Construction Estimating and Bidding Training Course

Participants can make evidence-based bid/no-bid recommendations using commercial and delivery criteria.

• Bid/no-bid scorecard covering capability, capacity, risk and strategic fit
• Client payment record, reputation and decision-making intelligence sources
• Assessing site constraints, programme demands and resource availability early
• Competitor profiling without unsupported assumptions or informal price intelligence
• Procurement timetable analysis for enquiry, pricing, review and submission
• Documenting bid decision rationale for management approval and audit

Participants can establish a controlled tender document register and extract pricing requirements.

• Tender document register covering drawings, specifications, schedules and addenda
• Revision control procedures for issued-for-tender drawings and clarifications
• Reading general conditions, special conditions and employer requirements
• Cross-checking drawing notes against specification clauses and schedules
• Request for information logs with ownership, due dates and status
• Identifying conflicts, ambiguities and missing information affecting the estimate

Participants can define estimate scope through a coded work breakdown structure.

• Work breakdown structure aligned with construction sequence and cost control
• CSI MasterFormat divisions for organising trade packages and estimate codes
• UniFormat II elements for early-stage building cost planning
• Scope matrix separating included work, exclusions and client-supplied items
• Interface mapping between civil, structural, architectural and MEP packages
• Coding labour, material, plant and subcontract cost components consistently

Participants can prepare checked quantity take-offs from drawings and specifications.

• Manual dimension sheets for lengths, areas, volumes and item counts
• Taking off excavation quantities using sections, contours and formation levels
• Concrete, reinforcement and formwork quantities from structural drawings
• Wall, floor, ceiling and finishes take-offs from architectural plans
• Measurement checklists preventing duplicated quantities and unmeasured scope
• Independent take-off checks using reasonableness ratios and drawing reconciliation

Participants can organise measured work into clear and auditable pricing items.

• Bills of quantities, schedules of rates and lump-sum price structures
• Unit descriptions defining location, material, workmanship and measurement basis
• Provisional sums, prime cost sums and daywork treatment
• Separating measured work from preliminaries, attendance and temporary works
• Pricing alternates, options and client-requested value engineering items
• Reconciliation between take-off sheets, bill items and estimate codes

Participants can build labour cost estimates using crew outputs and burdened rates.

• Labour rate build-up including wages, payroll burdens and allowances
• Crew composition matched to trade methods and planned outputs
• Production rate calculations from quantity, crew hours and working time
• Adjusting productivity for access, congestion, weather and learning effects
• Overtime, shift work and premium-time cost implications
• Benchmarking labour hours against completed projects and published norms

Participants can price material and plant resources with documented sourcing assumptions.

• Material pricing from supplier quotations, catalogues and historical purchase data
• Waste factors, cutting losses, laps and breakage allowances
• Equipment ownership cost using depreciation, fuel, maintenance and operator inputs
• Rental plant comparisons using minimum hire periods and mobilisation charges
• Freight, storage, offloading and handling costs within material pricing
• Recording quotation validity, lead times and currency assumptions

Participants can issue scoped subcontract enquiries and evaluate returned tenders.

• Subcontract enquiry packages containing scope, drawings, terms and return dates
• Bidder lists based on capability, workload, location and financial standing
• Levelling subcontract quotations against a common scope matrix
• Normalising exclusions, qualifications, provisional items and payment terms
• Assessing subcontractor programme, resources and proposed construction methodology
• Documenting recommendation rationale before subcontractor selection approval

Participants can convert proposed construction methods into measurable cost allowances.

• Method statements as sources for labour, plant and temporary works
• Site logistics planning for access, laydown, lifting and material movement
• Temporary works allowances for excavation support, access and protection
• Construction sequencing effects on crew continuity and equipment utilisation
• Off-site fabrication decisions compared with site installation costs
• Method-related assumptions recorded within the estimate basis document

Participants can calculate time-related and fixed preliminaries for a tender.

