Bidfident for fit-up contractors
Estimating software for commercial fit-ups
Fit-ups are quick jobs with a lot of trades. In Bidfident you price steel stud partitions, ceiling grid, flooring and paint by the square foot, and doors, frames and hardware by the each, with carpenters, flooring installers and painters each at their own rate. Electrical and HVAC bids sit side by side, and bonding and insurance go on a bid summary that adds up to the cent.
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?
Bonding on a job that didn't need it last time
The landlord asks for a bond, and the markups get added by hand to a total that has since changed. In Bidfident contingency, fee, bonding and insurance are worked out each time, with bonding and insurance on the subtotal after fee.
After-hours work at the day rate
The mall only allows noisy work at night, and the premium is a number someone remembers. In Bidfident a line can carry its own rate, marked in purple so anyone checking the bid sees it.
A rushed bid with a line at $0
A five-week job is priced in two days, and a door with no price slips through. In Bidfident lines to check flags any line that comes to $0, has no quantity or no cost code, or has hours or a material price more than 25% off the library's.
How Bidfident fits your work
Each trade at its own rate
Partitions and ceilings by your carpenters, vinyl plank by your flooring installers, paint by your painters, each at their rate from the library. A trade you haven't used yet can be added from the Trade cell.
Night work at its own rate
Give an after-hours line its own rate. It's marked in purple, so a rate that's meant to be different is easy to tell from a mistake.
Bonding and insurance where the lease asks for them
Contingency and fee, then bonding and insurance on the subtotal after fee, then GST shown separately. Every amount is rounded to the cent.
Electrical and HVAC bids side by side
Enter each bid for lighting and power, and for HVAC. The lowest is flagged and carried unless you pick another. No bids yet? Carry a plug amount.
The feature wall as an alternate
Price the slatted wall, then switch it off. It stays on the estimate, struck through, and what it comes to is shown beside the totals.
Group by suite or floor
Tag lines with the sales floor, the back of house or each suite, and group the sheet by area with a subtotal for each.
Worked example: a 3,000 sf retail fit-up
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 26 lines of your own work, 4 subtrades and 5 overhead items over a 5-week job. The 6 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 "Renovation and home builders" and "Fit-ups" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Steel stud partitions, boarded both sides, 2,200 sf
| $20,398.40 |
Acoustic ceiling, 2 x 4 grid, 2,600 sf
| $12,844.00 |
Luxury vinyl plank, 2,700 sf
| $15,260.40 |
Paint, primer and two coats, 6,800 sf
| $5,018.40 |
Doors, frames and hardware, 7 ea
| $9,100.00 |
Alternate 1: slatted wood feature wall, 240 sf
| $12,480.00 |
21 more lines of your own work
| $49,734.90 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Electrical and lighting
| $22,950.00 |
HVAC
| $16,400.00 |
Sprinkler relocation
| $6,850.00 |
Fire alarm devices, allowance
| $3,800.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Site supervision, lead carpenter
| $5,500.00 |
Storefront hoarding, rented
| $900.00 |
Building permit, tenant improvement
| $2,400.00 |
Waste bins, emptied
| $1,650.00 |
Final cleaning
| $950.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $112,356.10 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $12,480.00 |
| Subtrades | $50,000.00 |
Overhead
| $11,400.00 |
Direct cost
| $173,756.10 |
Contingency
| $8,687.81 |
Fee
| $21,893.27 |
| Subtotal before bonding | $204,337.18 |
Bonding
| $2,043.37 |
Insurance
| $1,021.69 |
Bid total
| $207,402.24 |
GST, for reference
| $10,370.11 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I add bonding and insurance to a fit-up?
Yes. Type the percentages on the bid summary. Bonding and insurance are worked out on the subtotal after fee.
Can after-hours work be priced at a different rate?
Yes. Give the line its own rate. It's marked in purple so it stands out.
Can I add ceiling installers if they aren't in my library yet?
Yes. Type the new trade in the Trade cell and give it a rate. It's added to the library without leaving the sheet, ready for the grid and tile lines.
Will it catch a door I forgot to price?
If the line comes to $0, yes. Lines to check flags a line that comes to $0, hours with a $0 rate, no quantity or no cost code. A door with hours but no material price isn't flagged, since it still has a cost.
Can I show what each suite or floor comes to?
Yes. Tag each line with its suite, the sales floor or the back of house, and group the sheet by area. Each one gets its own subtotal.
Can I bring in a fit-up I already priced in Excel?
Not yet. Importing a whole estimate from Excel isn't built, but you can copy and paste your partition, ceiling and flooring lines into the sheet.
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 fit-up 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.