Estimating, Bidding, Plans, and Specifications
Estimating, Bidding, Plans, and Specifications
This domain tests quantity takeoff, pricing, bid assembly, and plan and specification reading. Expect markup, contingency, bond, addendum, and specification-interpretation questions.
Estimating and bidding
- A takeoff measures quantities from drawings and specs; pricing adds labor, material, equipment, subcontractors, overhead, profit, and contingency.
- Bonds and insurance are real bid costs; a bid bond is usually a percentage of bid and performance and payment bonds protect the owner.
- Addenda modify the bid documents; acknowledge them and incorporate their cost before bid opening.
- Alternates and unit prices must be priced as the specifications require; unbalanced bids can be rejected.
Plans and specifications
- Read the title block, scale, plan views, sections, details, schedules, and general notes together.
- Specifications are commonly organized by MasterFormat divisions; drawings and specs are complementary.
- When a dimension conflicts with a note, follow the contract's precedence clause and issue an RFI rather than guessing.
Worked example. Direct cost is $500,000. Overhead 10%, profit 8%, contingency 3%, all applied to direct cost. Bid = $500,000 x (1 + 0.10 + 0.08 + 0.03) = $605,000. Reasoning: each percentage is a separate markup on the same base; if profit were applied to cost plus overhead, the base would change and the result would differ.
Traps. Omitting bond premiums or contingency; ignoring an addendum; scaling dimensions from a reduced drawing; assuming one specification division covers all trades.