One list, not five
Bid invitations arrive by email, by plan room notice and by phone. If each estimator tracks them in a private inbox, dates get missed. Put every invitation in one shared log on the day it arrives. A spreadsheet or a shared calendar is enough.
What to record for each job
- Project name and location.
- Bid date and time, with the time zone.
- The cutoff each GC sets for sub numbers, if it is earlier.
- The deadline for questions.
- The pre-bid meeting date and whether it is mandatory.
- The GCs who are bidding and a contact at each.
- The estimator who owns the takeoff.
- Status: reviewing, bidding, passed, submitted, won or lost.
- The addenda received so far.
Work backward from the bid date
- Set the day the proposal goes out. Make it ahead of the deadline.
- Set the day pricing must be done.
- Set the day supplier quotes must be in.
- Set the day the takeoff must be done and checked.
- Set the day questions must be sent.
The question deadline often falls a week or more before the bid. If you start the takeoff after that date, your questions go unanswered.
Watch for date changes
Bid dates move. The new date is announced in an addendum. Check each addendum for a date change first and update the log the same day. Do not rely on the date in the first invitation email.
Review the log every week
Hold a short meeting at the start of each week. Look at what is due in the next two weeks. Decide what to pass on while there is still time to tell the GC. Record the result after each bid. Over time the log also becomes your win and loss history.
Takeoff Tool reads the bid date from the packet and shows the quote it came from.
Bidding and estimating · Updated 11 Nov 2026