documents and addenda in a single pursuit
The date that disqualifies the bid can be buried anywhere in the set.
Every page of the tender, read. Every number, recomputed.
Every send, approved.
Every page readEvery number recomputedEvery send approved
SCROLL Open the bid command center
Built for.
…and every trade that bids.
Mechanical
Electrical
Plumbing
Roofing
Steel[ Why teams switch ]
Why trade contractors switch from manual bid processes
A manual bid process splits the week across an inbox, a takeoff seat, a shared drive, and a workbook. The quantities can be careful and the submission can still be wrong, because the miss was a clause, a late addendum, or a vendor total that did not match its own lines.
Trade contractors switch when that work has to happen before close, not after buyout. Tender review has to cite the page. Leveling has to recompute the number. A send has to wait for a person. Those are the hours around the estimate, and they are where bids break.
ArosBid keeps takeoff and estimate on the same desk as that review. Scope gaps are flagged while the set is still open. Every extension is integer-cent code. During training, nothing leaves without a recorded approval.
[ Bid day, as it actually happens ]
The estimate isn’t where bids break.
The process around it is.
before close, late vendor quotes arrive
Leveling turns into a sprint while the submission clock keeps moving.
can turn a winning number into a loss
A missed exclusion, warranty gap, or bad total walks straight into buyout.
[ What it catches ]
Four traps.
Caught before close.
Each catch is tied to the document and page that proves it—so the estimator can verify it, price it, and approve the move.
TRAP 01WHOLE BID
Mandatory site visit
Spec 01 11 00 §1.8 · page 3
Absent from the invitation email. Non-attendance disqualifies the bid.
TRAP 02SCOPE GAP
Spec vs drawing conflict
Chiller schedule · drawing M-401
Spec calls for 350 tons. The drawing schedule calls for 400. RFI drafted before pricing.
TRAP 03+$42K / +$27.5K
Excluded startup + short warranty
Vendor quote · fine print
Startup labor excluded. One-year warranty offered against a two-year requirement.
TRAP 04Δ $500,000
Total ≠ itemized sum
Vendor quote · total check
The stated grand total and the sum of its line items differ by half a million dollars.
From the Riverside Office Tower demo scenario. Names, companies, and prices are fictional.
[ How a bid runs ]
Ten stages.
A human gate at every send.
01 / 10
01Intake
Recognizes the ITB and creates the pursuit workspace.
Human gate · Read-only
02Setup
Drafts the close calendar and project structure.
Human gate · Calendar invite
03Document review
Finds dates, risks, conflicts, LDs, and alternates.
Human gate · Invites + RFIs
04Bid / No-Bid
Scores the pursuit against GC history and past bids.
Human gate · Decision
05Equipment BOM
Builds a cited BOM with installed labor hours.
Human gate · BOM
06Vendor RFQs
Drafts trade packages and follow-up reminders.
Human gate · Every send
07Leveling
Normalizes quotes and reconciles every total.
Human gate · Award rec.
08Budget
Maps approved values into the Excel workbook.
Human gate · Export
09Proposal
Assembles scope, clarifications, and exclusions.
Human gate · Package
10Readiness
Confirms bonding, addenda, alternates, and gates.
Human gate · You submitControl is architecture
Three rules that
do not move.
This is how an estimating team lets AI near the bid without giving it authority it should never have.
✓
Nothing
auto-sends.
The mail connector refuses to release anything unless the request cites a recorded, approved decision.
≠
Money is code,
not a model.
Every extension, sum, reconciliation, and allowance uses deterministic integer-cent calculations.
⌁
The agent never
sees your keys.
Capability-scoped connectors hold credentials, enforce access, and write every allowed or denied request to the audit log.
[ After the bid goes out ]
The bid doesn’t end when you submit it.
Neither does ArosBid.
Buyout, bonds, turnover, and debrief run in the same workspace that priced the job—so nothing is re-keyed and every loss teaches the next bid.
- Ready
- Submitted
- Submitted amount + award clock
- BAFO timeline
- Awarded
- Bonds + award steps
- Buyout
- Draft buyout PO
- Turnover
- Turnover package
↩ Every loss feeds the next bid
- Loss debrief
- Bid-to-win gap
- Compounding cost history
[ The portfolio brain ]
Every loss makes
the next bid smarter.
Closed pursuits feed the cost library, bid-to-win gap, GC scorecards, and vendor history—turning bid history into the context for the next decision.
