What GCs Actually Look at When Leveling Your Bid

Here's something most subs never see: the other side of bid day.

A GC estimator has eight electrical bids on their desk. They need to level them — compare scope, pricing, and qualifications side by side — and get a recommendation to their project manager by end of day. They have maybe two minutes per bid for the first pass.

What gets you past the first pass

Scope broken out by CSI division. If your bid is a single lump sum with no breakdown, the GC can't tell what's included. They'll either call you for clarification (if they have time) or skip to the next sub who made it obvious.

Material, labor, and equipment separated. GCs need to see the components, not just a total. A $180,000 electrical bid means nothing without knowing how much is wire, how much is labor, and how much is equipment. They're comparing your wire costs to seven other subs' wire costs.

Exclusions listed clearly. What's NOT in your bid matters as much as what is. A missing exclusion is a margin killer — if the GC assumes it's included and you assumed it wasn't, someone's eating that cost. Guess who.

Qualifications and assumptions stated. If your bid assumes a specific access schedule, or is based on a particular addendum, say so. GCs are leveling across different assumptions — they need to know yours.

What doesn't matter (as much as you think)

• Fancy formatting. A clean, readable PDF beats a designed brochure. GCs want information density, not white space.
• Cover letter length. Two paragraphs is fine. They're reading eight of these.
• Your company history. They already know who you are. They invited you to bid.

What Archer does about this

Archer assembles your bid package the way the GC needs to see it — scope broken out by division, costs separated into material, labor, and equipment, exclusions generated from the scope, and qualifications stated clearly. DOCX and PDF. Ready to send from your phone.

You look organized because you are. You've got a team now.