Bidfident for fit-out contractors
Estimating software for commercial fit-outs
Fit-outs are quick jobs with a lot of trades. In Bidfident you price metal stud partitions, suspended ceilings, flooring and decoration by the square metre, and doorsets with frames and ironmongery by number, with dryliners, joiners, floor layers and decorators each at their own rate. Electrical and mechanical quotes sit side by side, and a bond and insurance go on a summary that adds up to the penny.
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?
A performance bond added by hand
The landlord asks for a performance bond, and the markups get added by hand to a total that has since changed. In Bidfident contingency, fee, bond and insurance are worked out each time, with the bond and insurance on the subtotal after fee.
Out-of-hours work at the day rate
The shopping centre 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 tender sees it.
A rushed tender with a line at zero
A five-week job is priced in two days, and a doorset 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 dryliners, doorsets by your joiners, LVT by your floor layers, decoration by your decorators, 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 out-of-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.
A bond and insurance where the contract asks for them
Contingency and fee, then the bond and insurance on the subtotal after fee, then VAT shown separately for reference. Every amount is rounded to the penny.
Electrical and mechanical quotes side by side
Enter each quote for lighting and power, and for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The lowest is flagged and carried unless you pick another. No quotes yet? Carry an allowance.
The feature wall as an option
Price the slatted timber wall, then switch it off. It stays on the estimate, struck through, and what it comes to is shown beside the totals.
Group by unit or floor
Tag lines with the sales floor, the back of house or each unit, and group the sheet by area with a subtotal for each.
Worked example: a 280 m² retail fit-out
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 26 lines of your own work, 4 subcontract packages and 5 preliminaries items over a 5-week programme. 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 the UK, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Refurbishment and housebuilders" and "Fit-outs" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Metal stud partitions, plasterboard both sides, 204 m2
| £8,512.92 |
Suspended ceiling, 600 x 600 grid, 242 m2
| £6,468.66 |
Luxury vinyl tile (LVT), 251 m2
| £10,029.96 |
Decoration, mist coat and two coats, 632 m2
| £2,325.76 |
Doorsets, frames and ironmongery, 7 nr
| £5,390.00 |
Option 1: slatted timber feature wall, 22 m2
| £5,962.00 |
21 more lines of your own work
| £21,986.89 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Electrical and lighting
| £14,600.00 |
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning
| £10,400.00 |
Sprinkler alterations
| £3,768.00 |
Fire alarm alterations, allowance
| £2,100.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Site manager
| £4,500.00 |
Shopfront hoarding, hired
| £475.00 |
Building control fees
| £1,300.00 |
Skips, exchanged
| £990.00 |
Builders' clean
| £550.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| £54,714.19 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | £5,962.00 |
| Subcontractors | £30,868.00 |
Preliminaries
| £7,815.00 |
Direct cost
| £93,397.19 |
Contingency
| £4,669.86 |
Overheads and profit
| £11,768.05 |
| Subtotal before the bond | £109,835.10 |
Bond
| £1,098.35 |
Insurance
| £549.18 |
Tender total
| £111,482.63 |
VAT, for reference
| £22,296.53 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I add a bond and insurance to a fit-out?
Yes. Type the percentages on the Bid summary. The bond and insurance are worked out on the subtotal after fee.
Can out-of-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 fixers 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 doorset 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 doorset with hours but no material price isn't flagged, since it still has a cost.
Can I show what each unit or floor comes to?
Yes. Tag each line with its unit, 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-out 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-out tender 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.