Seven sub quotes, one bid.
An addition bid is mostly other people's numbers: the foundation sub, the framer, the electrician, the plumber. Your job is rolling them up with your markup, adding your own crew's work and the allowances, and getting it to the owner before the other GC does. Redline does the roll-up from one message.
Building a bid from sub numbers
Collect the sub quotes
Get the numbers in however they come: email, a photo of a handwritten quote, a call. Send the photos to Redline if you like; it reads them.
Give Redline the list and your markup
Each sub's number by trade, your own crew's scope, allowances for finishes the owner hasn't picked, permit, and your markup and contingency.
Decide what the owner sees
Markup folded into each line, or shown once at the bottom. Say which and Redline lays it out that way.
Exclusions and allowances
Allowances as their own lines with the amount. Exclusions (landscaping, survey, utility fees) as $0 lines so the bid is clear about what isn't in it.
Save, send, then the deposit
The bid saves on the owner's file. Email it from your Gmail. When they sign your contract, move it to Accepted and bill the deposit (Solo and up).
An addition, rolled up
Draft for Paul Castellano:
Sitework and foundation $32,660
Framing $47,150
Roofing $14,490
Electrical $16,330
Plumbing $13,570
HVAC $11,040
Drywall $10,235
Finish carpentry and trim $16,000
Windows allowance $9,000
Flooring allowance $7,500
Permit $2,100
Contingency (5%) $9,003.75
Total $189,078.75. Add exclusions or a deposit?
Both exclusions added as $0 lines. Deposit set at 10%, $18,907.88. Approve it and it saves to his file.
Quotes are drafts you check. Redline does the arithmetic you give it; check the totals before you send. Example prices only.
How the markup works out on this bid
| Piece | Cost | On the bid |
|---|---|---|
| Seven sub quotes | $126,500 | $145,475 with 15% |
| Your crew's carpentry and trim | $16,000 | $16,000 (your price) |
| Allowances and permit | $18,600 | $18,600 (at cost) |
| Contingency | $9,003.75 (5% of the above) | |
| Total | $189,078.75 |
Example figures. Whether you mark up allowances, and by how much, is your call.
Speed and clarity win the bid
Owners comparing GC bids tend to look at two things: the total and what's not included. A bid with allowances and exclusions written as lines answers the second question before they ask, and it stops the "I thought the windows were in" conversation three months later.
Redline isn't an estimating suite. It doesn't do takeoffs, cost databases or bid leveling across subs. What it does is turn the numbers you already have into a clean, saved bid in one message, and keep it in front of you in the pipeline until the owner decides.
Straight answers on GC bids
Redline does
- Roll sub quotes up with your markup
- Add allowances, exclusions, permit and contingency
- Read photos of sub quotes you send
- Save the bid on the owner's file with a deposit
- Draft the bid email from your Gmail
Redline doesn't
- Do takeoffs from plans
- Send bid invitations to subs or level their bids
- Keep a cost database or price book
- Let the owner sign or accept online
- Produce AIA contracts or schedules of values
Questions contractors ask
Can I show the markup as one line instead?
Yes. Ask for subs at cost with "overhead and profit 15%" as its own line. Some owners prefer it, some GCs never show it.
Can I offer two scopes, like with and without the bathroom?
Yes. Ask for two drafts, the base addition and the addition with a bath, each with its own total. On Solo, the quote composer in Money can also hold them as options on one quote.
What happens after they sign?
Move the job to Accepted and bill the deposit. Draws and change orders go out as invoices. See GC invoicing.
More for general contractors
Roll up the next bid in one message.
Quotes are free on every plan. Solo adds deposits and invoices, with a 7-day trial on the web.
Keep reading
- General contractor softwareProgress draws, same-day change orders and homeowner updates from your Gmail.
- General contractor invoicing softwareDeposit, milestone draws and change orders billed by chat, each draw tracked.
- Remodeling estimate softwareFixed scopes plus finish allowances, in finish-level options with a deposit.
- Quotes and estimatesItemized quotes by chat or from a photo, with a deposit. Options and tax in the composer.