How to Get Commercial Construction Jobs

Process

To bake the perfect block you have to follow each step carefully considering even an extra loving cup of flour tin ruin information technology. Similarly, you must follow specific steps to generate an accurate bid proposal.

We’ve outlined the construction bidding process beneath.

Bid Solicitation

The company owner or architect sends a request for proposal (RFP) or invitation to bid to contractors. If you want to bid on government projects, you should access public bidding websites. They provide all contractors with an equal bidding opportunity.

Clients usually create bid packages comprising project details such as specifications, deadlines and scoring methods to help y’all submit a competitive bid. They tin can also send yous a request for qualifications to assess your skills and experience.

We recommend you thoroughly review the bid package before generating a bid proposal.

Subcontracting Decision

Would Harry Potter be able to destroy Horcruxes without the assistance of his friends? Of form non! To win battles, you lot need allies. Similarly, to win bids, you need the assistance of experts — subcontractors.

Once you take the projection details, you should develop your ITB and ship them to subs. You can leverage bidding platforms like SmartBid to access subcontractor databases, compare bids and prequalify subs.

After subcontractors review the invitation to bid, they’ll send you a submittal. To select the best sub, yous should check whether or not their proposal can fulfill project requirements.

In this boxing of loftier- and low-priced bids, choose a bid that does justice to the project and doesn’t burn a hole in your pockets.

Bid Submission

It’s time to send your bid proposal to the customer. We recommend you create a document checklist to avert missing critical requirements. Proofread your proposal several times to foreclose mistakes.

Bid Option

Company owners evaluate bids based on scheduling philosophy, previous experience, safe records and personnel resumes. They might also conduct personal interviews to determine bid scores.

Contract Negotiation

Later the client awards the job to y’all, it’due south time to talk over contract terms and weather condition. Conflicts can ascend while negotiating. That’southward why you should not sign the contract until both parties (y’all and the client) come to an agreement.

Later successful negotiations, you lot sign the contract. You should always request a copy of the agreement to stay out of legal issues.

Project Delivery

This is the stage where you bring the blueprint to life. Recall to work co-ordinate to the decided project delivery method to avoid client dissatisfaction.

Become our Structure Bidding Software Requirements Template

Things To Consider

Behest construction jobs isn’t easy. You might miss some important bid instructions and lose the bid.

Nosotros’ve highlighted some critical aspects you should remember while bidding on construction jobs.

Evaluate Projection Requirements

If you bid on a projection without agreement its requirements, you are likely to lose the bid. And we don’t want you to lose a job over something avoidable. Before working on a proposal, nosotros recommend you compare your feel with projection needs.

Below we’ve outlined some questions you can inquire to assess project needs.

• Is it a commercial, industrial, residential or government project?
• Tin can I employ the skills and noesis gained from previous projects?
• Do we need additional skill sets to make the project a success?
• Do nosotros need to spend a lot of time commuting?

If the project doesn’t look profitable from your perspective, you should not spend resources and time producing a submittal. It’south tempting to bid on every job, but you should learn to say —
No.

Pay Attention To Bid Instructions

The clients volition share bid instructions with you. And you lot’re expected to follow them religiously. Missing just ane requirement might pb to the generation of a faulty submittal. That’due south why y’all should thoroughly read the instructions earlier proceeding farther.

The company owners provide instructions virtually:

• Required bid documents
• Guidelines to examine the project’s site
• Pre-bid conference
• Contractors’ qualifications
• Supplies and equipment
• Submittal format
• Project timeline
• Deadlines
• Bid security bonds
• Post bid details

Determine Overhead Costs

Overhead expenses refers to ongoing costs required to operate a business. They include office costs, staff salaries and utility expenses. You lot should factor in these costs to avert spending from your pockets.

You should create an overhead cost checklist to produce an authentic estimate. Some expenses worth having on your checklist include:

• Marketing, sales and advertising
• Training
• Health insurance
• Administrative
• Interest and banking
• Office supplies
• Internet
• Taxes and depreciation

Deciding on overhead markup can exist challenging. The thought of whether or not the customer volition approve the overhead markup costs floats effectually your head. To that, we say — exist realistic. Don’t present an corporeality that’due south college than the market price.

Use the below-mentioned formula to summate your overhead markup percent by sales and labor costs.

• Past sales:
  overhead markup % = monthly overhead costs / average monthly sales x 100
• By labor costs:
  overhead markup % = overhead costs / labor costs x 100

The average overhead percent falls between 10–11%. But it depends on the project’s size and scope. For a residential project, the overhead expense might be 10%, whereas for a commercial project it might be xv% or more.

