Estimating, Bidding, and Contract Documentation
Building the estimate
Start with a quantity takeoff from the plans and site measurements, then extend quantities by unit costs for material, labor, equipment, and subcontractors. Labor is priced by production rate (units per crew hour) multiplied by the fully burdened crew rate. Add waste factors, sales tax on materials, mobilization, permits, and disposal. Apply overhead recovery and profit last, and carry a contingency only where scope is genuinely uncertain rather than to mask a thin takeoff.
Reading bid documents
Plans, specifications, addenda, and the bid form work together. Read the instructions to bidders for alternates, unit prices, and submission requirements. Submit questions as RFIs before the deadline; addenda issued after you looked at the drawings change the scope. State inclusions, exclusions, and clarifications in the proposal so that assumptions such as existing irrigation condition or soil suitability are not silently absorbed.
Contract administration
Use a written contract that identifies parties, scope, price, payment schedule, schedule, warranty, and change-order procedure. Change orders must be written and signed before work proceeds; verbal direction is the single largest source of nonpayment disputes. Track submittals, substantial completion, punch lists, retainage, and lien notice deadlines.
Rule of thumb
Add 5 to 10 percent waste on sod and plant material and about 10 percent on unit pavers, and price topsoil by compacted volume rather than loose volume.
Traps: bidding without reading addenda, omitting exclusions, and forgetting irrigation or soil amendment line items.