Bidfident for hardscape and landscape contractors
Estimating software for hardscape and landscape
Landscape contractors use Bidfident to price hardscape and softscape on one sheet: concrete pavers and retaining walls by the square foot, topsoil by the cubic yard, sod by the square foot and trees each. Installers and laborers carry their own rates, the plate compactor runs its own hours, irrigation comes in as a sub bid, and the skid steer rents 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?
Hardscape and softscape at one rate
Paver and wall installers cost more than the crew laying sod, but a spreadsheet often uses one rate for both. In Bidfident each line takes its trade's rate, so installers and laborers are each priced at their own.
The same paver section, retyped every job
Pavers on aggregate base get rebuilt from scratch each time, and a rate is always slightly off. In Bidfident an assembly in the rate library fills the whole line at once, with the same rates on every estimate.
Upgrades the owner hasn't decided on
Extra trees or a taller wall get deleted, or left in the total by mistake. In Bidfident switch the line off and it stays on the sheet, struck through, with what it comes to shown beside the totals.
How Bidfident fits your work
Pavers, walls, sod and trees on one sheet
Each line takes its own unit, SF, CY or EA, with crew hours per unit and a material price with waste. The plate compactor can run its own hours apart from the crew's.
Installers and laborers at their own rates
Set a rate for hardscape installers and another for laborers. Each line takes its trade's rate, and a new trade can be added right from the Trade cell.
Upgrades kept but not counted
Price the extra trees, the upgraded pavers or the taller wall, then switch them off. They stay on the sheet, struck through, and what they come to is shown beside the totals.
Assemblies for the work you repeat
Save pavers on aggregate base or sod with topsoil as an assembly. Start typing a description and the line picker finds it, with its prices, and fills the whole line.
Irrigation bids side by side
Enter each irrigation sub's number, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you pick. Carry a plug number if the bids aren't in yet.
Skid steer and foreman by the week
Rent the skid steer and pay the foreman by the week, linked to the job duration. Add a week and both follow.
Worked example: hardscape and landscape for a townhome community
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 24 lines of your own work, 3 subs and 5 general conditions items over a 6-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 "Hardscape and landscape" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Concrete pavers on aggregate base, 9,150 SF
| $72,285.01 |
Segmental retaining wall, up to 4 ft, 1,500 SF
| $32,152.50 |
Topsoil, furnished and spread, 6", 550 CY
| $24,062.50 |
Sod, bluegrass blend, 28,000 SF
| $13,818.00 |
Deciduous trees, 2-1/2" caliper, 36 ea
| $15,300.00 |
19 more lines of your own work
| $88,000.51 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Irrigation system
| $14,900.00 |
Wood privacy fence, 6 ft
| $10,880.00 |
Site furnishings, allowance
| $5,200.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Site supervision, foreman
| $7,500.00 |
Skid steer rental
| $6,600.00 |
Mobilization
| $2,000.00 |
Water new sod and trees to acceptance
| $3,000.00 |
Dumpsters
| $1,600.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $245,618.52 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $18,619.13 |
| Subcontractors | $30,980.00 |
General conditions
| $20,700.00 |
Direct cost
| $297,298.52 |
Contingency
| $8,918.96 |
Fee
| $30,621.75 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $336,839.23 |
Bond
| $3,368.39 |
Insurance
| $1,684.20 |
Bid total
| $341,891.82 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I keep an upgrade, like extra trees, without it counting?
Yes. Switch the line off. It stays on the sheet, struck through, and what it comes to is shown beside the totals.
Can an assembly fill a whole paver line at once?
Yes. Save it in the rate library, then type a description and pick it. It fills the line with its hours and prices.
Can I price trees each and sod by the square foot?
Yes. Units are free text, so EA, SF, SY and CY all work. Bidfident doesn't convert between units.
Can installers and laborers have different rates?
Yes. Give each trade its own rate in the library. Any one line can also carry its own rate, marked in purple.
Can I add waste to pavers, sod and topsoil?
Yes. Each line's material price has its own waste percentage, like 5% on pavers and sod and 10% on topsoil.
Can the plate compactor run fewer hours than the crew?
Yes. Give it its own hours per square foot on the paver line. Leave it blank and it runs for the crew's hours.
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 hardscape 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.