration
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Time & cost tracking
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Daily logs
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Change orders
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Timesheets
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And much more
If you’re looking to streamline everything involved in construction work, CM Fusion is the app for you.
3 Key Factors to Consider When Bidding for a Contract
Bidding for a contract in construction is not as simple as choosing a price and sending it in. It’s important to understand all that goes into a construction contract to develop a winning bid.
Before submitting your next construction bid, consider these important factors:
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Do you fully understand the scope of the project?
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Is your bid comprehensive?
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Can you meet all required deadlines?
#1: Understand the Scope of Work
Before committing to any project, it’s essential to fully understand what you’re signing yourself up to do. Scope of work, the groundwork and specific elements within a project, can determine if a project will be successful or fail.
Before you submit your construction contract bid, be sure you fully understand the scope of work. If it is not clearly outlined by the client, ask questions or submit an RFI to gather a better sense of what it is that will be expected from you and your team before submitting your bid.
Things like…
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Project size and complexity
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Budget; and
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Projected timeline
… are all important to know before you can submit an accurate bid. Knowing this information can avoid missed work and overestimated costs.
Is your team fully capable of meeting all of your client’s needs?
Project Size and Complexity
When thinking through the project as a whole from start to finish, you might consider questions like:
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Is your team capable of completing the job?
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Can your subcontractors procure all of the necessary tools, items, etc.?
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Can you meet the projected deadlines and time frame?
If any of this is unclear, ask the client questions to be sure you’re submitting an accurate bid.
Estimated Budget
Being aware of the estimated budget is important because you want to be sure that if you’re submitting a bid, you can complete the job within the client’s budget. As you might imagine, most clients would be unhappy with unexpected costs thrown at them during a project.
Instead, include any additional costs that you think could come up during the project in your bid so your client is fully aware before selecting the winning bid.
When it comes to money, your bid should include things like:
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Predicted costs of materials and resources
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Cost of labor
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Possible additional costs
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When and how payments should be made; and
Estimates of change or adjustment requests
Projected Timeframe
Identify all major dates associated with the project in your bid, be sure to include things like:
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Dates of specific tasks and activities
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Start and end date of the entire project
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Duration of tasks and deliverables
#2: Offer a Comprehensive Bid
When taking the time to build your bid, ensure that it is comprehensive. This means that the necessary documents have all of the information a client might need before they accept a bid.
This could include:
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Projected pricing
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Realistic delivery times
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Documents or information that prove your professional credibility; and
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Anything else the client might be asking
Submit Proposed Pricing
Before accepting a bid, clients want to know what they’re in for throughout the project – pricing included.
Things to consider that would affect pricing include:
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Cost of materials and supplies
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Cost of labor
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Cost of necessary equipment; and
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Any overhead costs
You might even include a buffer for any unforeseen circumstances.
Ensure On-Time Delivery
Include delivery times for various products so that the client is both aware and confident that you can secure everything necessary on time to keep the project on track.
Offer Professional Credibility
It might seem like bragging, but offering some insight into your professional credibility can go a long way.
In the construction industry, many referrals are often made through word-of-mouth, so if you have the ability to illustrate your outstanding service, quality, and expertise, you should. You can include things here like:
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Testimonials
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Awards
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Training
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Certifications; or
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Pictures
Provide Required Information
Before hitting submit, check and double-check again that you are providing every piece of required information that the client is asking for.
It’d surely be frustrating to lose a bid on a misstep in the contract. That’s why it’s important to have a second set of eyes to review the bid before submission. This helps to ensure the bid meets all of the specifications and requirements and can be extra helpful (and smart).
#3: Consider Project Deadlines
When creating your bid, you want to be sure that you can realistically meet all of the project deadlines. Of course, hiccups happen, and sometimes things are out of your control — and hopefully, clients can be understanding of that — but if you’re submitting a bid, you should feel confident about meeting the expected deadlines.
We know that in the construction industry, it can be difficult to keep many projects and all of their required documents, dates, and moving pieces organized.
That’s why we’ve created CM Fusion – a streamlined construction project management tool that helps to ensure projects are getting completed promptly all while keeping things organized along the way.
Bid Submission Deadline
A crucial step to consider when bidding for a contract is that you’re submitting the bid by the required deadline, at the latest. If you have everything that’s required and the bid looks good, submitting the bid sooner might even be better.
Here’s what we suggest:
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Secure the bid submission deadline and don’t miss it.
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Follow all bidding instruction requirements fully.
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After it’s been sent, follow up via phone call or email to make sure it’s been received.
Project Completion Deadline
Not only are meeting small deadlines within the project necessary, but ensuring you have the time to take on the project and meet the overall completion deadline is just as important before submitting your bid.
By meeting the smaller deadlines within a project, you’ll be on track to meet the overall project deadline.
CM Fusion: Try Our Cloud-Based Bidding Management Software With a Free 30-Day Trial
We know that the construction industry is messy, both in the field and in the office. Papers pile up on desks, emails go unopened, and there might be confusion about who is working at what job site.
But working in the construction industry doesn’t always have to be one big disorganized mess.
Submitting a bid is the first step to securing a project, so you want to ensure you’re getting started on a clean and organized foot.
CM Fusion can help you do just that.
Our cloud-based contract bidding management software helps you compile everything you need to submit a comprehensive bid on or before the bid deadline. Not only is CM Fusion easy to use, but it’s all-encompassing to help you keep your construction projects on track from start to end. Get started using CM Fusion today.
Try CM Fusion, risk free for 30 Days – Your first project is FREE!
If you are trying to figure out where to look now, our company CM Fusion offers a free version of Construction Project Management Software. Not to mention, our customers brag about it’s ease of use, so you should be able to sign up and start managing your projects in minutes.