Bidfident for maintenance contractors
Estimating software for mechanical maintenance
Maintenance work is priced task by task, often around the hours a building can spare. Bidfident prices boiler cleaning, pump rebuilds, valve repacking and loop cleaning by the piece or as a lump sum, with pipefitters and millwrights at their own rates, the overnight boiler work at a line's own rate, refractory repair as a subtrade, and a part-time foreman by the week.
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.
Sound familiar?
The same tasks, worked out every year
Pump rebuilds and valve repacks come round every year, and the hours get worked out again from scratch. In Bidfident tasks sit in the rate library with their hours per unit, and typing a description finds them with their prices.
A $0 line nobody noticed
A valve line copied with only a quantity in it, or a pump with no quantity, and the bid goes out short. Bidfident flags lines to check: no cost code, no quantity, a line that comes to $0, or hours or a material price more than 25% off the library's.
Overnight work at the day rate
Boiler work done overnight costs more, but a spreadsheet row doesn't show it. In Bidfident that line gets its own rate, marked in purple, while the rest of the job keeps the library rates.
How Bidfident fits your work
Your maintenance tasks in one library
Pump rebuilds, valve repacks and boiler cleans saved as tasks with their hours per unit. Every estimate uses the same company library, so each year's bid starts from the same hours.
Lines to check before it goes out
Bidfident flags lines with no cost code, no quantity, a total of $0 or a $0 rate, or hours or a material price more than 25% off the library's. Mark a line as right and it stays quiet.
Overnight boiler work at its own rate
Give the overnight boiler lines their own rate. Only those lines change, and they're marked in purple so the premium is easy to see.
Refractory repair as a subtrade
Enter each refractory bid side by side. The lowest is flagged and carried unless you pick another, and an excluded trade carries $0.
Optional work kept but not counted
Price an extra, such as a spare pump rebuild, then switch it off. It stays on the sheet struck through, with what it comes to shown beside the totals.
Grouped by division
Group the sheet by CSI division with subtotals, so the heating plant sits under 23, or name a division of your own, such as 23A for one building's systems.
Worked example: annual boiler and pump maintenance at a hospital
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 25 lines of your own work, 3 subtrades and 4 overhead items over a 2-week job. The 5 lines this page talks about are listed one by one, and the rest are added up in one row. It's the same job you can open as an example project in Bidfident, so every figure below matches it.
To open this job in Bidfident: sign in and set up your company in Canada, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Industrial shutdowns" and "Mechanical maintenance" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Boiler inspection and cleaning, overnight, 3 ea
| $9,510.00 |
Test and restart, with log, 3 ea
| $1,272.00 |
Rebuild circulating pumps, 6 ea
| $14,340.00 |
Repack and service valves, 40 ea
| $8,160.00 |
Chemical cleaning of the heating loop, 1 LS
| $6,344.00 |
20 more lines of your own work
| $41,000.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Boiler refractory repair
| $11,900.00 |
Vibration analysis of pumps and fans
| $2,850.00 |
Parts found at boiler inspection, allowance
| $4,000.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Supervision, part-time foreman
| $4,400.00 |
Service truck and tools
| $1,300.00 |
Hospital orientation and infection control training
| $1,400.00 |
Mobilization and demobilization
| $900.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $80,626.00 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $2,390.00 |
| Subtrades | $18,750.00 |
Overhead
| $8,000.00 |
Direct cost
| $107,376.00 |
Contingency
| $3,221.28 |
Fee
| $16,589.59 |
| Subtotal before bonding | $127,186.87 |
Bonding
| $0.00 |
Insurance
| $953.90 |
Bid total
| $128,140.77 |
GST, for reference
| $6,407.04 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I keep my standard hours for each task?
Yes. Save each task in the rate library with its hours per unit, such as a pump rebuild at 10 hours. Every new estimate finds it as you type.
How do I price overnight work?
Give those lines their own rate. It's used for those lines only and marked in purple so you can see it.
Can I show an optional extra without adding it to the price?
Yes. Switch the line off. It stays on the sheet struck through, and the bid summary shows it for reference only.
Can I price a job that runs one or two weeks?
Yes. The job duration is in weeks, and part weeks are allowed, such as 1.5. The foreman and other weekly items follow it.
Does it track actual hours on each pump rebuild?
No. Bidfident prices the work. It doesn't track time or cost the job against actuals, so when a rebuild runs long, update its hours in the rate library.
Can I price the heating loop chemical clean as one lump sum?
Yes. Units are free text, so the clean can be 1 LS with its pipefitter hours and the chemicals as material, while the pumps and valves stay by the piece.
Does Bidfident work with Claude or ChatGPT?
Not yet, but it's coming. You'll be able to connect Bidfident to your own Claude or ChatGPT account and ask about your estimates in plain English. The answers will come from Bidfident's own figures, so they match the estimate. It will use the account you already have: Claude first, ChatGPT to follow.
Price your next maintenance bid in Bidfident
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.