Bidfident for telecoms duct contractors
Estimating software for duct runs
For duct routes, Bidfident prices the trench, the duct, tracer wire and draw rope by the metre, and footway boxes by number. The mini digger gets its own hours per metre, so it isn't charged for every hour the gang spends in the trench. Utility survey and reinstatement quotes sit side by side, and traffic management follows the weeks the programme runs.
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Sound familiar?
The digger charged for every gang hour
In the trench the gang shovels, beds and backfills for far longer than the machine digs, but the spreadsheet charges the machine the same hours. In Bidfident the mini digger gets its own hours per metre, 0.04 against the gang's 0.12.
Reinstatement quotes in three emails
Turf and surfacing quotes come back in different emails and formats, and the wrong one ends up carried. In Bidfident the quotes sit side by side, the lowest is flagged, and you carry the one you pick.
What does each section cost?
On a 3 km route the client asks what the road crossings cost on their own, and the answer means adding up rows by hand. In Bidfident you tag each line with a section or crossing and group the sheet by it, with a subtotal for each.
How Bidfident fits your work
A mini digger for its own hours
Give the digger its own hours per metre on the trench and footway box lines. Leave it blank and it runs for the gang's hours.
Trench, duct, tape and rope by the metre
Each line takes metres, hours per metre, a material price with its waste percentage, and plant by the hour. Fill down and copy and paste like Excel.
Survey and reinstatement side by side
Enter each quote for the utility survey or reinstatement, see the lowest flagged, and carry the lowest or the one you pick. Declined quotes are ignored.
Subtotals for each section of route
Tag lines with a section or a road crossing and group the sheet by it, then collapse the groups to see the whole route at once.
Totals by cost code
The cost report totals the trench, duct and footway boxes by cost code under each division, with filters for area or cost type. Copy it as CSV.
From the route's cost to the tender
Trench, duct, footway boxes and subcontract packages make the direct cost, then contingency, fee, bond and insurance, to a tender total before tax. VAT is shown separately for reference.
Worked example: ducting for a 3 km fibre route
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 24 lines of your own work, 4 subcontract packages and 5 preliminaries items over a 6-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 "Telecoms and fibre" and "Duct runs" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Trench, 900 mm deep, and backfill, 1,700 m
| £6,936.00 |
HDPE duct, 2 x 50 mm, laid in trench, 1,700 m
| £7,031.20 |
Tracer wire and marker tape, 1,700 m
| £1,113.50 |
Draw rope in each duct, 3,400 m
| £700.40 |
Footway boxes, set and backfilled, 8 nr
| £3,856.00 |
19 more lines of your own work
| £27,942.36 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Utility survey and cable tracing
| £2,200.00 |
Reinstatement, turf and surfacing
| £23,600.00 |
Directional drilling under the A-road
| £7,645.00 |
Rock breaking in trench, allowance
| £3,300.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Site supervisor
| £5,400.00 |
Traffic management
| £5,700.00 |
Crew van and tool trailer
| £1,488.00 |
Street works and crossing agreements
| £1,430.00 |
Mobilise gang and plant
| £1,760.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| £47,579.46 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | £5,952.00 |
| Subcontractors | £36,745.00 |
Preliminaries
| £15,778.00 |
Direct cost
| £100,102.46 |
Contingency
| £3,003.07 |
Overheads and profit
| £10,310.55 |
| Subtotal before the bond | £113,416.08 |
Bond
| £1,134.16 |
Insurance
| £567.08 |
Tender total
| £115,117.32 |
VAT, for reference
| £23,023.46 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I price the trench and the duct separately?
Yes. Put each on its own line with its own quantity, hours per metre, material and plant. Each line is totalled on its own.
Can the digger run fewer hours than the gang?
Yes. Give the line's plant its own hours per unit. Leave it blank and it runs for the gang's hours.
What if I have no reinstatement quote yet?
Carry an allowance for that package on the Subcontractors tab until the quotes come in. Once they do, the lowest is flagged and carried unless you pick another.
Can the trench, duct and footway boxes each have their own cost code?
Yes. Every line takes a cost code. You start with codes named after the NRM2 work sections, or paste your own list from Excel or QuickBooks, and Bidfident shows a preview of what it read before anything changes.
Can I bring in my old duct estimates from Excel?
Not yet. You can copy and paste lines into the sheet, but a whole estimate can't be imported.
Does it track the metres of duct actually laid?
No. Bidfident is for pricing the tender. It doesn't track metres laid, hours or costs against actuals once work starts.
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 duct tender in Bidfident
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