Create a Bid Package

In this video we are going to learn how to create a bid package. You can start
by clicking + Create Bid Package. We could either create one bid package for the
entire project, or create separate packages for specific trades or phases.
We’ll create one bid package for the entire project. Let’s title the bid package
with the name of the project and put the number as 1 to indicate that this is the first
bid package in the project. We’ll leave the status as Open. This means that bids are
currently being accepted package. But once the bid due date has passed, or if you
choose to cancel the bid, you should change the Status to Closed so that bidders no
longer have access to the package.
Next, let’s set the due date and time by which all of the bid invitees need to
submit their bids. For this package, let’s set it four weeks from today at 2 PM.
Next, we can set our bid sheet accounting method as Amount Based or Unit/
Quantity Based. We can also mark the box next to “Disable Itemized Bidding” if we
want to allow bidders to submit bids that are not itemized, thus disabling cost codes
on the bid package.
Now let’s decide if we want to add a Primary Bidding Contact. If we select a
primary bidding contact, the bid invitation email will be sent from Procore’s
automated email address (Procore mailer: notification@procoretech.com) but they
will receive all bid emails instead of the bid package creator. If we decide to not
select a primary bidding contact, the creator of the package, Elton, in our case, will
receive email notifications whenever a bid is submitted. But if he wants anyone else
to receive notifications when a bid is submitted, he can add them to the Bidding CC
Group. As with other Procore tools, this distribution list is a great way to keep all key
stakeholders informed. Let’s say he needs to add his assistant project manager,
Edison.
The next two fields are pulling data from the configurations we previously set
in the Project level Admin tool. If we want to make any modifications that are specific
to this particular bid package, we still have the option to do so at the project level.
Also, if there is a pre-bid site walkthrough, we can enable the RFI Deadline and
Site Walkthrough settings and add the related information. Let’s say the job walk is
Monday at 2 pm. Then we’ll add some additional notes for bidders. (Please park
across the street on Maple. Don’t forget to bring your hard hat.).
If we know when we’re going to award the contracts, we can enter that date
here. This field is optional, so we’ll leave it blank for now since the date is yet to be
decided at this point.
If we want to send daily emails reminding bidders of their due date, we can
enable “Countdown Emails” and choose how many days from the bid due date we
want to start sending daily reminder emails to encourage companies to submit their
bids. Let’s choose 7 days, so bidders will be sent notification emails starting 7 days
prior to the due date.
Another setting that can only be configured here is Accept Submissions past
Due Date. If you want bidders to be able to submit bids within Procore past the
specified due date, which may be necessary if you haven’t received enough bids or if
you want to give your bidders more flexibility. If we do not enable, bidders will not
be able to submit any bids within Procore after the due date.
 If we click on “Enable Blind Bidding,” all bid dollar amounts will be hidden from
administrators until the due date has passed, though you will still see that the bid has
been submitted. This setting helps ensure ethical bid practices.
Next, we can Disable Electronic Submission of bids. We will want to enable
this setting for projects that do not allow bidders to submit bids electronically.
Let’s enable Include Bid Docs so that bidders can access bid documents
directly from the bid invitation email. It’s recommended that you enable this setting
because it will make it a lot easier for bidders to access the required project
documentation directly from the email. In other words, bidders do not have to log in
to Procore to access all bid documents.
Lastly, the Bid Submission Message is pulling data from the Project level Admin tool’s
configurations. If we want to make any modifications for this specific bid, we can do
so at this time.
Once we have entered all the necessary general information for the package,
let’s click Create Bid Package.
Now, we’ll attach the drawings, documents, and specifications that we
uploaded when we configured our project for bidding. For the drawings, let’s select
our bid set, and we can narrow it down further by discipline and then select
individual drawings. Next, we’ll attach the Documents folder that we configured
specifically for bidding. Remember, if you select the parent folder [select Bid
Documents], all the subfolders and files will also be attached to the bid list. We’ll
attach relevant sections of the Bid Set of our spec book, and if the bid package only
pertains to one division within the spec book, we can choose to attach only that
specific division. Once we want the bidders to have access to all relevant
documentation, we’re going to include both the current set of drawings and specs.
Once all our files have been selected, click Attach Files.
Now let’s add our bidders to the bid list.
If we already have a bid list on another, similar, active project, we can
save time by copying another project’s bid list by selecting it from the drop-down
menu. The entire bid list from that project will automatically be copied to this
project, which we can then edit, as necessary. For training purposes, let’s go over
how to build a bid list from scratch.
We can search for companies in the Directory by typing in the name of the
company in the Keyword Search bar. We can also filter by trades or cost codes that
have been assigned to the companies in the Company level Directory.
We can also filter by jobsite proximity to ensure that we are sending bid
emails to bid recipients near the jobsite. If we’d rather just filter by country and
state, that’s an option as well. If we have been very thorough with rating our
companies, we could also filter by the company rating we have given them on a 1-5
star scale.
If we are looking for specific attributes we’ve associated with our bidding
companies, we can click Additional Filters so that we can show more granular
results.
Let’s search for general contracting companies. Our search results will sort by
company name, and show the trade they've been assigned. We can also see their
jobsite proximity and how many bids they've submitted. Let’s add all of these
companies to our bid list by marking the box next to each company and then click
Add Bidders.
Now that these companies have been added to the bid list, if we want to
send an invitation to only one bidder, we could do that by clicking Invite next to
that company. But let's send an invitation to everyone in the bid list by clicking
Send Invitations. We’ll add the intended recipient for each company and then Send
these Invitations.
Thanks for watching!

See Also

• Create a Bid Package