Pre-bid review

Resolve the questions behind the price

A bid depends on a shared understanding of the work. Review the issued drawings, specifications, and addenda for conflicting requirements and missing information before those questions turn into pricing assumptions.

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Where to focus

What to bring into the review

The pricing basis

Identify the current issue, included addenda, and references that govern this review. Compare the document register with the actual files and flag unresolved issue precedence.

Drawn and specified scope

Compare material requirements, equipment data, details, and schedules. A mismatch can matter even when each document appears complete on its own.

Interfaces and responsibilities

Review supports, openings, utility connections, demolition limits, and other conditions shared between trades. Identify where the supplied documents leave the handoff unclear.

Alternates and unanswered questions

Reconcile descriptions of base work, alternates, and allowances where they are included. Keep missing information and assumptions visible in a question log until the project team responds.

Inside Groundbook

Turn findings into focused bid questions

Review the potential issues Groundbook found, open the supporting references, and identify which questions could change scope or pricing. Carry the verified question and its source references into your team’s bid process.

Groundbook findings list with issue titles, severity, discipline, and review controls. — Review the potential issues Groundbook found, organized by severity and discipline.Start for free

A practical workflow

From the first pass to a decision

Freeze the review package
Record the drawing issue and addenda, distinguish references from files to check, and state the bid scope and decision deadline in the review instructions.
Verify and route the question
Check the source context before sending a question. Name the conflicting requirements, affected trade or interface, and the decision needed from the responsible party.
Reconcile the answer
Record the response and governing document or addendum. Check that affected schedules, details, and specifications agree, and that the pricing team has the same basis.

From a published project review

Plans, schedules, and controls use different equipment data

This published finding illustrates a document conflict that could affect pricing. The case does not report a bid outcome or savings.

Equipment tags, quantities, duties, materials, and operating sequences did not consistently reconcile across plans, diagrams, schedules, and specifications.

Read the finding

A shared question log

Keep assumptions visible until they have an answer

The editable CSV starts with eight review prompts and provides fields for source references, scope effects, ownership, responses, and the governing addendum. Adapt it to your project’s bid process.

Package and addenda

Which issue and addenda form the pricing basis?

Conflicting requirements

Do the plan, schedule, and specification state the same requirement?

Missing detail

Is the detail or dimension needed to understand this scope provided?

Scope boundary

Is the responsibility for the shared interface stated consistently?

Alternates and allowances

Are descriptions and limits consistent across the supplied bid documents?

Equipment and services

Do equipment identity, service needs, and supports agree across disciplines?

Phasing and existing conditions

Is the sequence or tie-in condition clear enough to identify the affected work?

Response reconciliation

Has the answer been incorporated into the governing package or recorded pricing basis?

Define the scope with your team

This workflow reviews the requirements stated in the supplied documents. Groundbook does not produce a quantity takeoff, establish bid prices, or determine contractual rights. Your team decides how verified questions, responses, and qualifications are handled under the project’s bidding procedures.

Download the pre-bid question log (CSV)

Questions, answered

FAQs

Is a pre-bid review the same as constructability review?

They overlap. Pre-bid review focuses on information that affects scope and the pricing basis before a bid. Constructability review examines how documented conditions and interfaces can be built. Use both scopes when the project needs them.

Can this calculate the cost of a conflict?

No. A finding identifies a document question and its sources. Your estimating team assesses quantities, pricing, allowances, and any commercial consequence.

How should we handle a new addendum?

Record it in the review register, identify which documents and answers it changes, then check the affected schedules, details, and specifications. Keep superseded instructions clearly identified.

Should every finding be sent as a bid question?

No. First verify the source context, issue, and whether another document already answers it. Route the remaining questions through the project’s agreed process.

Keep exploring

Bring your next set into focus

Set up a review or talk through your project with our team.

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