Bidfident for mechanical installation contractors
Estimating software for mechanical installation
For mechanical installation contractors, Bidfident prices machine installs and line moves the way the work is done: machines positioned and levelled by number, laser alignment with the kit charged by the hour, conveyor by the metre, holding-down bolts and grout, rigging as an item, electrical as a subcontract, and the supervisor and forklift hire 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?
Every machine install built from scratch
Positioning a machine always needs the same labour, holding-down bolts and grout, yet each tender starts from a blank row. In Bidfident an assembly fills a whole line at once, and typing a description finds it in the rate library with its price.
Riggers and fitters at one rate
One blended rate hides the difference between the rigging gang and the mechanical fitters. In Bidfident each trade has its own rate, and typing a new trade in the Trade cell adds it to the library with its rate, without leaving the sheet.
The electrical quote that never came
The control wiring is priced by someone else, and the quote is still missing on tender day. In Bidfident you carry an allowance for the package until quotes arrive, then the lowest is flagged and carried unless you choose another.
How Bidfident fits your work
Machine installs from the rate library
Start typing "position and level" in Description and the line picker finds your tasks and assemblies with their prices. Pick an assembly and it fills the whole line.
Fitters and riggers at their own rates
Each line takes its trade's rate from the library, so the rigging is priced at the rigger's rate and the alignment at the mechanical fitter's.
Tools and plant by the hour
Put the laser alignment kit on the line as plant by the hour. Leave its hours blank and it runs for the crew's hours, or give it hours of its own.
Conveyor by the metre, machines by number
Units are free text, so conveyor goes in by the metre, machines and bolts by number (nr), and rigging as an item. The sheet works like Excel: copy and paste, fill down, and undo for everything.
Electrical as a subcontract
Enter each electrical quote for the connections and control wiring on the Subcontractors tab. The lowest is flagged and carried, and an allowance holds the place if none have come in.
Supervisor and forklift by the week
Weekly preliminaries like the mechanical supervisor and forklift hire follow the job duration. Add a week to the installation and they update.
Worked example: installing a new packing line
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 26 lines of your own work, 4 subcontract packages and 5 preliminaries items over a 3-week programme. 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 the UK, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Shutdowns and turnarounds" and "Mechanical installation" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Position and level packing machines, 6 nr
| £6,384.00 |
Laser shaft alignment, 12 nr
| £2,544.00 |
Holding-down bolts and epoxy grout, 48 nr
| £4,896.00 |
Rigging machines into position, 1 item
| £3,504.00 |
Roller conveyor, assembled and installed, 85 m
| £25,806.00 |
21 more lines of your own work
| £61,274.25 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Electrical connections and control wiring
| £15,600.00 |
Concrete plinths
| £4,730.00 |
Painting to support steelwork
| £2,118.00 |
PLC programming changes, allowance
| £3,300.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Mechanical supervisor
| £6,600.00 |
Forklift hire, 2.5 t
| £900.00 |
Contracts manager, part time
| £990.00 |
Tool store container
| £429.00 |
Mobilisation and demobilisation
| £1,320.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| £104,408.25 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | £1,312.00 |
| Subcontractors | £25,748.00 |
Preliminaries
| £10,239.00 |
Direct cost
| £140,395.25 |
Contingency
| £4,211.86 |
Overheads and profit
| £17,352.85 |
| Subtotal before the bond | £161,959.96 |
Bond
| £0.00 |
Insurance
| £1,214.70 |
Tender total
| £163,174.66 |
VAT, for reference
| £32,634.93 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I save how I price a machine install?
Yes. Save it in the rate library as a task with its hours per unit, or as an assembly that fills a whole line at once. Every estimate uses the same library.
Can I mix metres, numbers and items?
Yes. Units are free text, so m, nr, item and hr all work. Bidfident doesn't convert between units, so price each line in the unit its rate is in.
Can I carry the electrical before I have a quote?
Yes. Carry an allowance for the package. When quotes come in, enter them side by side and the lowest is carried unless you choose another.
Can I add riggers or a crane driver while I'm pricing?
Yes. Type the new trade in the Trade cell and give it a rate. It's added to the company's library without leaving the sheet, ready for the next installation.
Can I allow waste on grout and holding-down bolts?
Yes. Each line takes a material price per unit and a waste %, so the epoxy grout can carry 10% waste while the holding-down bolts carry none.
Does it produce a quotation for the installation to send the client?
Not yet. Client view hides hours and rates on screen, but its unit prices are your cost, before markups. You can copy the cost report as CSV, but there's no client-ready quote document.
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 installation 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.