Bid/No-Bid Checklist for Low Voltage Contractors
Every invitation to bid costs your estimator time. On a typical Div 27/28 job, a full takeoff can take hours, and most shops don't win the majority of what they bid. The fastest way to raise your win rate isn't bidding more. It's bidding the right jobs. Run every ITB through this checklist before anyone opens the drawings.
Fit
- Is the scope actually ours? Structured cabling, access control, CCTV, fire alarm, AV. Check whether the ITB covers work you do, or just mentions it.
- Is it in our territory? Factor in travel, per diem, and whether you can staff it without stretching your crews.
- Is the size right? Too small and overhead eats the margin. Too big and you risk bonding limits and cash flow.
Risk
- Are all addenda included? A missing addendum means you're pricing incomplete drawings.
- What's the retainage? 10% held until substantial completion can tie up your cash for months.
- Is there a bond requirement? Confirm you can bond it before spending time pricing it.
- Are there liquidated damages? Know the daily rate before you commit to a schedule.
- Is the scope split clear? Check whether conduit, backboxes, and rough-in sit in Div 26 while devices sit in Div 27 or 28. Unclear splits cause bid-day gaps and change orders.
Odds
- Do we have history with this GC? Have they awarded us work before, or do they only use us for pricing?
- How many bidders are invited? A crowded bid list lowers your odds.
- Is the timeline realistic? A rushed due date usually means a rushed, risky number.
- Is the owner or spec brand-locked? A spec written around a competitor's product line is a hard job to win.
How to score it
If a job fails any risk question you can't resolve, decline it. If it passes fit and risk but the odds look weak, mark it for review and decide based on your current workload. Only jobs that pass all three sections get full estimating time.
Do this automatically
BidSignal runs this checklist on every ITB you receive and returns Bid, Review, or Decline with the reasons, before your estimator spends a minute on the drawings.