Construction bid management automation from ITB to leveled scope
For GCs and specialty subs whose estimators spend bid week reading invites, downloading addenda and calling subs for numbers. Invitations to bid are triaged, plan sets filed, sub coverage tracked and quotes leveled by scope, and your estimators set every price.
- Go or no-go summary on every ITB with bond and wage flags
- Addenda tracked so nobody bids an old set
- Sub quotes leveled line by line with exclusions called out
How bids go wrong before anyone prices them
Forty ITBs a week, three worth chasing
Invites arrive from BuildingConnected, PlanHub, ConstructConnect and direct GC emails. Reading each for scope, bonding and prevailing wage eats the hours meant for takeoff.
Addendum 3 changed the scope
An addendum lands two days before bid day, revises a spec section and nobody tells the subs. Their numbers cover the old drawings and the gap shows up after award.
Quotes that cannot be compared
One electrical sub excludes fire alarm, another excludes permits, a third sends a lump sum with no breakout. Leveling happens on bid morning, with phones ringing.
What the bid workflow covers
Built around how estimators already work, connected to BuildingConnected through Autodesk's official APIs, to Procore once a job is won, and to PlanHub and other bid boards through their email notifications where no open API exists.
ITB triage
Each invite is summarized with project type, location, trades, bid date, walkthrough date, bonding, Davis-Bacon or state prevailing wage, and a fit score against your past wins.
Plan set and addenda tracking
Drawings, specs and addenda are filed to the bid folder where the platform allows. Each new addendum is diffed against the last and flagged to every sub it touches.
Sub coverage by trade
A coverage sheet shows which divisions have zero, one or three bidders, so estimators know by Tuesday where they need to recruit more subs.
Sub outreach and reminders
Approved invite lists go out with scope notes and the current addendum number, with reminders until each sub bids, declines or asks a question.
Scope leveling sheets
Quotes are broken into line items by spec section with inclusions, exclusions, qualifications and alternates side by side, each cell linked to the original quote.
Hit rate by GC and sector
Win rate and margin are tracked by GC, owner type and project size, so go or no-go calls rest on your own history, not gut feel.
Where bid data comes from and goes
BuildingConnected and Autodesk
Bid invites and bid board data through Autodesk Platform Services APIs.
PlanHub and ConstructConnect
Invite emails and project notices parsed where no open API is offered.
Bluebeam and takeoff files
Marked-up sets and quantity exports filed with the bid for reference.
Excel leveling templates
Leveling built in your chief estimator's existing workbook, not a new tool.
Award to project setup
Won bids carry scope and sub buyout into RFI and submittal tracking.
The estimating agent
See the ITB triage and scope leveling agents on the agents page.
Built for estimators who carry the risk
No number the estimator did not set
The system levels and flags. It never plugs a missing scope, adds markup or decides which sub to carry.
Addenda acknowledged on the form
Before a bid is marked ready, the system checks that every issued addendum is listed on your bid form, since on public work a missing acknowledgment can make a bid nonresponsive.
Sub bids treated as confidential
Sub pricing stays in accounts your company owns, on model terms that exclude training, and never travels between bids or to another sub.
Every line traces to a quote
Each cell on the leveling sheet links to the page in the sub's quote it came from, so a scope gap after award has a clear paper trail.
“He got me 9 sales in my first 7 days of launching our campaign, which exceeded my expectations!”
Common questions
What is construction bid management automation?
It is the work around estimating done by software: triaging ITBs, filing plans and addenda, tracking sub coverage by trade, sending reminders and building a scope leveling sheet. Estimators still do takeoff, pricing and the final bid.
Can it tell a public bid with Davis-Bacon requirements from a private one?
It reads the ITB and specs for wage determination references, bonding and DBE or MBE participation language, and flags them on the summary. Your estimator confirms before pricing labor.
What happens when an addendum lands the night before bid day?
It is compared to the prior set, changed spec sections are listed, and affected subs get a note with the addendum number so their quotes can be revised. The estimator approves that note before it goes.
We are a sub, not a GC. Does this still fit?
Yes. Subs use the triage to choose which GCs to bid a project to, and the leveling side to compare supplier and lower-tier quotes.
Does it work with PlanHub?
PlanHub does not publish an open API, so we work from its invite emails and project notices. BuildingConnected is reached through Autodesk's official APIs.
Can it keep our sub list current?
It tracks who bid, who declined and who went silent by trade and region, and flags subs whose COI or license on file has lapsed so estimators can decide who to invite.
Spend bid week estimating, not sorting
Take the 2-minute AI audit to see where ITBs and sub quotes are costing your estimators the most time.
- Read last quarter's invites
We go through 90 days of ITBs and your bid log to learn which ones you pursued, which you won and why the rest were passed.
- Score live invites beside your estimators
For two to three weeks the triage runs alongside your team. Estimators mark each score right or wrong and we tune the rules.
- Add leveling on one real bid
We level the sub quotes on one live bid with your chief estimator checking every line before the format becomes standard.
- Keep up with platform changes
Bid boards change their emails and exports often. We watch for breaks, adjust parsers and review fit scores with you monthly.