One of the most significant risks in pre-construction procurement is the unvetted “low bidder.”
Consider a standard scenario: You issue an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for electrical scope and receive three distinct proposals:
If you simply carry the $14,000 figure into your master budget and execute the contract, you expose the project to substantial financial risk. Often, the low bidder has excluded critical line items—fixtures, low-voltage wiring, or permit fees—resulting in change orders that inflate the final cost well beyond the other proposals.
To mitigate this, professional General Contractors utilize Bid Leveling (often referred to as “scoping”). We have engineered a functional Excel template to facilitate this analysis.
[Download the Bid Leveling Spreadsheet (Excel)]
Bid leveling is the process of normalizing multiple subcontractor quotes against a standardized scope of work. It transforms a collection of disparate PDF proposals into a unified data set, allowing for a true “apples-to-apples” financial comparison.
Our template is structured to help you identify “Scope Gaps” before they evolve into margin erosion.
The spreadsheet features a vertical matrix for specific scope items (e.g., “Trash Removal,” “Temp Power,” “Mock-ups”). By cross-referencing each subcontractor’s proposal against this matrix, you can visually identify variances in scope coverage.
If Bidder A has excluded the dumpster fee, you must “plug” a value into their column (e.g., add $800) to level the playing field. This calculation reveals the Adjusted Contract Value, which is the only metric that should be used for award decisions.
The template includes a section for comparing hourly labor rates and markup percentages on extra work. It is not uncommon for a subcontractor to present a competitive base bid while carrying above-market rates for Change Orders. Identifying this discrepancy during the leveling phase allows for negotiation prior to contract execution.
Proper leveling is also your best defense against Subcontractor Price Hikes later in the project.
While this spreadsheet is a necessary tool for risk management, it introduces a secondary challenge: Administrative Overhead.
Effective bid leveling in Excel requires a high volume of manual transcription:
For complex projects involving 15-20 trade divisions, a Project Manager can easily expend 20+ hours on data entry alone. This is high-friction work that detracts from higher-value activities such as sub-coordination and schedule management.
We developed Bid Bench to streamline the pre-construction workflow by removing the manual data entry bottleneck.
Bid Bench leverages AI to parse and normalize subcontractor data automatically:
Eliminate the administrative burden of bid analysis and focus on selecting the right partners for your project.
Experience the future of procurement.
[Start your 30-day free trial of Bid Bench today. No credit card required.]