As a General Contracting firm grows, the way it categorizes data becomes a critical factor in its scalability. In the early stages of a business, project budgets are often organized organically—Concrete, Framing, Plumbing—using whatever terms seem logical at the time.
The problem with an organic system is that it lacks a common language. One project manager might categorize “Hardware” under “Finishes,” while another places it under “Doors and Windows.” This inconsistency makes it difficult to compare historical costs or onboard new team members.
To move toward a professional standard, many GCs adopt the CSI MasterFormat.
The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) MasterFormat is the industry-standard “filing system” for construction information. It uses a series of numbered divisions to categorize every possible aspect of a project.
While the full MasterFormat contains 50 divisions, most residential and light commercial General Contractors use a simplified version of the primary 16 (or the updated 48-division version).
Adopting a numbered classification system is not merely about “tidying up” a spreadsheet. It provides specific operational advantages for your bid log.
When you issue an Invitation to Bid for “Section 22 00 00 Plumbing,” you are signaling to the subcontractor that you operate at a professional level. It reduces the likelihood of scope gaps because both parties are referencing a standardized definition of what that division entails.
If every project follows the same numbering system, you can perform “cross-project analysis.” You can quickly look at Division 03 costs across five different custom homes to identify price trends. If your numbering is inconsistent, this type of analysis requires hours of manual data re-mapping.
A common mistake for growing GCs is failing to account for “General Requirements”—the non-trade specific costs required to keep the job site running. These are covered in Division 01.
Often, items like temporary toilets, construction fencing, dumpsters, and site security are “buried” inside other categories or, worse, just absorbed as part of the GC’s fee. This is a dangerous practice because it masks your true project overhead.
By utilizing Division 01 specifically in your bid log, you treat these site costs as legitimate project expenses rather than overhead “leakage.” It allows you to track exactly how much you are spending on “keeping the lights on” across different projects. This granularity is essential for accurately pricing your next management fee—if you know that site requirements consistently cost you 3% of the contract value, you won’t underbid your services next time.
Moving to a standardized system requires a shift from “free-text” entry to a “dropdown” or “category-based” entry.
Folder 22_Plumbing).Manually assigning MasterFormat codes to every incoming bid is a tedious task. Many GCs avoid standardization simply because they do not have the time to look up codes for every email they receive.
Bid Bench was designed to solve this administrative burden. The system uses a standardized classification engine by default. When you create a project, your divisions are pre-set. When you forward a subcontractor’s PDF to the project, the system can assist in assigning it to the correct division instantly.
This ensures that your budget remains organized and your bid log remains professional, without requiring you to become an expert in construction specifications.
Professionalize your project categories.
Bid Bench provides the structure you need to manage bids like a large-scale firm. Start your free trial at app.bidbench.com/signup.