Bidfident for directional boring contractors
Estimating software for directional boring
Boring contractors use Bidfident to price each bore by the linear foot: pilot and ream, HDPE pipe fused and pulled back, and drilling mud with its disposal. The HDD rig, fusion machine and vac truck each run for their own hours, not the crew's. Entry and exit pits go in by the each, crossing permits as a lump sum, and locates and restoration as subs.
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 rig billed for the crew's whole day
Digging pits, setting up and fusing pipe keep the crew busy while the rig sits idle, but a spreadsheet row charges it the same hours. In Bidfident the rig, fusion machine and vac truck each get their own hours per unit.
A big rig rate magnifies a small slip
At a rig rate of a few hundred an hour, a slip in its hours per foot moves the bid a long way. In Bidfident the bid total stays in view and shows how much it moved after each change, so a jump that size is hard to miss.
Permits and mud lost between rows
Lump-sum permits and mud disposal sit in a corner of the sheet and get missed. In Bidfident permits go in as a lump-sum general conditions item, and mud is a line priced by the foot like the bore.
How Bidfident fits your work
The HDD rig for the hours it runs
Give the rig its own hours per foot, apart from the crew's. The fusion machine and vac truck can each have their own hours too.
Bore lines that look off, flagged
Before the bid goes out, Bidfident flags a bore or pit line with no cost code, no quantity, a total of zero, hours with a zero rate, or hours or a material price more than 25% off the library's.
Locates and restoration bids compared
Enter each sub bid on the Subcontractors tab, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you pick. No restoration bids yet? Carry a plug number.
Permits as a lump sum, supervision by the week
Crossing permits go in as a lump sum. Supervision runs by the week and follows the job duration, part weeks allowed.
Rig, fusion and vac truck rates in one place
Your bore crew and every machine with its hourly rate, in one library that every estimate uses.
Each crossing with its own subtotal
Tag each bore with its crossing, the highway or a creek, and group the sheet to see what each one comes to.
Worked example: directional boring under a highway and two creeks
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 26 lines of your own work, 4 subs and 5 general conditions items over a 4-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 "Telecom and fiber" and "Directional boring" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Directional bore, 6", pilot and ream, 790 LF
| $9,859.20 |
HDPE pipe, 4", fused and pulled back, 790 LF
| $5,302.48 |
Drilling mud and disposal, 790 LF
| $1,264.00 |
Entry and exit pits, vacuum excavation, 2 ea
| $2,304.00 |
22 more lines of your own work
| $63,455.05 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Utility locates
| $1,700.00 |
Restoration, sod and asphalt
| $6,200.00 |
Traffic control, highway shoulder closure
| $5,480.00 |
Geotechnical review of bore profiles, allowance
| $2,700.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Supervision, foreman
| $5,800.00 |
Highway and creek crossing permits
| $2,800.00 |
Mobilize drill spread
| $5,440.00 |
Crew truck and tool trailer
| $2,080.00 |
Crew lodging and per diem, crew of four
| $6,720.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $82,184.73 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $968.43 |
| Subcontractors | $16,080.00 |
General conditions
| $22,840.00 |
Direct cost
| $121,104.73 |
Contingency
| $6,055.24 |
Fee
| $12,716.00 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $139,875.97 |
Bond
| $1,398.76 |
Insurance
| $699.38 |
Bid total
| $141,974.11 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
My bore is priced by the foot but the rig works by the hour. How does that add up?
Each line takes the footage, the crew's hours per foot and the rig's own hours per foot. Bidfident works out the hours and prices both at their hourly rates.
Can one bore line carry both the bore crew and the HDD rig?
Yes. A line has a trade with its hours per unit and one piece of equipment by the hour, plus a material price, so the crew and the rig sit on the same bore line.
How do I price drilling mud and disposal?
Put it on its own line by the foot with a material price. A line with no trade or hours carries no labor.
Can I price permits as a lump sum?
Yes. General conditions items go on the General conditions tab, by the week, by the month, as a lump sum or each.
Does it read bore profiles from plans?
No. Type your footage in, or copy and paste it into the sheet.
What if my rig rate changes after I submit a bid?
A submitted bid keeps the labor and equipment rates it was priced with, so a later change to your library doesn't move a price you've already sent.
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 boring 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.