How to send work out for bids and pick a sub

What this is

Some of the work on a job is not yours to do. You hand the plumbing to a plumber and the wiring to an electrician. Sub bids is where you ask a few of them for a price, on the same estimate you already built.

Every sub gets the same scope. Their prices come back into one table, next to your own budget. You pick one, and the reason you picked them is saved with it.

Step by step

1. 1

   Mark what goes out to bid

   Open an estimate in Estimates and go to the Budget tab. Open the division you want a sub to price. In the box called “Bid out as”, type the trade: Plumbing, Electrical, Roofing. Leave it empty for work you do in-house. Once it is filled in, that division shows up on the Sub bids tab. The budget has its own budget tutorial.
   Rough plumbingBid out · Plumbing

   Priced byDana

   Bid out asPlumbing
2. 2

   See every scope in one list

   The Sub bids tab has one row for each trade you marked. A row shows your budget, how many bids are in, the lowest one, and how it sits against your budget. The status tells you where it stands: Not sent, Out for bids, Pick one when the bids are ready to compare, and Selected. Press a row to open it.
   ScopeBudgetLowestStatus

   Electrical$6,200—Not sent

   Plumbing2 of 3 in$9,000$8,700Out for bids

   RoofingSummit Ridge Roofing$14,000$13,600Selected
3. 3

   Send it out for bids

   Open a scope and press Send out for bids. Tick the subs you want. Each one shows how ready their paperwork is, which comes from the Subcontractors app. Someone not on the list? Type their name and an email or a phone number, then press Add. Your own business number is turned away, because there is nobody there to invite. Fewer than 3 bidders is flagged. Choose when bids are due, in 3, 5, 7 or 10 days, and tick Labor / materials if you want the price split in two. The right side shows exactly what the subs get: the scope, never your budget or your notes.
   Who’s bidding2 bidders · fewer than 3

   Rivera Plumbing100% ready

   Blue Heron Plumbing60% ready

   Pinecrest Mechanicalbids@pinecrest.example

   Sub’s nameEmail or phoneAdd

   Bids due · In 5 daysLabor / materials

   What they getNot your budget or notes

   Send to 2
4. 4

   What the sub gets

   A sub with a phone number gets a text. A sub with only an email gets an email with a button. Either way the link opens with no account. On that page they read the scope and type one price for the whole job, split into labor and materials if you asked for it. They can list what is not included, attach their own proposal, or pass and say why. Reminders go out on their own before bids are due, by text or by email, the same way the invitation went.
   Has a phone

   Hi Marco! Oakline Builders is inviting you to bid on Plumbing.

   Email only

   Invitation to bid: PlumbingSee the scope and bid

   You’re invited to bid

   Your price for the whole scope$8,400

   Labor$5,100

   Materials$3,300

   Not includedPermit

   Can’t bid this oneSend my bid
5. 5

   Compare the bids on equal terms

   Back on the scope, every bidder is lined up under a row called Your budget. Bid is the price they sent. Leveled is that price plus anything they left out. The last column shows how far over or under your budget they are. When more than one bid is in, the lowest leveled one is tagged Lowest. Press a bid to open it. Under Left out, put a cost beside each thing they skipped, or press the plus to add one they did not mention. Now a cheap bid with holes in it and a full bid are read the same way.
   BidderBidLeveledvs budget

   Your budget$9,000

   Pinecrest MechanicalLowest$8,700$8,700−$300

   Rivera Plumbing$8,400$8,900−$100

   Left outPermit+ $500
6. 6

   Pick one

   Press Select beside the bid you want. Tap a ready-made reason or write your own. If your pick is not the lowest bid, a reason is required, so anyone looking later can see why. Picking waits until the job is won: the Select button shows up once the customer has accepted the estimate.
   Select Pinecrest MechanicalPlumbing · $8,700

   Lowest complete bidBest scheduleWorked with them beforeMost complete scope

   Why them?

   The other bidder is marked not selected.

   CancelSelect
7. 7

   After the pick

   The sub you picked gets a congratulations message, by text or by email. The other bidders are marked Not selected, and their link tells them you went another way. Your reason stays on the scope with your name beside it. From here the Cost plan uses the picked price in place of your budget number for that trade. Picked the wrong one? Change undoes it, as long as the estimate has not become a job yet.
   Pinecrest Mechanical · $8,700“Lowest complete bid” — Dana

   Change

   Congratulations, Priya! Oakline Builders picked your bid for Plumbing. We'll be in touch with the next steps.

   Rivera PlumbingNot selected
8. 8

   Invite more bidders

   Once a scope is out, the button changes to Invite more. Use it when a sub passes or too few prices come in. The new bidders get the same scope and the same due date as everyone else.
   PlumbingRough plumbing · budget $9,000 · Due in 4 days

   Invite more

   Blue Heron PlumbingDeclined