Bidfident for fiber contractors
Estimating software for fiber runs
Pricing a fiber run in Bidfident starts with the footage. Put cable pulled in conduit and aerial fiber lashed to strand on their own lines, each with its hours per foot and a waste percentage on the cable. The bucket truck is charged for its own hours, handholes and slack loops go in by the each, locates as a sub, and traffic control by the week.
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Sound familiar?
Aerial and underground at one rate
A lineman on the strand costs more than a technician pulling cable in conduit, but one blended rate in the spreadsheet hides it. In Bidfident each line takes its own trade's rate from your library.
Cable waste guessed on a separate row
Slack, tails and cut-offs get added as a lump at the bottom, or forgotten. In Bidfident each line's material price has its own waste percentage, so the extra cable is priced in the line it belongs to.
Traffic control that doesn't follow the job
The route slips a week and the traffic control row still says five. In Bidfident weekly general conditions like traffic control and supervision follow the job duration, so change the weeks and they follow.
How Bidfident fits your work
Linemen and technicians at their own rates
Put aerial lashing on the lineman, cable pulls on the fiber technician and handholes on the laborer. Each line takes its trade's rate from your library.
Footage of cable with waste built in
Each line takes linear feet, hours per foot, a cable price with its waste percentage, and equipment by the hour. Copy a run down the sheet like Excel and the totals keep up.
A bucket truck for the hours it runs
Give the bucket truck its own hours per foot on the aerial line. It's charged for those hours, not every hour the crew spends lashing.
Traffic control by the week
Traffic control and the foreman go in by the week and follow the job duration. Stretch the job from 5 weeks to 6 and they follow.
Each segment with its own subtotal
Tag lines with a segment, a street or a pole line, then group the sheet by it to see what each stretch of the route comes to.
Locates bids side by side
Enter each locates bid on the Subcontractors tab, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you pick. No bids yet? Carry a plug number so the bid isn't short.
Worked example: fiber to a rural business park
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 25 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 "Telecom and fiber" and "Fiber runs" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Fiber cable, 144-count, pulled in conduit, 20,350 LF
| $25,061.03 |
Handholes, set and backfilled, 12 ea
| $7,860.00 |
Slack loops and storage brackets, 18 ea
| $1,458.00 |
Aerial fiber, lashed to strand, 7,875 LF
| $13,186.69 |
Strand and pole hardware, 7,875 LF
| $5,654.25 |
20 more lines of your own work
| $38,706.52 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Utility locates
| $2,500.00 |
Directional bore at the creek crossing
| $7,120.00 |
Pole owner make-ready, allowance
| $6,400.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Supervision, foreman
| $6,750.00 |
Traffic control
| $5,500.00 |
Project manager, part time
| $2,400.00 |
Right-of-way and pole attachment permits
| $1,760.00 |
Mobilize crews and equipment
| $2,000.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $91,926.49 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $10,705.18 |
| Subcontractors | $16,020.00 |
General conditions
| $18,410.00 |
Direct cost
| $126,356.49 |
Contingency
| $3,790.69 |
Fee
| $13,014.72 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $143,161.90 |
Bond
| $1,431.62 |
Insurance
| $715.81 |
Bid total
| $145,309.33 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I price aerial and underground fiber differently?
Yes. Put each on its own line with its own trade, hours per foot and material price. The aerial line can carry the bucket truck by the hour.
Can I add waste for slack and cut-offs?
Yes. Each line's material price has a waste percentage, so the extra cable is priced into the line.
Can I price cable by the reel?
Yes. Units are free text, so LF, EA or reel all work. Bidfident doesn't convert between units, so keep each line in the unit its price is in.
Does traffic control follow the length of the job?
Yes. Weekly and monthly items follow the job duration in weeks, and part weeks such as 1.5 are allowed.
Can it measure the route from a map?
No. Type your footage in, or copy and paste it from your own spreadsheet.
Can I carry an underground alternate next to the aerial route?
Yes. Enter the underground lines and switch them off. They stay on the sheet struck through, and their cost is shown beside the totals, not counted in the bid.
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 fiber 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.