Building subcontractor scope packages from your takeoff
How to send subs a package that gets comparable bids back: filtered quantities, the right sheets, explicit scope boundaries and stated assumptions.
5 min read
Key takeaways
- Send quantities, not just plans — it makes bids comparable.
- State scope boundaries explicitly, especially at trade interfaces.
- Include only the sheets that trade needs, plus the relevant details.
- Make clear whether the sub should verify or accept your quantities.
Send three subs a full plan set and you get back three numbers measuring three different scopes. Send them a filtered quantity package with explicit boundaries and you get back three numbers you can actually compare — which is the whole point of soliciting three.
What goes in the package
- The quantities for that trade only, with units and sheet references.
- The sheets that show that scope, plus the applicable details and cross sections.
- Relevant specification sections and general notes.
- A written scope-inclusion list and an exclusion list.
- Schedule and phasing information that affects productivity.
- Whether quantities are for reference or are contractual.
Be explicit at trade interfaces
Almost every scope gap on a project sits at a boundary between two trades. Name the boundary in the package rather than assuming the industry convention will be applied the way you expect.
| Interface | State clearly |
|---|---|
| Site utility / plumbing | Where responsibility changes — typically 5' from the building |
| Earthwork / paving | Who does subgrade prep and fine grading |
| Civil / landscape | Who furnishes and respreads topsoil |
| Paving / striping | Whether striping and signage are included |
| Concrete / paving | Who places curb and who places walk |
| Utility / restoration | Who patches pavement over trenches |
| Site electrical / civil | Who trenches and backfills for conduit |
"As shown on the plans" is not a scope boundary. If two trades can both read that phrase as excluding the same item, the item ends up in nobody's price.
Reference or contractual quantities
State which model you are using. If quantities are provided for reference and the sub is responsible for verifying them, say so. If you are asking for unit prices against your quantities, say that instead — it makes bids directly comparable but shifts quantity risk to you.
- Reference quantities: sub verifies, sub carries quantity risk, bids may differ in scope.
- Contractual quantities: you carry quantity risk, bids are directly comparable.
- Unit-price format: both parties share risk through measured payment.
Evaluating what comes back
Compare unit prices, not just totals. A sub whose total is low but whose pipe unit price is high may have measured less footage than you did — which is information about your takeoff as well as their price. Those discrepancies, chased down before the bid, are some of the most valuable quantity checks available, because they come from someone with a financial reason to be right.
Doing this work in TakeoffAI? Scope exports.
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