For home builders, providing a customer with a clear, concise bid is central to answering those lingering questions that prevent a profitable deal from closing. 

When the custom home builder provides a potential customer with a formal, professional proposal, they are detailing the cost and scope of work for a construction project in a way that puts their business in the best possible light. 

In many cases, it’s the final opportunity to: 

    1. Estimate: outline the estimated total cost of the project, including labor, materials, and any additional expenses such as equipment rentals. This helps the homeowner understand why their financial commitment is required.
    2. Clarify scope: specify the tasks and services the contractor will perform, or not perform, including tear down of existing structures; the materials to be used for the new build; timelines and schedules; and any subcontractors involved. This ensures that both parties have a clear understanding of the project’s details.
    3. Establish competitive pricing: In competitive bidding, multiple contractors submit bids, allowing the homeowner to compare prices and services based on quality and budget. Remember, a clearly presented bid often wins the day even when it’s not the lowest priced entry.
    4. Establish a legal agreement: Once accepted, the bid forms the basis of a formal contract, clearly outlining the terms and conditions of the work to be done, ensuring both parties are protected legally.
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What’s in a Construction Bid Template?

Writing clear, easy-to-understand bids can be time consuming. But there are ways to make the job easier. The use of bid templates is a fundamental way to get a construction bid proposal started quickly, while ensuring no critical items are forgotten.

How a bid template benefits the construction project

A bid template is a form or document that contractors use to prepare and submit their price estimates for a home construction project. A bid template streamlines the bidding process and ensures consistency from project to project.

Let’s review the benefits of a bid template:

Standardization

As mentioned, it’s important for a builder to bid in a consistent manner so forecasting profitability becomes more accurate and major tasks are not forgotten. A bid template ensures that all bids are presented in a consistent format, making it easier for builders to compare the success of each project, helps avoid confusion and ensures that no critical project expenditures are overlooked.

Efficiency

Using a bid template saves time by allowing custom home builders to input details into predefined sections instead of creating a new bid from scratch each time.

 Transparency

A bid template provides builders an easy way to outline the project cost and scope, making it easier for the client to understand where their money is going and what services are included. This promotes transparency between builders, subcontractors and the client. 

Professionalism

A well-organized bid template reflects the contractor’s professionalism, helping build trust with the client. It also demonstrates attention to detail and preparedness, which can be a competitive advantage when multiple contractors are bidding the same project.

Building a winning construction bid template

With a construction bid template, submitting proposals for home construction projects becomes quick and easy, ensuring builders provide all necessary details for their construction bids.

Key components of a construction bid template 

Basic information

  • Project Name: title or description of the project.
  • Bidder Information: name, address, contact information of the contractor or construction company submitting the bid.
  • Client Information: name, address, contact details of the project owner or client.

Project scope

  • Description of work: detailed explanation of the work to be performed.
  • Project timeline: estimated start and completion dates, along with key milestones.
  • Specifications: materials, equipment, and methods to be used, often based on the client’s project documents or requests.

Exclusions

Cost breakdown

  •  Labor: detailed estimation of labor expenses (hours, rate per hour).
  •  Material: cost of materials required, including unit pricing and quantities.
  •  Equipment: costs associated with renting or using machinery.
  •  Subcontractor: expenses for any work subcontracted to third parties.
  •  Overhead and profit: contractor’s operational costs and the profit margin added to the bid.
  • Contingency: allocated funds to cover unexpected project expenses. 

Payment terms

  • Schedule of payments: how and when payments will be made (e.g., percentage at milestones, progress payments).
  • Retainage: percentage of payment held back until the project is completed satisfactorily.
  • Late payment terms and conditions: includes interest or penalties. 

Warranty and guarantees

  • Workmanship warranty: duration and conditions under which the contractor guarantees their work.
  •  Material guarantees: warranties provided for materials, either from the contractor or manufacturers.

Change orders

  • Procedure: explanation of how modifications to the project scope or cost will be handled.
  • Pricing: details on how additional work or changes will be charged.

Terms and conditions

  • Legal Term: provisions around liability, insurance, and dispute resolution.
  • Permits and approvals: clarification on responsibility for securing necessary permits and approvals.
  • Cancellation policy: terms under which either party can cancel the contract.

Signatures

  •  Client Signature: Signature and date of the client approving the bid.
  •  Contractor Signature: Signature and date of the contractor submitting the bid.
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Why Buildxact for construction bids

The days of using paper and spreadsheets to create home construction bid templates by hand is quickly passing as the construction industry goes digital. 

Today, efficient builders use construction management software to create powerful bid templates that can be saved a copied with the click of a computer mouse. There’s no paper files to keep and estimates are available from any device with the internet connection.

Buildxact is one such software tool that brings together the power of estimating templates with digital takeoffs and scheduling. All these features are available from a cloud-based software tool that frees builders from the office so they can manage project details, create material counts, send multiple bids and schedule subcontractors from their onsite laptops and mobile devices. Takeoff measurements pass easily into online estimates that then form the basis for building a complete schedule. A look at the estimating screen in Buildxact

With Buildxact, it’s easy to create a customizable construction bid template based on the most successful projects. And builders making the leap from spreadsheets to software can upload their favorite project spreadsheets; so getting started with Buildxact is fast and effective. 

Buildxact makes it easy to incorporate estimated tasks, materials and costs into an attractive cover letter that includes all your terms and conditions packaged under a builder’s unique logo and company name.

Are you ready to jumpstart your bidding process to win more work and become more profitable? Get started with a no-risk trial or schedule a demo of Buildxact to learn how to create customizable construction bid templates that no competitor can duplicate.