Yous can apply construction estimating software to generate an authentic estimate. They enable you to conduct what-if analyses, build visual assemblies and admission historical cost databases.

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Acquire Surety Bonds

Surety bonds assure company owners that contractors will complete the projection co-ordinate to the contract’s terms and atmospheric condition. If you fail to fulfill your obligations, clients can file a claim against you to recover from revenue losses.

Some common types of surety bonds include:

• Maintenance
• Payment
• Performance
• Supply
• Site improvement

Because surety agents demand a few days to review, approve and issue the bond, you should contact them at least a week before submitting the proposal.

Hire Skilled Subcontractors

Hiring unqualified subs tin put your projection at risk. It might cause revenue losses and result in unpolished work. The end result — dissatisfied clients. That’s why it’s vital that yous pre-qualify subs before y’all sign a contract with them.

Some of the common benchmarks for vetting subs are as follows:

• Safety record
• Technical skills
• Quality of piece of work
• Educational qualifications
• Compliance documents
• Bonding capabilities
• Income statements

Y’all should likewise discover out:

• If they take an excellent reputation
• Whether or not they can follow elementary instructions
• The expanse of their expertise

You lot can interact with the subcontractor’s team members to understand their working philosophy.

A sub might have a list of achievements to testify their qualifications. But y’all shouldn’t believe them until you verify. Exist diligent while vetting them!

Inquire For Description

When in doubt, ask! If you don’t, you might generate a proposal that could be of goose egg involvement to the customer. No matter how minor the doubt is, always contact the customer or builder and get clarification to avoid misunderstandings and disputes.

You tin can send a request for information (RFI) to the visitor owner to record essential details. Remember, effective advice is the key to project success.

Empathize Procurement Methods

To make informed bidding decisions, information technology’s vital to know clients’ procurement techniques. It will aid you recruit the right subcontractors, larn suitable materials, mitigate risks and save costs.

Nosotros’ve outlined some of the typical procurement methods below.

• Best Value Source:
  The clients evaluate contractors based on their by performance, qualifications, fiscal stability and safety record. They might send you a asking for qualifications before sending an invitation to bid to assess your skills.
• Low Bid:
  The company owner awards the job to the contractor with the lowest bid. You lot’ll witness this method in action while bidding on public projects.
• Negotiated:
  The customer offers the project to the contractor based on past relationships. So if you build a good human relationship with clients, they might besides contact you for future projects.
• Direct Select:
  The client awards the bid to the contractor who tin handle the project from inception to completion.

You can leverage construction management platforms to track equipment and supplies, manage inventory and create a procurement management plan.

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Include Client Testimonials in Your Bid

You should always add client testimonials in your bid proposals. They help visitor owners understand how you previously solved a like problem. They as well add life to your submittal.

Y’all should add the contact details below each testimonial to enable company owners or architects to call your previous clients and verify their claims.

Share Awards and Certifications With Clients

If you received the Contractor of the Year award from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), it would shine in your submittal. Excellence awards reflect your capabilities and build trust in the eyes of your clients.

You can enroll your company into certification programs to testify company owners that you lot’re committed to improving your skills. You tin can also utilize for the Accredited Quality Contractors program to showcase your central areas of responsibility like:

• Rubber
• Quality
• Employee benefits
• Customs relations
• Preparation

Sharing awards and certifications will make your bid proposals stand up out from your competitors.

Track Bid Results

You should track your bid-hitting ratio to discover trends and create bidding strategies that help y’all win profitable jobs. You tin leverage BI tools to analyze like patterns and brand data-driven decisions.

We’ve outlined below some vital metrics that you lot should consider tracking.

• Conversion charge per unit
• Geo-targeting
• Impression share
• Cost per conversion
• Click-through charge per unit
• Cost per click

Metrics are the lifeblood of your organization. If y’all want your company to gain profits, y’all should record and analyze bidding data.

Become our Construction Bidding Software Requirements Template

Government Bidding Opportunities

The U.S. government continuously comes out with designated projects to stimulate the economy. And you shouldn’t miss the risk to be a part of it.

Co-ordinate to a survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, the full dollar value of construction work done in the U.S. was around $1.77 million in July 2022.

Nosotros’ve highlighted some resource below to aid y’all discover government projects.

Authorities Contracts and Bids

Government Contracts and Bids is a website that enables you to find construction projects by land, bid date and solicitation ID. Yous tin can sign up for a 1-week free trial to access bid documents, specs and contact details.

Organisation for Honor Direction (SAM)

SAM (formerly known equally FedBizzOpps) is a federal website that lists pre-solicitation, solicitation, sole source and award notices. You can search for jobs by solicitation IDs or keywords. You tin also filter results past type of federal organization, location and status.

