Bidfident for grading contractors
Estimating software for grading and earthwork
Bidfident is built for estimators who price grading by the square yard and the cubic yard. Strip topsoil, cut and fill, fine grade, proof roll and respread on separate lines, give the dozer, motor grader and roller their own hours apart from the operator's, carry survey and grade staking as a sub bid, and keep silt fence and SWPPP erosion control in general conditions.
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?
Dozer and blade time lumped in with the crew
Rough grading and fine grading use different machines for very different hours, but a spreadsheet row often has one blended rate. In Bidfident each line names its own equipment with its own hours per unit, apart from the operator's.
Big areas, tiny rates
On a 17,000 square yard field, a slip in hours per square yard moves the number by thousands. Bidfident keeps the bid total in view and briefly shows how much it moved after each change, so a slip shows right away.
The same area on five lines
Strip, fine grade, proof roll and respread all use the field's area, and when it changes some rows get missed. In Bidfident the sheet fills down like Excel, and every change is one undo step if you go too far.
How Bidfident fits your work
Dozer, grader and roller for their own hours
A cut and fill line can carry the dozer at its own hours per cubic yard, and fine grading the motor grader at its own hours per square yard. Each machine is charged for the time it runs.
Every pass on its own line
Strip, cut and fill, fine grade, proof roll and respread each get a line with a quantity, a unit, crew hours per unit and equipment. Totals update as you type.
Production rates kept in the library
Save tasks with their hours per unit, like fine grading per square yard, in the company library. Every estimate picks up the same production rates.
Survey and grade staking as a sub bid
Enter each surveyor's number side by side, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or another you pick.
Group by field, parking or access road
Tag lines with an area, like the main field, the parking area or the access road, and group the sheet with a subtotal for each.
SWPPP and the super in general conditions
Silt fence and erosion control as a lump sum, the super by the week. Linked weekly items follow the job duration, even part weeks like 4.5.
Worked example: rough and fine grading for a school athletic field
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 27 lines of your own work, 3 subs and 5 general conditions items over a 5-week job. 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 US, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Sitework and civil" and "Grading" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Strip and stockpile topsoil, 17,350 SY
| $18,106.46 |
Cut and fill on site, 8,100 CY
| $28,544.40 |
Fine grading to plus or minus 0.1 ft, 17,350 SY
| $13,628.43 |
Subgrade compaction and proof roll, 17,350 SY
| $5,265.73 |
Respread topsoil, 6", 17,350 SY
| $17,280.60 |
22 more lines of your own work
| $110,997.25 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Survey and grade staking
| $6,100.00 |
Compaction testing
| $4,650.00 |
Imported topsoil if the site stockpile runs short, allowance
| $9,500.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Superintendent
| $12,500.00 |
Silt fence and erosion control (SWPPP)
| $3,900.00 |
Mobilize and demobilize equipment
| $6,000.00 |
Job site trailer and portable toilet
| $1,350.00 |
Water truck, dust control
| $6,900.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $193,822.87 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $68,474.48 |
| Subcontractors | $20,250.00 |
General conditions
| $30,650.00 |
Direct cost
| $244,722.87 |
Contingency
| $7,341.69 |
Fee
| $25,206.46 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $277,271.02 |
Bond
| $2,772.71 |
Insurance
| $1,386.36 |
Bid total
| $281,430.09 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can the dozer and grader run fewer hours than the operator?
Yes. Each line's equipment can have its own hours per unit. Leave it blank and the machine runs for the crew's hours.
Can I keep my production rates per square yard?
Yes. Save them as tasks with hours per unit in the rate library, and pick them from the line picker by typing a description.
Does it figure cut and fill from survey data?
No. Bidfident doesn't read survey files, drawings or maps. Enter the volumes your survey or earthwork software gives you.
Can I price in acres?
Units are free text, so any unit works. Bidfident doesn't convert between units, so price each line in the unit its rate is in.
Can erosion control go in as a lump sum?
Yes. Add it as a general conditions item by lump sum on the General conditions tab, beside weekly items like the super.
What if wet weather adds a week to the grading?
Change the job duration and the super, and every other weekly or monthly general conditions item linked to it, updates. Part weeks are allowed.
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 grading 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.