Bidding: from bid package to awarded commitment
The low number on a leveling sheet is often the bid that left something out. Follow one glazing package on Riverside from release to award, and see how the awarded bid becomes a draft subcontract with its lines and cost codes already filled in.
Eight steps, one record
Every step happens on the bid package, and the commitment it creates keeps a link back to the bid it came from. Two steps need two people: a second Bidding admin approves the recommendation before anyone can award.
- 01Bid packageDraft: scope, bid form, due date
- 02Vendor releaseApproved snapshot of what bidders see
- 03InviteOpen; a private link per contact
- 04QuotesLines, exclusions, alternates
- 05LevelSide by side, low and spread
- 06RecommendThen a second admin approves
- 07AwardPackage becomes Awarded
- 08CommitmentCreated as Draft, by you
From package to award
01 Build the package and release it
A bid package starts as a Draft with a title, number, cost code, bid due date, pre-bid walkthrough and the bid form: the lines every bidder prices. Before it opens, someone approves a vendor release: a fixed snapshot of exactly what bidders will see, including the scope, the form lines and the approved files. If you issue an addendum, you can require bidders to acknowledge it before they submit a quote.
02 Invite named contacts
With the package Open, you pick a vendor linked to the project and a named contact who works there, then Record Local Invitation. That gives you a private link which expires. The app doesn't send email to bidders today: you send the link yourself. Each bid moves from Invited to Viewed to Submitted (or Declined). Bidders see only their own quote, never competitors' numbers or your notes.
03 Level what came back
Bidders price each line, mark lines excluded, and add alternates, qualifications and lead time. The leveling grid puts the submitted quotes side by side: the lowest price on each line is highlighted, excluded lines read Excl., and a Spread column shows the gap between high and low.
| Line item | Clearview Glass | Northline Glazing | Keystone Glass | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08-410 Storefront, level 1 lobby | $412,000 | $404,000 (lowest on this line) | $425,500 | $21,500 |
| 08-800 Interior glazed partitions, L2–L4 | $586,000 | $598,000 | $572,000 (lowest on this line) | $26,000 |
| 08-880 Fire-rated glazing, stairs | $148,000 | Excl. | $139,500 (lowest on this line) | $8,500 |
| 08-830 Mirrors and misc. glazing | $38,500 | $41,000 | $36,000 (lowest on this line) | $5,000 |
| Total | $1,184,500 | $1,043,000 (low) | $1,173,000 | $141,500 |
Northline is marked low at $1,043,000, but it excluded the fire-rated glazing. The grid compares the prices bidders gave you; it doesn't fill gaps. That part is your judgment. A common way to level is to price the missing scope at the lowest other bid for that line.
The low bid moves once the gap is priced
Each bid as submitted, and with excluded scope priced at the lowest other bid for that line. Illustrative numbers. The app has no plug values: write how you leveled into the recommendation reason and scope exceptions, where the approver reads it.
Two people, then one click you make on purpose
04 Recommend, then approve
On the award review page, the submitted quotes are frozen in a comparison table, so nobody is looking at a number that changed afterwards. You Record recommendation for Keystone Glass with a written reason and any scope exceptions. A different Bidding admin then Approves recommendation. The app scores nothing automatically; the reasons are yours.
05 Award
Confirm award selects Keystone's bid, clears any other selection and marks the package Awarded. It checks that the bid was submitted, that an approved recommendation exists, and, where a bidder gave both, that the line items match the lump sum. Awarding doesn't create a commitment. That's the next, separate step.
06 Create the draft commitment
Review commitment, choose Subcontract or Purchase Order, then Confirm commitment. The app creates it as a Draft, titled after the package, with Keystone as the vendor and one schedule of values line for each priced line in the bid, with its cost code. The lines must total the award. The bid keeps a link to the commitment, and clicking again opens that commitment instead of making a second one.
| Cost code | Description | Amount | Budget | Budget less award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08-410 | Storefront, level 1 lobby | $425,500 | $430,000 | $4,500 |
| 08-800 | Interior glazed partitions, L2–L4 | $572,000 | $595,000 | $23,000 |
| 08-880 | Fire-rated glazing, stairs | $139,500 | $165,000 | $25,500 |
| 08-830 | Mirrors and misc. glazing | $36,000 | $50,000 | $14,000 |
| Total | $1,173,000 | $1,240,000 | $67,000 | |
The first three columns are what the app copies from the bid. The budget comparison is illustrative and is the job of the buyout step.
07 Check the buyout against the budget
The buyout page allocates the award to cost codes against a captured budget snapshot, with revised budget, prior committed and direct cost, and the headroom left, then Approve this buyout plan. On this package the award comes in $67,000 under a $1,240,000 budget: that's buyout savings, not profit yet. From here the subcontract follows its normal path: it counts as committed cost once it's approved.
Not today: sending invitations or bid emails from the app, bid bond tracking, plug values in the grid, and closing a package automatically at the due date.
Keep going
Keep exploring
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- DocsSubcontracts and commitment changesHow subcontracts and purchase orders are structured, how commitment change orders follow owner changes, and how sub invoices, retainage and compliance are checked against the commitment.
- ExplainerBudget, commitments and cost: one ledger for the jobHow budget lines, subcontracts, POs and forecast to complete add up to estimated cost at completion in os.construction, on Riverside sample data.
- BlogThe 3-way match, explained for construction APThe textbook 3-way match is a purchase order, a receiving report and an invoice. Construction AP needs a version that works for subcontracts, progress billing, retainage and lien waivers. Here's what to match, and where it breaks.
- GlossaryBid LevelingComparing subcontractor bids line by line, adjusting for scope gaps and exclusions, so they can be judged on equal terms.
Sample project included
Try this workflow on the sample project
Every trial workspace includes a sample project with sample data, so you can follow these steps in the app before touching a live job.
Want this on live job data?
Bidding, leveling, award and commitment creation are live in os.construction. Invitations are private links you send yourself: the app doesn't email bidders today.
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All figures are illustrative sample data, not a real project. Contract terms and state law decide how retainage, stored materials and change orders work on your job. Check both.