What should I do when a GC shops my electrical bid?
Don't cut your price just because another number is lower. First find out what's different: most gaps between electrical bids are scope, not efficiency. If the scope really is the same, offer an alternate or a value-engineering idea instead of margin, and keep a record of the GCs who shop so you can decide whether to keep bidding to them.
Ask which items the lower number leaves out or qualifies. Fixture packages, gear, fire alarm, site work and utility scope are the usual suspects.
2
Compare scope line by line
Put your proposal beside what you know of the other number. If they excluded something you carried, say so, and price it separately so the GC sees the real difference.
3
Trade scope, not margin
If the GC needs a lower number, offer to take something out, change a product to an approved equal, or price an alternate. Your price comes down because the work changed.
4
Know your walk-away number
Decide before the call what the job is worth to you. A price cut after bid day usually comes straight out of profit.
5
Keep a record
Note which GCs shop numbers and which award fairly. Over a year, it tells you where your estimating hours are worth spending.
Questions estimators ask
What is bid shopping?
When a GC shares one subcontractor's price with others, or uses it to push them lower, before or after the GC's own bid is submitted. It's widely disliked in the trade, because the lowest price after shopping often comes with the least scope.
Does submitting my price late help?
Many subcontractors submit close to the deadline so there's less time to shop their number. It works, but a late bid is also harder for the GC to level, so make the scope especially clear.
Are there rules against bid shopping?
In some places. In Québec, many projects require specialty-trade bids to go through the BSDQ, whose rules are meant to limit bid shopping. Check the instructions to bidders for any bid depository on your project.
How does Bidprobe help?
Before you submit, the review lists the scope gaps and recommended qualifications and exclusions, each tied to its sheet or spec section. A clearly stated scope is your best answer when a GC compares your number with someone else's.
Submit a scope you can defend.
One free bid check on every new account, no card required. Most checks come back in 5 to 15 minutes.