Free resource library

Checklist Module 01

Pre-Bid Document Checklist

The documents you are supposed to have read before you put a number on a job, and the ones that quietly decide whether the number holds.

Who it is for. Anybody who has bid off the grading plan and found the risk hiding in the specification or the subcontract.

Download the PDF US Letter. Printable. Free.

This sheet ladders into module 01, Read the Site Before You Price It.

The plans are the smallest part of the bid package

Most contractors read the plans and skim everything else. The plans tell you what to build. The specification tells you to what standard, the contract tells you who carries the risk, and the addenda quietly change both of them three days before the bid is due.

Work down this list before you price. Anything you cannot obtain is a question for the person taking bids, and the question goes in writing so their answer does too.

Drawings

  • Complete plan set with the sheet index, and every sheet on the index actually present
  • Revision number and date on every sheet, matching each other
  • Civil sheets: existing conditions, demolition, grading, drainage, utility, erosion control, details
  • Any architectural or structural sheet that shows a footing you have to dig to
  • Survey control sheet with benchmark and coordinates
  • Off-site work: access road, tie-in, right of way
  • Details for every structure you are setting

Specifications

  • Division 01 general requirements, which is where submittals, schedule and cleanup obligations live
  • Division 31 earthwork, including the compaction requirement and the acceptable fill
  • Division 32 exterior improvements
  • Division 33 utilities, including materials, bedding, testing and acceptance
  • The testing section: who hires the lab, who pays for a failed test, and who pays for the retest
  • The submittal schedule and how long the engineer has to review
  • Any specification that names a single manufacturer with no approved equal

Site information

  • Geotechnical report, in full, including the appendices
  • Boring logs, and where the borings actually are relative to your excavation
  • Groundwater readings and the date they were taken
  • Existing utility record drawings from the owner
  • Environmental report, if any, and any known contamination
  • Previous site use, and whether anything was buried on it
  • Topographic survey and its date

Permits and regulatory

  • Land disturbance permit: applied for, issued, or nobody has started
  • Stormwater permit and the SWPPP, and who is the operator on it
  • Right of way, road cut or encroachment permits
  • Floodplain or wetland approvals
  • Septic, sewer or water connection permits and the reviewing authority
  • Local ordinances on hours, haul routes, noise and dust
  • Who holds each permit, and therefore who gets the fine

The contract, which is where the money is won or lost

  • The actual contract form you will sign, not a summary of it
  • The general conditions the subcontract incorporates by reference
  • Change order clause: what triggers one, how long you have to give notice, and what happens if you do the work first
  • Differing site conditions clause, or the absence of one
  • Retainage percentage and the release conditions
  • Pay when paid or pay if paid, and which one it actually is
  • Liquidated damages per day, and what starts the clock
  • Notice periods for delay and for claims, in days, written down
  • Termination for convenience and what you get paid if it is used
  • Indemnity and additional insured requirements
  • Warranty period and what it covers
  • Order of precedence: which document wins when two of them disagree

Insurance, bonds and prequalification

  • Required limits for general liability, auto, umbrella and workers compensation
  • Additional insured endorsement forms named by number, not just the words additional insured
  • Waiver of subrogation, if required
  • Bid bond, and the bond form they want
  • Performance and payment bond, and the premium in your bid
  • Prequalification packet and its deadline, which is usually before the bid
  • Your own certificate on hand and in date

Public work extras

  • Wage determination attached, and the classifications you will actually use
  • Certified payroll requirement and the form
  • Apprenticeship or workforce requirements
  • Disadvantaged, minority or woman owned business participation goals
  • Non-collusion affidavit, tax affidavit and any other form due with the bid
  • The exact bid form, and whether an unbalanced or incomplete bid gets thrown out
  • Bid opening time, place, and how late is late

Addenda

  • Every addendum received, numbered, with the date
  • Each addendum read for scope change, not just acknowledged
  • Acknowledgement of every addendum on the bid form
  • Last addendum checked for the day before the bid is due
  • Quantities re-checked against the final addendum, not the original plan

Where this comes from

Every code, standard and statute this sheet leans on, with a link to the body that publishes it. Check them. That is what they are for.

Download the PDF Back to the library