Sample bid package
Here is the entire bid package. Open it.
Six files on a full Division 5 scope, nothing behind a form. It's a demonstration package on an invented job (4-story Type III podium multifamily over a Type I concrete garage) because we don't publish anybody's plans. Every document's shape is what lands in your inbox in 24–48 hours.
No form. No email wall. Just the files.
Most estimating outfits show you one redacted screenshot and ask for your email. This is the package itself. Workbook first, because that's the one you'll argue with.
You're checking one thing: does every number trace back to a sheet? Look at the SHEET REF column below. Nobody trusts a bid he didn't build until he's spot-checked three or four quantities against the drawings, and a sheet reference turns that from an afternoon into thirty seconds.
The six files
In the order you open them.
Structural steel and miscellaneous metals, CSI Division 5, on one bid.
Demonstration package. The job below is invented. Building, drawings, sheet numbers, quantities and dollars are all illustrative: none from a client, none a price for any real work. We never publish, excerpt or anonymize a client's plan set or bid documents. What's real is the structure of each document, and that's what ships.
1 · Takeoff workbook .xlsx
One row per member, the sheet it was measured on, and the weight. Nothing locked, nothing hidden. Deck, connection hardware, finishes and the labor build-up sit on their own tabs.
| Mark | Description | Sheet ref | Qty | Unit | Weight (lbs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B-1 | W12x26 beam, podium framing, 24'-0" | S2.1 | 18 | EA | 11,232 |
| B-2 | W16x40 beam at courtyard opening, 28'-0" | S2.1 | 6 | EA | 6,720 |
| B-3 | W10x22 infill beam, podium slab, 16'-0" | S2.1 | 22 | EA | 7,744 |
| C-1 | W14x53 column, garage to podium, 11'-6" | S3.1 | 14 | EA | 8,533 |
| C-2 | HSS6x6x3/8 column at trash enclosure, 10'-0" | S3.2 | 8 | EA | 2,163 |
| X-1 | HSS6x6x3/8 brace, garage shear frame, 18'-6" | S4.1 | 12 | EA | 6,003 |
| EP-1 | Embed PL 3/4"x12"x12" w/ (4) 3/4"∅ headed studs | S4.2/3 | 46 | EA | 1,794 |
| BP-1 | Base PL 1"x16"x16" w/ (4) 1"∅ anchor rods | S3.1 | 14 | EA | 1,302 |
| SS-1 | 3/4"∅ x 4-3/16" shear stud, composite deck | S2.2 | 1,340 | EA | 710 |
| ST-1 | Metal-pan stair flight, 12 risers, 4'-0" wide | S6.1 | 4 | FLT | 7,400 |
| LDG-1 | Stair landing, intermediate and top, 4'-0" x 8'-0" | S6.1 | 4 | EA | 2,480 |
| GR-1 | Guardrail, 42" high, tube steel picket, podium edge | S5.2 | 186 | LF | 2,604 |
| HR-1 | Handrail, 1-1/2"∅ Sch 40 pipe w/ wall brackets | S6.2 | 96 | LF | 518 |
| LAD-1 | Roof access ladder w/ safety cage, 14'-0" | S6.3 | 2 | EA | 930 |
| TOTAL — SHEETS S2 THROUGH S6 · 30.07 TONS | 60,133 | ||||
2 · Marked-up plan sheets PDF
Every counted member gets a bubble carrying its workbook mark. Below is one enlarged framing bay, enough to show the convention without redrawing anybody's building. Where a member is bubbled on the framing plan but scheduled elsewhere (columns on S3.1, braced frames on S4.1), the workbook records the sheet the quantity was measured on, not the one it was bubbled on.
3 · Branded proposal .docx · PDF
Your letterhead, your logo, your name at the bottom. Ours appears nowhere. The black bar is where a real package carries the shop's own identity.
Your company name and logo here · Structural Steel & Miscellaneous Metals
We propose to furnish all labor, material, equipment and supervision to fabricate and erect the structural steel and miscellaneous metals shown on the S-series drawings and described in the attached scope of work: podium transfer framing, garage columns and braced frames, composite deck and studs, metal-pan stairs, guardrail, handrail and roof access ladder, complete and in place.
LUMP SUM: $327,400.00 · three hundred twenty-seven thousand four hundred dollars. Base bid; no alternates carried.
- TAXES: California sales and use tax on material is included. Priced as private open-shop work; prevailing wage and PLA labor are not included.
- GALVANIZING: Hot-dip galvanizing is included at the podium-edge guardrail and the roof access ladder only. All other steel receives one coat of shop primer.
- EMBEDS: Embed plates and anchor-bolt assemblies are furnished loose for installation by the concrete contractor. Setting, surveying and grouting are excluded.
- HOISTING: Crane and operator for the structural frame are included. Hoisting of miscellaneous metals after the podium pour is by others.
Pricing held thirty days. Addenda issued after the date above are subject to review.
4 · Scope of work .docx · PDF
The proposal wins the job. The scope decides whether it makes money. It's the page a PM reads at buyout, written plainly enough that nobody can claim six months later that grouting the base plates was implied.
Scope of Work — Division 5, Structural & Miscellaneous Metals
INCLUDED
- Furnish and erect structural steel per S2.1 through S4.2: beams, columns, braced-frame members, base plates and all connection material.
