Contract-Proposal-Bid-Estimate-Quote..overload

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kwb

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Do you ever play the game called "what type of document does this contractor actually want?"

Do you put "estimate" or "Bid" or "Quotation" at the top of your documents or do you just call them estimates? Also, if you "win" the estimate do you draw up a separate document called a contract that the contractor/owner signs with your terms and change order policies or do you incorporate that into your bid so if they accept it you can just ask the contractor to sign and date it?

I had a situation where the homeowners were in Australia and they accepted my bid but I never got a signed contract from them, however, in this case the general contractor is a buddy of mine so I'm not worried about it but in any other situation I would be. If I had drawn up a contract/bid combination it would have been easy for me to just ask the general to have the homeowners to sign and date it and mail it to me.

I was wondering what all of you do as a general rule.

Thoughts?
 
I put together a complete bid package. It includes the following:


  • Formal Proposal: The proposal lists all of the pertinent information. Project name, print date, print revision date, payment terms, any inclusions and/or qualifications, an overview of what is being installed (Conduit, Romex, standard receptacles, Decora, etc.) This includes a contract acceptance section that both parties can sign.


  • Contract Price: This lists the amounts for the payout schedule. Personally I have payouts for service, rough and trim. This will also list any options that might apply.

  • Quantity Take-Off: I list quantity take-offs (How many receptacles, switches, etc.) for both "Per Plan" and "Value Engineered" in both a "Total Count" and "Per Room" format.

  • Standard Option Pricing: I also include a list of all stand options and their prices. This way everything is up front and there is no misunderstanding when it comes to prices change orders.

All of the pages have initial lines for both parties to initial which becomes part of the contract.
 
kwb said:
Do you put "estimate" or "Bid" or "Quotation" at the top of your documents or do you just call them estimates?
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IMHO.

An estimate implies that the provider does not know the complete scope of work and is making a best guess as to the final cost. I would expect such a job to be done on a T&M basis if the word "estimate" was used.

A bid is a fixed price for a specific piece of work, as specified by the buyer or his agent.

A quotation is where the supplier states what he is providing.
 
For homeowner jobs and residential, I do a "Proposal" which spells out exactly what I plan to do. The terms and payment schedule is included in this proposal and there is a signature required at the bottom. I use quickbooks to create the proposal and then quickly turn it into an invoice when we do the job.

Larger jobs get actual contracts.
 
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