Bidding and contracts · Owner planning guide
Comparing general contractor and trade-package bids
Compare general contractor and trade bids by the work included, responsibility for coordination, proposed team, and assumptions behind the price and schedule.
At a glance
A general contractor usually proposes to manage construction across several trades, while an individual trade bid covers a defined part of the work. Compare the actual responsibilities in each proposal, including coordination, temporary facilities, and completion. Use the same drawings and assumptions for the comparison, and account for work the owner would need to arrange separately.
Key takeaways
- An individual trade contract needs clear responsibilities for work shared with other contractors.
- Use a shared comparison table to identify omissions, overlapping work, and assumptions.
- Record bid clarifications in the final agreement rather than relying on conversations.
Understand the assignment behind each proposal
A general contractor's proposal may include management and coordination across several trades, while a trade contractor may price a defined sitework, concrete, or erection scope. The exact responsibilities come from the agreement. Ask who manages interfaces, temporary arrangements, shared access, design questions, and completion of the overall work. Find those responsibilities in the written scope and clarify any items that have not been assigned.
Design-build is another distinction: DBIA describes it as a single owner contract for both design and construction. A general contracting proposal does not automatically include that design responsibility, and a defined trade package does not become design-build because it contains coordination work. DBIA: what design-build means.
Give bidders the same starting information
Prepare a list of bid documents identifying the drawing revisions, specifications, site information, scope boundaries, intended sequence, and questions bidders must answer. Include relevant owner or equipment-vendor requirements. Send clarifications consistently so one bidder is not pricing information another has never received. Ask each proposal to identify the documents and assumptions used.
If the design is incomplete, say so. Request an estimate suitable for the current stage with clearly identified allowances and exclusions, or define a smaller package that can be priced responsibly. List the information still needed for a firm proposal and agree on when it will be available. This lets the owner compare estimates at the same design stage and understand how the price may develop.
Check the work shared between contractors
Build a comparison table listing the work and the party responsible for each item. For example, a metal-building package may depend on foundations, anchor verification, unloading, erection access, openings, insulation, and adjacent trades. Ask where each item sits in the actual proposals. Show which contract covers each item and identify who will coordinate work that crosses between trades.
A useful hypothetical comparison is two concrete bids: one includes the stated preparation and testing coordination, while another expressly excludes them. Before comparing totals, identify who will provide the excluded work and how it will be coordinated. Show any estimate for excluded work separately, with its basis and the information needed to obtain a confirmed price.
Account for the work the owner retains
Directly procuring multiple packages can leave the owner or its representative coordinating design releases, work areas, deliveries, and handoffs. Assess whether that responsibility matches the team's experience and availability. Identify who resolves a conflict when one package cannot proceed because another is incomplete. Include the people and time needed for that coordination in the owner's assessment of the construction approach.
Review temporary facilities, common access, shared services, protection of completed work, cleanup, and final documentation where they apply. A proposal comparison should distinguish construction cost from the owner's retained responsibilities. The preferred arrangement should reflect both the construction requirements and the owner's ability to manage the responsibilities it retains.
Compare the team and the schedule assumptions
Ask who will perform the work, supervise it, and coordinate with other participants. Request relevant examples and discuss the proposed team's availability. Compare the prerequisites behind the schedule: approved information, site readiness, work that must be completed first, equipment deliveries, and access. A shorter duration may depend on conditions that the overall project cannot provide.
AGC's procurement guidance distinguishes qualifications-based and best-value approaches. Use a consistent evaluation method appropriate to your procurement obligations, making clear how scope, qualifications, and price inform the decision. Explain the evaluation criteria to bidders before proposals are prepared, and have the appropriate advisers confirm any procurement obligations that apply to the project. AGC: management and procurement options.
Resolve the comparison before awarding the work
Request written answers to material exclusions, unclear interfaces, and alternative assumptions. Update the comparison and ask bidders to confirm any resulting changes. Keep the final scope, accepted alternates, drawings, schedule basis, and responsibility matrix together. Have the appropriate advisers review the proposed contract terms and risk allocation before execution.
Bolt provides general contracting and performs sitework, concrete, and metal building erection under individual trade contracts. To discuss a proposal, send the location, current drawings, the work you need priced, and the requested bid date. Explain what the owner or another contractor will provide so we can review the construction requirements and responsibilities with your team.
Primary sources
Sources reviewed for this guide on September 10, 2026. Check the issuing authority for current project requirements.