You need to register to download plans and specifications. The information provided by the website is free of cost.

Deltek

Deltek (formerly known equally Onvia.com) helps yous observe federal opportunities. It provides iii subscription options — essential, professional person and avant-garde. You have to asking a quote to get pricing details.

Find RFP

Observe RFP enables y’all to gather and screen government projects. It notifies yous about new construction jobs. Information technology offers three subscription packages — individual, group and enterprise. Yous can register for a one-week gratis trial to test the production’south capabilities.

GovernmentBids

GovernmentBids helps you search federal projects by category, product, service and region. You must pay for membership to download bid documents and view contact details. You can as well try the gratis version, merely information technology doesn’t permit y’all use avant-garde features.

State and Federal Bids

State and Federal Bids provides a list of road and bridge construction projects. You must create an account to view project details and download bid documents. It enables you lot to export the list of opportunities as a PDF and spreadsheet.

Information technology offers a one-week free trial. Later on the trial period ends, y’all’ll have to pay to admission resources. The cost for a federal program is $thirty/month, and for an all-bid plan, it’s $35/month (based on yearly price). The provider likewise offers quarterly subscriptions.

BidNet

BidNet gathers projects from federal, land and local governments to help you reduce time spent searching for jobs. The vendor sends you lot bid alerts via email. You have to register to admission advanced functionalities.

The provider offers four packages — limited, group, state and federal. If you register for two years, you can save upwards to 20%. The limited package is costless of charge.

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Non-governmental Projects

There’southward no magical spell to attract bids. Yous take to hunt them down! Luckily nosotros don’t have to go out our desks to search for non-governmental bidding opportunities.

Below we’ve outlined some gratuitous and paid resources to assist you in finding non-governmental construction projects.

Complimentary Resource

Notation:
The below-mentioned resources provide basic details for complimentary. To admission in-depth project information, you might take to pay boosted fees.

PlanHub

PlanHub is a solution that enables you to discover commercial projects hands. It helps you rummage through multiple plans and specifications with PDF bluetooth scanning. Y’all tin admission the subcontractor directory to hire the right sub for the job.

If you don’t want to invest in the production, you tin search for bidding opportunities through PlanHub’s website. Y’all demand to create an business relationship and log in to view the project’south location and download plans.

Edifice Construction Bid Network

Edifice Structure Bid Network organizes opportunities by year, month and date to help y’all find the right project. It only provides basic information for free. Yous have to pay $21.95 if you demand a filtered opportunity report.

Construction Bid Source

Construction Bid Source is a website that enables yous to search for construction jobs according to your preferred state. When y’all click on whatever of the states, it shows you the number of projects available in a item county.

You can opt for either gratis or paid memberships. With a free membership, you tin can view projects, create a favorites listing and place Disadvantaged Business Enterprise ads ($35 per ad).

With a paid membership, yous tin can view the client’southward contact details, place unlimited DBE ads and download documents. The provider besides sends yous bid alerts via electronic mail.

Paid Resource

Bid Express

Bid Limited is an cyberspace bidding service that helps yous find structure projects, electronically verify bid bonds, avoid bidding mistakes and view bid results. It sends you alerts when clients post new opportunities.

Dodge Global Network

Contrivance Global Network helps y’all notice the right projection via spider web browsers and mobile devices. Receive notifications when companies post new projects. You lot can connect with company owners via email or call.

Building Radar

Building Radar is a platform that enables you to find business organization opportunities to help maximize profits. AI technology allows you to search for relevant projects in your preferred region. The platform sends yous alerts about the latest construction jobs.

You tin add together favorite projects into your folder and review them whenever possible. You can too export job details to make bid/no-bid decisions.

iSqft

iSqft is a web-based platform that helps contractors streamline behest operations. Yous tin search for bidding opportunities according to your preferred land. Y’all need to sign upwardly to view projection details.

The bid board automatically rates projects according to your preferences to help you lot make informed bidding decisions.

ConstructConnect

ConstructConnect (formerly known as Construction Market Data) enables you to search for jobs bachelor in your country or province. Still, you lot will accept to register for a complimentary demo to access project information.

Yous should contact the sales representatives to purchase a subscription post demo.

You tin filter opportunities by tags, locations, deadlines and project statuses. Y’all can likewise shop clients’ contact information in your personal database and approach them when searching for new projects.

Non-governmental construction jobs gratuitous you from bureaucratic processes. But be information technology a government or private project, you lot crave precision at every stage. One fault can cost you the bid!

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Land Resources

If local opportunities are your prime focus, you should check out jobs posted by your state’due south procurement department. You need to create a profile to receive bid alerts and instructions.