- Composite floor deck and field-welded shear studs at the steel-framed infill bays on the podium level, furnished and installed.
- Embed plates and anchor-bolt assemblies furnished loose to the concrete contractor.
- Metal-pan stairs, landings, and the handrail and guardrail at Stair 1 and Stair 2, garage level to podium.
- Guardrail at the podium edge and one roof access ladder with safety cage.
- One coat of shop primer on all steel; hot-dip galvanizing where scheduled.
- AWS D1.1 welding by qualified welders, and cooperation with the owner's special inspector.
- As-bid quantities and a schedule of values for the first pay application.
EXCLUDED
- Concrete, grout, reinforcing steel, and the setting of embeds and anchor bolts.
- Cold-formed metal framing, light-gauge joists and roof trusses.
- Elevator guide rails, pit ladders, sump covers and cab work.
- Fireproofing, intumescent coating and any painting beyond shop primer.
- Sawcutting, coring, patching and repair of work installed by others.
- Temporary shoring, and structural stability prior to completion of the deck diaphragm.
- Permits, testing and special-inspection fees, and any third-party or deferred-submittal engineering.
- Overtime, premium time and off-hours work unless directed in writing.
- Anything not listed under INCLUDED above. Where the drawings and the specification disagree we have bid the drawings and raised an RFI.
5 · RFI list .docx · PDF
Every plan set has gaps. Found during the bid period they cost a question; found after award they cost a change order you won't get paid for. These came out of the takeoff itself.
Bid-Period Requests for Information
- RFI-001 · S4.2, Detail 3: The embed schedule calls for EP-1 at each stair-landing bearing, but Detail 3/S4.2 shows a bolted bearing angle with no embed. Confirm which governs. The difference is 16 embeds and the concrete placement sequence they sit in.
- RFI-002 · S6.1 vs A6.1: Structural stair plan S6.1 shows 12 risers per flight, garage slab to podium; architectural section A6.1 shows 13. Confirm the riser count and the floor-to-floor dimension so the stringers are laid out to the correct rise.
- RFI-003 · S5.2, Note 4: Note 4 requires galvanizing at “exposed steel” without defining exposed. Confirm whether that means the podium-edge guardrail and roof ladder only, or all steel above the podium slab. The two readings are not close in cost.
- RFI-004 · S2.2, deck plan: The infill-bay deck at the podium is called out as 3" composite deck, but no gauge appears on S2.2 or in the deck schedule. Confirm gauge and finish.
6 · Pay-app template .xlsx
The schedule of values is pre-built off the same line items as the takeoff, so your first billing isn't a week of arguing about how the contract was broken out. Bill straight off it or drop the values into the GC's G702 and G703.
| Line item | Scheduled value | % complete | This period | Stored materials | Completed to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobilization & submittals | 24,000 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 24,000 |
| Structural steel - material | 96,000 | 70% | 28,800 | 19,200 | 67,200 |
| Shop fabrication | 78,000 | 60% | 23,400 | 0 | 46,800 |
| Misc metals - stairs, rails, ladder | 61,400 | 25% | 15,350 | 0 | 15,350 |
| Erection - structural frame | 52,000 | 15% | 7,800 | 0 | 7,800 |
| Field welding, touch-up & punch | 16,000 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS (USD) | 327,400 | 49.2% | 75,350 | 19,200 | 161,150 |
How this package was built
The same way yours would be, and on the same clock.
- You email the plan set to office@topoutapp.com with the job name and the bid date. A Drive or Dropbox link is fine; size doesn't matter.
- An AI takeoff counts and measures every beam, every embed, every foot of rail, and writes each quantity against its sheet.
- A professional estimator reviews every quantity before anything ships, not a spot check.
- Six files come back in 24–48 hours in Excel, Word and PDF, carrying your logo and your rates. A 24-hour rush is +35%.
- You review it, change whatever you want, and send it to the GC under your own name.
Every line traces back to a sheet. A quantity that can't be pointed at a drawing has no business in a bid. That's also why the package above is invented rather than borrowed: your plans are never shared, never used to bid against you, and deleted on request.
More on the workflow under how it works.
I can open it and see the members and the sheet they came off. When a GC questions a quantity, I answer with the drawing in front of me rather than taking a number on faith.
What's not in the package
TopOut prices the work and builds the paperwork. No shop drawings, no sealed calculations, no PE stamp, no erection engineering, no material procurement, no model. Those belong to your detailer, your engineer of record and your supplier, and the estimate hands off cleanly to all three.
Structural steel, miscellaneous metals and concrete are live. Framing, drywall, mechanical, plumbing and electrical are not, and won't be until each can name the sheet behind every quantity it produces. The six files above are the entire steel product; the concrete package is its own set.
Your first steel package is free. A real one, on your own plans, not this one. After that: Starter $299–399 for small scopes, Standard $549–899 for a typical commercial bid, Complex $1,200–2,500 for large or multi-building work, plus 35% for a 24-hour rush. Full breakdown on the pricing section.
Get this built on your own plans.
Send one plan set with the job name and the bid date. The first steel package is free: no card, no contract, no form. Or call and talk the scope through first.