Portfolio / liveHistorical context loaded
- LOSTRiverside Office Tower+3.4% vs winner→ Cost library
- WONNorthgate STEM Centermargin held at 1.1%→ GC scorecard
- LOSTCascade Logistics Hublate vendor quote→ Vendor history
- WONHarborview Medical Annexalternates priced early→ Cost library
- LOSTMeridian Business ParkLD terms underpriced→ Bid / No-Bid model
- WONLakeside Civic Centrebuyout gap 0.6%→ Cost library
- LOSTSummit Ridge Data Hall+5.2% on equipment→ Cost library
- WONFairview Transit Depotfull vendor coverage→ Vendor history
Bid-to-win gap2.7%
Across comparable mechanical pursuits
Vendor coverage3
Trades need one more quote
Cost library18
Closed bids updating the library
GC scorecard
Invite oftenAward selectively
Per-GC history from every closed pursuit
[ Autonomy ladder ]
It learns the approvals.
Then it automates them.
During training, nothing leaves without a recorded human approval. After that, it runs what you already signed off. L5 Autonomous is next.
Orchestrate
Runs all ten stages. During training, every send cites a recorded approval.
L4 · OrchestrateApproved firstThen automatedYour office
Connected construction stack
Your tools stay.
ArosBid connects the bid around them.
Move tender intake, documents, approved numbers, and project handoff through the tools your team already knows. Takeoff and estimate are in ArosBid.
[ Deployment & ownership ]
Your instance.
Your data.
Your identity.
01Your own isolated deployment and subdomain
02Your own database and document store
03Your branding throughout the product
04Your Microsoft Entra ID SSO
“On your data, owned by your team.”— Arosplatforms
[ Desk pages ]
The work after the invite.
Crawlable desks for the searches that should land on a trade estimator, not a bid board.
- Construction estimating and biddingCategory hub. Takeoff, tender review, leveling, scope gaps, approval.
- QuickBid alternativeThe whole bid, not just the takeoff. Specialty trades.
- AccuBid alternativeChecks the bid, not just builds it. Mechanical and electrical.
- Trimble AutoBid alternativeThe seeker page. Full comparison stays on vs AutoBid.
- MEP estimating softwareMechanical, electrical, plumbing. The whole bid. Estimation Desktop named honestly.
- Electrical estimating softwareGear, feeders, Div 27/28. Replaces AutoBid. Trade desk, not GC.
- Plumbing estimating softwareFixture vs spec, medical gas, site-utility. Replaces AutoBid.
- Mechanical estimating and biddingEquipment, duct, and the bid after. HVAC and sheet metal.
- Roofing estimating softwareCommercial only. NDL, uplift, tear-off. Not a roof CRM.
- AI construction estimatingReads the tender. Takeoff, estimate, then the bid. Not a chatbot.
- MEP takeoff softwareTakeoff is in the product because we replace AutoBid. Not a STACK replacement.
- Takeoff and estimatingAutoBid’s actual job in one URL. Trade desk, not GC.
- Trade contractor bid softwareNot a bid board. Split from the GC bid-management SERP.
- Vendor quote levelingYour vendors. Stated totals against itemized sums.
- Construction vendor RFQPackages from the reviewed set. Nothing auto-sends.
- Construction bid addendum logInbound addenda on the pursuit. Not a CFDI file.
- Bid management after the ITBThe process page. Not a plan room, not GC-to-sub.
- Bid leveling softwareNormalizes vendor quotes, flags exclusions, surfaces the real low bid.
- AI tender reviewPage and clause. Front end included.
[ Questions ]
Asked on every
first call.
Where does our data live?
In your own isolated deployment, with your own database and document store, on your own subdomain. Your team signs in with your Microsoft Entra ID.
Does ArosBid replace our takeoff software?
ArosBid includes takeoff and estimate and replaces Trimble AutoBid. STACK, McCormick, and FastEST are other takeoff tools in the market.
Can it send anything on its own?
During training, nothing leaves without a recorded human approval. It learns those decisions, then automates what you already signed off. L5 Autonomous is next.
How are the numbers computed?
Money is code, not a model. Every extension, sum, reconciliation, and allowance uses deterministic integer-cent calculations.
What does it plug into?
Outlook, OneDrive, and Excel natively. Bid sources like BuildingConnected, Dodge, PlanHub, and ConstructConnect connect.
How do we see it on our own work?
Book a live walkthrough of the full cycle, intake to submission. Your demo instance is branded as your company before the call starts.
See ArosBid live
Your next bid,
run end to end.
A live walkthrough of the full cycle—intake, document review, leveling, proposal, and submission—with a human gate on every send.
Book a live demo Your demo instance is branded as your company before the call starts.