Beneath we’ve listed land resources to help you find structure projects.

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How To Obtain the Best Financing

Information technology’s impossible to escape internal expenses. And with rising costs of equipment and materials, yous might need extra funding. You can consider equipment financing options.

About financing companies grant loans upward to $five million with interest rates starting at 7.5% to 45% and repayment terms ranging from two to six years. You tin employ for an equipment loan for purchasing fixed avails similar vehicles, electronics and machinery.

You need to fulfill a few criteria to qualify for equipment loans. Nosotros’ve listed them below.

• Credit Score:
  You must have a minimum credit score of 650.
• Time in Business:
  Your business concern should consummate at least 2 operating years.
• Annual Acquirement:
  You lot have to submit a cash menstruation statement to enable lenders to evaluate your company’s financial forcefulness.
• Downpayment:
  By and large, long-term loan plans require you to pay a certain amount upfront.

Note:
Criteria tin alter co-ordinate to the financing company you cull. You should always ask your agents to provide you with a list of qualifying criteria.

Yous can consider other funding options if you don’t want to apply for equipment loans. We’ve mentioned a few options below.

• Terms Loans:
  You can apply for a term loan to encompass your business organization expenses. Most banks and financing organizations laurels loans upwards to $two one thousand thousand with involvement rates starting at 6% and repayment terms ranging from two to five years.
• Short-term Loans:
  You lot can apply for a short-term loan if you lot need urgent financial assistance. Some financing institutions disburse the amount inside 24 hours. But these loans usually come with higher involvement rates and shorter repayment periods.
• Business Lines of Credit:
  Similar to how credit cards work, the business lines credit option enables you to borrow a set amount of money. You simply accept to pay back the borrowed amount.

Exercise non make hasty financial decisions. It can impact your cash flow negatively. Even worse, you may accept to shut down your company. You should ever take your time to sympathize the terms and conditions of the loan to avoid revenue losses.

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FAQs

What are the common project delivery methods?

Nosotros’ve listed project delivery methods below.

• Pattern-bid-build:
  As the proper noun suggests, this method consists of three stages — pattern, bid and build. First, the customer hires an architect to create a project layout. Then, the bidding procedure begins, where the company owner evaluates bids and awards the project to a deserving contractor. At the last stage, the construction piece of work commences.
• Blueprint-build:
  The customer replaces the architect with a contractor possessing designing skills.
• Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR):
  The company owner hires a construction manager to manage the project from beginning to terminate. It’s the duty of the construction manager to rent contractors and subs for the projection.
  The client expects the manager to submit a guaranteed maximum cost when the project’s halfway through the blueprint phase. If the costs surpass the guaranteed maximum cost, the manager volition have to spend from their pockets, putting them at risk.
• Integrated Project Delivery:
  The visitor possessor binds architects, contractors and subs into a single contract. This method enhances collaboration and improves efficiency.

What are some of the common contract types?

Some of the common contract types include:

• Toll plus
• Guaranteed maximum cost (GMP)
• Lump sum
• Unit price

How can I select the all-time bidding solution?

We’ve outlined the software option process below to help you select a behest application that all-time suits your business organisation needs.

• Appraise Your Needs:
  Y’all can behave surveys and agree brainstorming sessions to determine your company’s needs. You can refer to our construction bidding requirements checklist to brand informed decisions.
• Consider Software Pricing:
  Don’t invest in a product that could cause budget overshoots. Yous should thoroughly review your budget plans and classify funds for a new application.
• Compare Vendors:
  You lot should compare providers against your requirements and rank them appropriately. Leverage our structure bidding comparison matrix to compare multiple vendors simultaneously and generate scorecards.
• Negotiate:
  Information technology’s time to negotiate terms and conditions with the vendor. You should consult legal counsel if you experience suspicious almost whatsoever terms.
• Seal the Contract:
  Set up and sign the contract when y’all and the vendor reach an agreement. Y’all should always make copies of the contract to avert legal issues.

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In Conclusion

We don’t have a time-turner to become back in the past and rectify our mistakes. Simply we tin can leverage construction bidding platforms to create accurate bid proposals and win projects when bidding on construction jobs. Remember, producing a quality proposal is key to winning jobs.

Yous need to listing your company’s requirements before investing in a solution. We know information technology can be challenging. Don’t worry. You tin can use our decision platform to generate functional, technical and vendor qualification requirements. It too helps you create and send an RFI and RFP to providers.

You can read our construction bidding buyer’southward guide if you need more guidance on selecting the right behest software.

Were you able to go a detailed answer to your question regarding how to bid construction jobs? What bidding strategies practise you use to win projects? Please permit us know in the comments below.