Bidfident for excavation contractors
Estimating software for excavation
Pricing a dig in Bidfident starts with the cubic yard. Mass excavation, footing and trench digging, topsoil stripping and compacted granular backfill each go on their own line, with operator and laborer hours, fill material with a waste percentage, and the excavator, dozer or roller charged for the hours it runs. Carry trucking and haul-off as a sub bid, and the super 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 excavator charged for the whole day
A spreadsheet often charges the excavator for every hour the crew is on site, even while it waits on trucks. Over 4,000 cubic yards that adds up fast. In Bidfident each line's equipment has its own hours per unit, so mass excavation and footings each carry the machine time they really need.
Haul-off numbers that never line up
Three trucking outfits quote haul-off by phone, email and text, and the best number gets lost. In Bidfident their bids sit side by side on the Subcontractors tab, the lowest is flagged, and it's carried unless you pick another.
Backfill that comes up short
Granular fill priced at the exact volume leaves nothing for spillage and over-excavation. In Bidfident each material price carries its own waste percentage, so the extra stone is in the price on that line.
How Bidfident fits your work
Excavator hours apart from the crew's
Give the excavator, dozer or roller its own hours per unit on each line, and it's charged for those hours, not the operator's. Leave it blank and the machine runs for the crew's hours.
Dig, strip and backfill by the cubic yard
Each line takes a quantity in CY or SY, crew hours per unit, a material price with a waste percentage, and equipment by the hour. Copy and paste, fill down, and undo anything, just like Excel.
Trucking and haul-off bids side by side
Enter each trucker's number for haul-off, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you trust more. No numbers back yet? Carry a plug number.
Operators and laborers at their own rates
Set a rate for each trade in the library: equipment operators on the digging lines, laborers on the backfill. A line with no trade uses the fallback rate.
The super by the week, staking as a lump sum
Add the superintendent by the week and link it to the job duration. Survey and staking can sit beside it as a lump sum.
Earthwork totals by cost code
The cost report totals every code under its division, with subtotals. Where one code holds cubic yards and square yards, the quantity shows as mixed rather than adding them together.
Worked example: excavation for a two-story commercial building
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 29 lines of your own work, 4 subs and 6 general conditions items over a 8-week job. The 4 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 US, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Sitework and civil" and "Excavation" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Mass excavation, common earth, 4,200 CY
| $18,018.00 |
Footing and trench excavation, 550 CY
| $7,078.50 |
Strip and stockpile topsoil, 3,350 SY
| $5,420.30 |
Select granular backfill, compacted, 1,180 CY
| $41,724.80 |
25 more lines of your own work
| $129,840.69 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Trucking, haul-off and disposal
| $46,700.00 |
Geotechnical inspection and compaction testing
| $8,200.00 |
Utility locates and as-built survey
| $3,050.00 |
Contaminated soil disposal, allowance
| $6,000.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Superintendent
| $20,000.00 |
Survey and staking
| $5,200.00 |
Mobilize and demobilize equipment
| $7,200.00 |
Job site trailer and portable toilet
| $2,160.00 |
Trench box, rented
| $2,940.00 |
Small tools, plate compactors and rammers
| $1,600.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $202,082.29 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $6,957.40 |
| Subcontractors | $63,950.00 |
General conditions
| $39,100.00 |
Direct cost
| $305,132.29 |
Contingency
| $9,153.97 |
Fee
| $31,428.63 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $345,714.89 |
Bond
| $3,457.15 |
Insurance
| $1,728.57 |
Bid total
| $350,900.61 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I charge the excavator for fewer hours than the operator?
Yes. Type the excavator's own hours per unit on the line. Leave it blank and it runs for the operator's hours.
Can I add a waste percentage to backfill?
Yes. Every line's material price has its own waste percentage, so 10% on granular fill is added on that line only.
Can I price haul-off by the load or the ton?
Yes, units are free text, so loads, ton and CY all work. Bidfident doesn't convert between them, so price each line in the unit its rate is in.
What if the trucking bids aren't in yet?
Carry a plug number for trucking until the bids arrive, then enter them side by side and carry the one you want.
Does it figure cut volumes from a site plan?
No. Bidfident doesn't read plans, drawings or survey files. Type your volumes in, or paste them into the sheet.
Can I price rock apart from common earth?
Yes. Put rock on its own line with its own hours per cubic yard and its own equipment, like a hoe ram by the hour. Each line is charged for its own machine time.
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 excavation 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.