How to Get Builder Bids You Can Actually Compare

If you're wrapping up design on a custom home or a major remodel and hoping to break ground in spring, your bids will probably go out this winter. That makes now the right time to think about how you ask for them.

A lot of the trouble people have comparing bids gets built in before a single number comes back. When three builders price three slightly different versions of your house, you get three totals that don't mean much side by side. The fix is to set up the request so every builder prices the same house. Below is what I'd put in the package, and why each piece matters.

Send one drawing set, with its date

Send every builder the same set of drawings, and put the issue date or revision number on it. It sounds obvious. But design is still moving at this stage, and it's easy for one builder to end up with the October set while another gets the November set with the revised kitchen.

When that happens, neither bid is wrong. They're just answering different questions. List the sheet index and date in your cover letter, and if the architect issues a revision during bidding, send it to everyone at once with a short note on what changed.

Tell them what finish level you mean

Drawings show where the tile goes. They rarely say what kind of tile. Left to fill in the blanks, each builder will price the finish level they're used to building, which may be nowhere near what you have in mind.

A finish brief fixes this, and it doesn't need to be fancy. One page with a few photos and product types is plenty: large-format porcelain in the main living areas, site-finished white oak in the bedrooms, painted shaker cabinets, quartz counters, mid-range plumbing fixtures with one statement tub in the primary bath. That's enough to put every builder in the same neighborhood instead of guessing.

Set the allowances yourself

For anything you haven't picked yet (lighting, appliances, tile, hardware), the bid carries an allowance, which is a placeholder dollar amount. If each builder picks their own, one might carry $15,000 for lighting and another $40,000 (illustrative numbers, not a guide). The lower bid looks better right up until you go shopping.

Put your own allowance amounts in the request and ask every builder to carry them exactly. Then the allowances wash out of the comparison, and the differences left over are real. While you're at it, say whether each allowance covers material only or material plus installation, since that changes what the number actually buys.

Ask for the same format

If one bid arrives as a single lump sum and another runs forty lines by trade, you can't line them up. Ask everyone to break their price out by trade or by the standard construction divisions (sitework, concrete, framing, roofing, and so on). You can hand them a simple template or just list the categories you want to see.

Ask for inclusions and exclusions in writing, too. The exclusions list is often where the real differences hide. One builder leaves out landscaping, another leaves out the heated driveway, a third leaves out permit fees. Those gaps can add up to more than the spread between the bids.

Get their assumptions about the ground and the weather

In the mountains, site conditions can move a budget as much as finishes do. Ask each builder to write down what they've assumed about excavation and rock, utility connections (distance to power and water, well and septic if that applies, and who pays tap fees), and winter work like snow removal, temporary heat, and enclosures.

You're not asking anyone to predict the future. You're asking them to write down the guess they already made. If one builder assumes no rock and another carries money for rock removal, the second bid isn't necessarily padded. It may just be more realistic about the ground. Having those assumptions in writing also gives you something to point to if a surprise turns up later.

One deadline for questions, answers to everyone

Builders will have questions during bidding. Set one cutoff date, collect the questions, and send every answer to every bidder. If one builder learns the exterior doors aren't in the window package and the others don't, you're back to uneven bids, and nobody did anything wrong.

A short written addendum is all it takes. Question, answer, same page to everyone.

Ask for the terms, not just the total

The price is only part of what you're comparing. Ask each builder for their fee or markup and how it's calculated, how much contingency they carry and who controls it, their proposed payment schedule, and a construction schedule with a start date and duration.

Two bids with the same total can play out very differently. A lower fee with a thin contingency can end up costing more than a higher fee with a realistic one. A schedule that runs three months longer means three more months of loan interest and rent somewhere else. A payment schedule with heavy deposits up front changes your cash flow. None of that shows up on the bottom line.

What to send

• Drawing set with sheet index and issue date
• One-page finish brief with photos and product types
• Your allowance amounts, noting whether each includes installation
• Requested bid format (by trade or division), with inclusions and exclusions
• Request for written assumptions on site work, rock, utilities, and winter conditions
• Question deadline, and a note that answers go to all bidders
• Request for fee or markup, contingency, payment schedule, and construction schedule
• Bid due date

This takes some work up front, probably a few evenings with your architect. Some builders will send their own format anyway, and that's fine; it's still far easier to sort out when you've asked everyone for the same pieces. You can assemble the package yourself, lean on your architect, or bring in someone to help. The point is getting bids that answer the same question, so the differences you see are the ones that matter.