Bid validation & estimate review services
An independent takeoff measured blind, then compared line by line against your own numbers before you submit.
What bid validation covers
On a high-value package we measure without seeing your figures. Where the two estimates agree, you gain confidence. Where they differ, you have found something worth an hour of attention before the bid goes out rather than after it is won.
We also level subcontractor bids so you are comparing genuinely equivalent scopes. Three quotes that look ten per cent apart are frequently three different scopes pretending to be one, and that gap is where the exposure hides.
Turnaround
24–72 hours, aligned to your bid date
Who it is for
General contractors, owners reviewing tenders and estimators wanting a second set of eyes.
Bid validation
- Blind re-measure of the nominated package
- Line-by-line variance report against your estimate
- Sub-bid levelling normalised to a common scope
- Inclusions and exclusions made explicit for each quote
- Scope-gap commentary and RFI candidates
- Bid-day support until the package is submitted
The deliverable.
Consistent whatever the engagement, so it drops into how you already work.
Independent estimate workbook
Variance reconciliation against your numbers
Levelled sub-bid comparison sheet
Common bid validation mistakes
These are the errors that turn up most often when work of this kind is checked. None of them are exotic, and all of them are cheaper to find before the number goes out than after.
For a longer list with examples, read nine takeoff mistakes that only show up on bid day.
- A second opinion prepared after seeing the first number, and quietly anchored to it
- Subcontractor quotes compared on price when each one covers a different scope
- Checking the arithmetic, which is rarely wrong, instead of the scope, which often is
- Reviewing the estimate the day before submission, when nothing found can still be acted on
Common questions on bid validation
No. That is the whole point of the exercise. The re-measure is done blind and the comparison happens afterwards, otherwise the second opinion is anchored to the first.
You get a line-by-line reconciliation showing exactly where the two diverge and, where it can be determined from the drawings, why. A difference is information, not a verdict on either estimate.
Work that usually sits alongside this
Most engagements combine more than one of these.
By trade, by sector, and further reading
Trades this applies to
- Structural steel estimating & takeoff servicesDivision 05
- Electrical estimating & takeoff servicesDivision 26
- HVAC & mechanical estimating servicesDivision 23
- Earthwork & excavation estimating servicesDivision 31
Estimating by sector
- Residential construction estimatingHomes, villas & apartments
- Commercial construction estimatingOffices, retail & warehouses
- Industrial & process estimatingProcess, structural & plant MEP
- Civil & sitework estimatingLand clearing to final grade
Further reading
- Reading an estimate you did not writeEstimating
- Nine takeoff mistakesTakeoff
Tell us what you need priced.
A fixed fee, a firm delivery date and a written scope statement, usually back the same working day.
Fixed project fees · Written scope before work starts · Unlimited revisions within scope