Estimating and Bidding
This domain tests how a bid is built and defended: quantity takeoff, pricing labor and material, indirect costs, bid-day decisions, and the errors that turn a winning bid into a losing job. Expect unit-conversion arithmetic.
Building the number
A takeoff converts drawings into quantities by trade, using consistent units and a documented basis. Material cost adds a waste or breakage factor. Labor is priced by crew rate and productivity (units per labor hour), not by bare wage. Equipment is either an ownership cost (spread over the year) or a rental/operating rate. Add indirect costs, permits, insurance, bond premium, contingency, and escalation, then apply overhead and profit through the margin formula.
The bid process
Review all addenda and acknowledge them; send pre-bid RFIs; compare subcontractor and supplier quotes scope-by-scope, not just by bottom line. On bid day, verify scope gaps, exclusions, and alternates. An unbalanced bid shifts money into early or likely-to-change items; owners may reject it.
Worked example
A slab is 100 ft × 30 ft × 4 in. Volume = 100 × 30 × (4 ÷ 12) = 1,000 ft³. Convert: 1,000 ÷ 27 = 37.04 yd³. Add 5% waste: 37.04 × 1.05 = 38.9, so order 39 yd³. At $145/yd³ the material is $5,655. Finishing at $1.10/ft² on 3,000 ft² is $3,300. Direct cost is $8,955 before formwork, overhead, and profit. Note that forgetting the inch-to-foot conversion overstates concrete by a factor of three.
Traps that cost marks
- Ignoring a late addendum that changes scope or quantities.
- Comparing sub quotes without checking inclusions and exclusions.
- Omitting waste, bond premium, permits, or GRT from the price.
- Pricing labor at wage instead of burdened crew rate.
- Assuming the apparent low bidder is the responsible, qualified bidder.