• Preliminaries schedule covering management, welfare, security and site establishment
• Time-related costs calculated from programme duration and staffing levels
• Fixed-cost items including permits, insurances, surveys and mobilisation
• Site office, utilities, communications and consumables cost allowances
• Health, safety and environmental requirements priced from tender obligations
• Allocating shared site resources across work packages without double counting

Participants can link a tender programme to resource, preliminary and cash requirements.

• Critical path method logic linking activities, durations and completion milestones
• Resource loading activities with labour, plant and subcontract requirements
• Programme duration effects on preliminaries, escalation and working capital
• Milestone constraints, sectional completion and liquidated damages exposure
• Testing programme assumptions against site access and procurement lead times
• Time-phased estimate summaries supporting cash-flow and management review

Participants can quantify tender risk and document appropriate contingency allowances.

• Risk register linking cause, event, consequence, owner and response
• Probability-impact scoring for prioritising estimate risks and opportunities
• Expected monetary value calculations for identified cost risk events
• Contingency allowances separated from scope omissions and management reserve
• Price escalation analysis using procurement timing and market indicators
• Risk workshops challenging assumptions before final tender price approval

Participants can identify contractual provisions that require pricing, qualification or escalation.

• Payment terms, retention, advance payments and working-capital implications
• Liquidated damages, delay obligations and completion milestone exposure
• Variation procedures, notice requirements and valuation mechanisms
• Price adjustment clauses, currency provisions and tax treatment
• Bonds, guarantees and insurance requirements included within bid costs
• Commercial qualifications drafted without contradicting tender instructions

Participants can consolidate detailed costs into a controlled estimate summary.

• Direct-cost summary by work package, resource type and cost code
• Checking arithmetic, units, rates and quantity extensions systematically
• Estimate reconciliation against initial budget, benchmarks and prior tenders
• Cost drivers analysis identifying high-value and high-risk estimate items
• Overhead allocation and profit mark-up decisions within approval limits
• Estimate basis narrative explaining methods, assumptions and commercial positions

Participants can obtain, compare and select supplier quotations for tender pricing.

• Request for quotation documents defining quantities, specifications and delivery requirements
• Supplier bid tabulations comparing rates, lead times and commercial terms
• Apples-to-apples comparison adjustments for scope gaps and freight differences
• Clarification records resolving inconsistent technical and commercial responses
• Fallback pricing methods when compliant quotations are unavailable
• Supplier selection recommendations supported by price, risk and capacity evidence

Participants can recommend a bid strategy aligned with client priorities and market conditions.

• Client evaluation criteria translated into pricing, programme and proposal priorities
• Target price positioning informed by cost base and market intelligence
• Value engineering proposals with quantified savings and delivery implications
• Bid differentiators supported by evidence, not unsupported marketing claims
• Pricing sensitivity analysis for major quantities, rates and risk allowances
• Management approval thresholds for margin, contingency and commercial departures

Participants can prepare a compliant submission and lead a structured bid review.

• Tender compliance checklist covering forms, signatures, bonds and attachments
• Submission schedules coordinating technical, commercial and administrative deliverables
• Bid review agenda covering scope, risks, price and approval actions
• Red-team review techniques testing omissions, arithmetic and contractual exposures
• Clarification and qualification registers controlled before tender submission
• Final submission verification against client instructions and portal requirements

Participants can manage post-tender engagement and transfer priced assumptions to delivery teams.

• Post-tender clarification responses preserving approved pricing and qualifications
• Best-and-final offer decisions supported by revised risk assessment
• Tender interview preparation using estimate evidence and construction methodology
• Bid-to-project handover checklist for scope, allowances and procurement commitments
• Estimate handover meeting between bid team, project team and commercial staff
• Capturing tender outcomes for estimating database and lessons learned

Participants can build, review and present a complete construction tender estimate and bid recommendation.

• Compile controlled quantities, resource rates, quotations and preliminaries into one estimate
• Prepare estimate basis, scope matrix, exclusions and clarification register
• Quantify risk allowances, escalation exposure and proposed tender mark-up
• Conduct bid review using compliance, cost, risk and programme evidence
• Present tender recommendation, commercial qualifications and approval requirements clearly
• Defend pricing assumptions against structured management and client questions