General Contractor Bidding Software
A general contractor's bid is an assembly problem, not a takeoff problem. The work is collecting sub bids across trades, adding the costs only the GC carries, and applying a management fee and markups to the whole. Pro Spec IQ is built around that shape: select the trades on a project and each gets its own section rolling into one total.
What Pro Spec IQ tracks on a general contractor bid
Beyond material, labor, and equipment, general contractor bids get inputs specific to the trade:
Total Project Sq Ft
sq ftTotal project square footage
Sub Bids to Coordinate
bidsNumber of subcontractor bids to manage
Project Duration
weeksExpected project duration in weeks
Insurance / Bonding
$Project-specific insurance and bonding costs
Management Fee
%GC management fee percentage
Starting markups for general contractor
12%
Overhead
15%
Profit
5%
Contingency
These are editable defaults, not fixed rates. Set them per bid to match your own cost structure and the risk on the job.
What drives cost on general contractor work
- Sub bids across every trade on the project
- General conditions, including supervision and site costs
- Insurance and bonding, carried at the project level
- Permits and jurisdictional fees
- Management fee applied across the combined scope
Where these estimates go wrong
- Carrying sub bids at face value without scope-gap review between trades
- Missing general conditions on longer-duration projects
- Applying a single markup without separating management fee from profit
- Not tracking which sub bids are firm and which are budgetary
General Contractor estimating questions
How does a GC build a multi-trade bid?
Select the trades on the project and enter each sub bid in its own section. Add GC-carried costs — insurance, permits, general conditions — then apply a management fee, overhead, profit, and contingency to the combined total. Pro Spec IQ generates a section per selected trade automatically.
What's the difference between the GC and trade account types?
Trade accounts bid a single scope with inputs specific to that trade. GC accounts select multiple trades on one project, get a line-item section for each, and add project-level costs like insurance and management fee on top.
Can I track subcontractors after the bid?
Yes. Accepted bids convert to jobs with change orders, daily logs, and budget-versus-actual tracking, and subcontractor records carry through.
Build your next general contractor bid in Pro Spec IQ
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