Construction Bid Estimating & Bid Leveling
Bid-day support for general contractors: subcontractor bids leveled to the same scope, gaps found, and the bid form completed.
What Construction Bid Estimating Covers
Bid estimating is what a general contractor does in the final days before a bid is due. It means collecting subcontractor proposals, making sure they cover the same scope, filling the gaps where nobody bid, and assembling the number that goes on the owner's bid form.
The hard part is leveling. Two electrical bids $40,000 apart often differ in scope, not price: one excludes fire alarm or temporary power. Leveling puts every proposal on the same scope basis so the low number is actually low.
Who This Is For
- General contractors on bid day: Someone to level incoming subcontractor proposals while their team handles the owner and the bid form.
- GCs with thin subcontractor coverage: Plug numbers for trades with only one bid or none.
- Public-work bidders: A checked bid form with alternates, unit prices and addenda acknowledgements.
Not quite what you need?
Need a complete estimate built from scratch? See construction cost estimating.
Need ongoing help across many bids a month? See outsourced construction estimating.
What You Receive
Bid leveling workbook
One tab per trade: each subcontractor's base price, every inclusion and exclusion from their proposal, and the adjustments needed to bring each bid to the common scope.
Scope-gap list
Items no subcontractor included (for example, firestopping, temporary protection, or final cleaning) with a plug number for each.
Addenda tracker
Which proposals acknowledge which addenda, and the scope each addendum added.
Bid summary
Selected numbers by trade, general conditions, fee, and alternates, laid out in the order of the owner's bid form.
See the sample deliverables page for what each file contains.
How It Is Produced
Build the scope sheets
Before bids arrive, we build a scope checklist per trade from the drawings and specs.
Log proposals
Each proposal is entered as it arrives, with inclusions, exclusions and addenda acknowledged.
Level
Missing scope is priced into each bid so they can be compared on the same basis.
Fill gaps
Trades with no coverage get a plug number from our own takeoff.
Assemble
The bid summary and bid form, with the leveling backup for your records.
What to Send Us
- Drawings, specifications and all addenda
- Owner bid form, alternates and unit price list
- Subcontractor proposals as they arrive (email or shared folder)
- Your general conditions and fee, or a request for us to calculate them
Not Included Unless Requested
- Soliciting subcontractors or managing the bidder list, unless agreed in advance
- The final bid decision and markup: those stay with you
- Bid bonds and prequalification paperwork
Pricing & Turnaround
Bid-day leveling is usually quoted per bid, in the $400 – $950 per project range depending on the number of trades. Ongoing bid support is available on a monthly plan ($1,500 – $3,200 per month).
Every project gets a fixed quote after we see the drawings. Standard delivery is 24 to 48 hours from scope approval; large packages take longer and the date is set in the quote. Full fee tiers are on the pricing page.
Trades Commonly Included
Questions About Construction Bid Estimating
What does it mean to "level" a bid?
Adjusting each subcontractor's price so they all cover the same scope. If one sub excludes something the others include, we add a price for that item to their bid before comparing.
What happens when a trade gets no bids?
We carry a plug number from our own takeoff and mark it clearly in the bid summary so you know which numbers are not backed by a proposal.
How close to the deadline can you work?
Leveling happens as proposals arrive. Tell us the bid time and when you expect most proposals, and we set the schedule around that.
Do you contact subcontractors?
Not by default: proposals come to us from you. If a proposal is unclear, we list the question for you to send to the sub.
Prepared by the estimating desk at Construction Estimating Services (F&K Estimations LLC). Last updated September 2026.