how long does a bid actually take you guys, start to finish?
Started helping a friend who owns a small GC company with his back office stuff. I come from software so construction is new to me, and I did not expect bidding to eat this much of his week.
A request comes in as a PDF. Sometimes clean, sometimes a scan you can barely read. He drops it into his system, finds a door on the plan to work out the scale, and measures square footage from there.
Then it’s a day or two of counting, chasing sub contractors and typing numbers into a spreadsheet he’s been refining/using for years.
Last week revised drawings showed up mid bid and he spent an evening just hunting for what changed.
I keep thinking this can’t be normal but he says that’s just how does it, adapt on the fly.
For people who do this every week, how many hours does a typical bid take you from the plans landing in your inbox to the price going out?