You have plans and a request for a price. Before bidding, define the trade package and ask for missing information. Estimate your costs for the proposed site conditions and schedule. Submit a proposal that states the scope, price basis, assumptions, exclusions, and terms you need the builder to accept.
Use this worksheet for residential trade bids. It does not set market prices, labor rates, or margins. Use your own records and current supplier quotes.
Decide whether to bid before doing the takeoff
Check whether you can do the work, reach the site, meet the schedule, and cover costs until payment. Confirm that your licenses and insurance cover the work.
If the package requires an NC general contractor license, check the board’s classification and limitation guidance before committing.
Ask who receives the bid, who answers technical questions, and when the builder needs it. Ask whether the builder is ready to award the work, needs a budget, or is comparing early designs. Label your price for that purpose.
Read the proposed subcontract and insurance requirements before committing to a firm price. Flag unfamiliar risk, delay, payment, or warranty terms for the appropriate adviser. Do not leave those decisions until the crew is expected on site.
If the package does not fit, decline promptly. If it is incomplete, ask for the missing information. You cannot price a scope you cannot define.
If the package does not fit, return to finding subcontracting work and choose an account suited to your crew.
Identify the documents you are pricing
Record the project, address or identifier, drawing titles, revision dates, specifications, and addenda. Ask whether the documents supplied form the complete pricing set. Keep a copy with the estimate.
Check details across the package rather than relying on the floor plan alone. Keep a list of conflicting details and missing selections. Give each question a drawing reference and identify the decision needed.
Ask these questions before calculating the price:
Scroll to read all columns.
| Topic | Question to send |
|---|---|
| Scope boundary | Which tasks, materials, and related work belong to this package? |
| Quantities | What measurement basis should be used, and who checks it? |
| Materials | Who selects, orders, delivers, stores, and replaces them? |
| Access | What equipment, power, water, protection, and work area will be available? |
| Sequence | What must be complete before you start, and who confirms it? |
| Schedule | How many mobilizations and return visits are expected? |
| Changes | Who can authorize changed work and its price? |
| Payment | What documents, approvals, and dates control invoicing? |
Use these questions as a starting point. Adjust them for your trade and contract. Do not send an unedited checklist containing irrelevant tasks.
Price quantities, labor, materials, and site conditions
Break the work into measurable tasks. Record quantities, units, expected hours, materials, equipment, and supervision. Use supplier quotes with dates and confirmed inclusions. Note delivery, handling, and applicable taxes where relevant to your estimate.
The SBA’s break-even guidance separates fixed and variable costs when examining whether a price covers business costs. The IRS recordkeeping guide describes using business records to track income and expenses, a useful cost history to review with your accountant. Include the site-specific protection needed to meet applicable OSHA fall-protection requirements when estimating the work.
Include loading, travel, setup, protection, cleanup, and closeout when you are responsible for them. Include planned return visits in the estimate. List a planned return stage separately from an allowance for work that is still unclear.
Use your own full labor cost rather than an employee’s hourly pay alone. Ask your accountant to help identify employment and business costs. Include your share of business overhead in the bid.
Review risk and profit separately from estimated direct costs. Choose amounts based on your records and the package. Do not adopt a universal markup from a generic article.
Cross-check the arithmetic and units. Compare the result with a completed comparable job if your records support that comparison. Check why the costs differ before adjusting the price to what you think the builder wants.
Write inclusions, exclusions, and assumptions separately
An inclusion states work your price covers. An exclusion identifies work it does not cover. An assumption states a condition used to prepare the estimate. Keep all three clear enough to review before award.
For an illustrative interior trim package:
- Inclusion: Installation of the listed interior trim shown on the identified plan set.
- Exclusion: Painting, cabinet supply, and unlisted specialty assemblies.
- Assumption: The builder supplies the specified materials at the agreed work area before mobilization.
Replace these examples with the job’s scope. Do not rely on broad phrases such as “by others” without naming the handoff to confirm. Ask the builder to resolve conflicts with its package scope.
An exclusion in your bid does not by itself settle a conflict with the final contract. Use the builder’s process to include the accepted scope and changes in the agreement. Ask an attorney which contract terms control if they conflict.
Use alternates and allowances carefully
Offer an alternate only when you can describe the difference from the base bid. State whether its price is an addition, deduction, or separate replacement. Identify changes to the schedule, materials, or coordination that need the builder’s agreement.
For unresolved selections, ask whether the builder wants an allowance or a later price. Label what the allowance covers and what it leaves open. Do not include work at a fixed price when you cannot yet define it.
State how long your quote is valid, based on supplier terms and your business conditions. State what happens if the builder changes the documents or award timing. Avoid implying that an expired materials quote remains available.
Check invoice approvals and payment timing
Ask how a valid invoice reaches approval. Identify required purchase orders, site signoff, supporting documents, cutoff dates, and any retainage or closeout conditions in the proposed agreement.
For one concrete example, Bayfair requires purchase orders for project-related payment requests. Confirm the target builder’s own rules before estimating office work and how long you must cover costs.
For NC work covered by Chapter 22C, G.S. 22C-2 addresses entitlement to payment and rejects specified upstream-payment conditions. G.S. 22C-6 excludes residential contractors and specified residential improvements, including projects with twelve or fewer units. Ask a construction attorney which law governs this job before relying on a payment clause or collection date.
Compare the cash needed for the job with the payment terms. If the arrangement exceeds what your company can carry, negotiate a workable package or decline. Do not rely on an unawarded future job to cover this one.
Submit your subcontractor bid with its scope and conditions
Include the project identifier, document basis, trade scope, price, inclusions, exclusions, assumptions, alternates, timing, validity, and business contact. Use the builder’s format. Keep your scope limits and conditions clear.
Send questions through the designated channel. If an answer changes your price, revise the proposal and identify the revision. Keep the earlier version in your records, but clearly mark the current version.
Before starting, compare the award documents with the proposal. Resolve scope changes, schedule differences, and payment terms. Use screening a builder for that conversation and the bid-list guide for account status.
After the job, review actual costs, mobilizations, changes, and punch work against the estimate. Use what you learn in the next bid. For company setup and recordkeeping, see starting a subcontracting business.
Where Cercha fits
Cercha portfolios and endorsements help you present experience before a builder conversation, and Messages provides direct contact. The app starts in the Research Triangle, with an outside-market waitlist. Ask about the beta for participation information.