How do you ensure your project gets the best value without sacrificing quality or time? The answer lies in a smart bidding process. In Part 1 of this series, we explored how to align projects, like a roof replacement or pool remodel, with organizational goals and stakeholder needs. Part 2 covered creating a scope of work and now in Part 3 we'll solicit and compare bids to get our work under contract. I'll use the terms vendor and contractor interchangeably here but the concepts will work just the same.

Let's dive in, using our examples:

• Roof Replacement: A multifamily property with a failing roof, driving up repair costs and resident complaints. The owner aims for a 5-10-year hold, prioritizing durability.
• Pool Remodel: An outdated pool needing aesthetic upgrades to match the target market, with the owner planning a sale in two years.

Why bid?

That question may surprise some people who see the bid process as the norm and maybe the question should be "why not bid?" After all, bidding is often required per property management agreement for work that has a certain dollar amount and if you are performing oversight for a percentage fee your client wants to know they are getting the best value.

There are a few reasons you might not bid work

• Immediate or emergency scenarios: Your work might need an immediate fix or solution to mitigate future damage or quickly resume operations.
• Trusted Vendors: You may have established solid relationships with a contractor to where you are familiar with their workmanship and pricing and the time spent bidding is not seen as necessary compared to the time lost not executing the work.
• Known Costs: You have already estimated the value of the work and know what price you are willing to pay.

For our roof replacement, bidding ensures cost-effective durability for a 5-10-year hold. For the pool remodel, a trusted vendor might expedite aesthetic upgrades for a quick sale.

But in general the bid process should align you with a vendor that is going to meet your requirement against cost, quality and timeliness.

Selecting the Bidding Vendors

You may have already interacted with several vendors when putting together your scope of work. They may have in fact already submitted bids based on their understanding of the work as you were discussing it with them but those bids are now likely obsolete and missing scope.

If you don't have vendors to bid in hand, how do you go about sourcing them? Here are some options:

• Connect with your peers: if you know someone in the industry ask them who they have used in the past. Who would they stay away from and why?
• Source the web: Searching the interwebs will give you a lot of possibilities. Just know you're going to have to call them and vet them out. Search for "Roofers in my area" and you'll get quite a list. You'll want to narrow that down to Roofers that work in multifamily or single family rentals.
• Check with your local apartment associations: If you are a member of your local apartment association you'll have access to their member directory. Oftentimes it's publicly available for non-members as well. What's nice about this is this vendor will be familiar with the typical asks of working within multifamily.
• Source LinkedIn: I've known people who have had luck going on LinkedIn and stating "Hey, I'm looking for a roofer in this area, any recommendations?"

Once you have made contact with some vendor you will want to vette and qualify them. How long have they been in business? Where are they currently working and who is the contact there? What other references can they provide? I like to visit a jobsite for work performed that is 2 or more years old. It gives a sense of workmanship and quality

Preparing Bid Instructions

One of the big mistakes I see is that people will often solicit a bid just by walking a project with a bidder "on the fly". Yes, they might have their scope of work in hand as they walk, but they are likely going to miss key points and information for the bidders.

The best thing you can do is avoid soliciting bids during informal project walks—written instructions ensure consistency and clarity. Provide vendors with a bid package that includes:

• Bid Due Date: Specify when bids are due (e.g., two weeks from receipt).
• Bid Format: Provide a spreadsheet or template for cost breakdowns (e.g., per square foot for roofing). For the roof replacement, request material and labor costs separately. You need to think about how you intend the bids to come back so you can more easily compare the bids.
• Insurance and vendor requirements: Provide any insurance or vendor requirements the bidding vendor must conform to in order to perform work on the site and with your company.
• Documents and Site Conditions: Here you will state that the bidder must thoroughly review and understand any plans, documents, governing codes and information pertaining to the work. They should also make themselves aware of all existing site conditions.
• Discrepancies: Instruct bidders to seek clarification on omissions or conflicts in documents.
• Timeline and Crews: Estimated time of work, including the required crews and manpower needed to make the desired schedule
• Permits and Inspections: State who is responsible for obtaining necessary permits, inspections or testing.
• Contract and Payment terms: I would often attach a sample of the contract or purchase orders that would accompany the job as this often would have additional terms or conditions not covered in the scope. 

Getting the Bids

You now have some options on getting the bids.

• Group Bid Walk: One method is to set a time and date to perform a bid walk with all of the bidders at one time. The benefit of this is that all of the bidding parties see and hear the same things. Questions and answers provided during the walk are transmitted to all at once. The sense of competition can help sweeten the pot for you. Timing is often tough for this though and usually only larger projects can be coordinated as a result.

• Individual Bid Walks: Easier to coordinate with the bidders but more time consuming for you to manage and consistency of the message, questions and responses will vary.

• Self-Serve: Lastly you can have bidders self-serve and provide them with all of the Bid Instructions and Project Documentation and allow them to visit the Site as needed. At a minimum you should still follow with a call for any questions or clarifications.

Confirm bidders can meet deadlines and adjust if needed. For the roof replacement something like, a self-serve approach might suit vendors familiar with multifamily work. 

Comparing Bids

Once you receive your bids the work begins in reviewing what they provided to understand your best option. If you had provided the format for them to reply in and they did so, you will be in luck and the bids will be much easier to compare. If they did not then you will be sorting them out as best you can by creating an adhoc spreadsheet to show costs side by side.

Allow for time in your process to seek clarification from bidders as you review what they have provided.

It might go without saying, but it's important here to note that cost shouldn't be the only consideration when choosing the winning bid.

• Cost: Ensure all bids cover the full scope of work.
• Reputation: Verify references if not done earlier.
• Crew and Supervision: In the bid instructions you should have asked for them to respond with crews and manpower. Look at that response closely. What sort of supervision are they providing and how often will that supervision be on the job?

I've paid more relative to other bids on critical jobs because I knew the staffing and supervision were better filled by a certain contractor and I couldn't afford for it to go sideways. Conversely if I had the capability to be more present at a jobsite during the work i might feel i could cover the gaps and call in if I saw something was going awry. You'll have to choose where you fall on that.

• Schedule: Confirm timelines align with your goals.

Once you have satisfied yourself on the bid comparisons make your pick! If you are presenting to an owner for approval, make your recommendation and be clear as to what drives that recommendation. Show your work and be up front on any gaps or concerns so that there are no surprises down the road.

Summing up Part 3

A strategic bidding process aligns cost, quality, and timeliness, ensuring your non-routine project stays on track. By sourcing qualified vendors, providing clear bid instructions, and comparing bids holistically, you select the right partner for success.

In Part 4, we'll explore managing project execution to deliver results that meet your goals.

What's your biggest challenge when bidding out projects? Share your tips or questions in the comments, and stay tuned for Part 4!