How to write bid clarifications and exclusions

Bid clarifications and exclusions tell the GC or owner exactly what your price covers. A good one is specific, references the documents, and is short. "Excludes firestopping at rated wall penetrations by other trades, spec section 07 84 00" is useful. "Excludes anything not specifically mentioned" is not, and a reviewer leveling bids will either ignore it or plug a big number against you. Write them as you read the plans, not at 1:45 p.m. on bid day, organize them into inclusions, exclusions, clarifications, and assumptions, and keep them in the same format on every bid so your clients learn to read them.

Inclusions, exclusions, clarifications, and assumptions

• Inclusions: items you are confirming are in your price, especially ones a reviewer might doubt ("Includes temporary power for our own tools").
• Exclusions: work you are not providing ("Excludes painting of exposed conduit").
• Clarifications: how you read an unclear document ("Ceiling height in Corridor 104 priced at 9'-0" per A301; reflected ceiling plan shows 10'-0"").
• Assumptions: conditions your price depends on ("Assumes two mobilizations; additional mobilizations at $1,850 each").

Keep these separate. A reviewer wants to see quickly what is missing (exclusions) and what might cost more later (assumptions and clarifications). Label each group clearly so nobody has to hunt.

Step by step: writing clarifications and exclusions

1. Capture them while you read the plans

Keep a running list during plan review. Every time you hit an unclear note, a scope that might belong to another trade, or a product you cannot get, write it down with the sheet or spec reference. The routine is in how to read construction plans for estimating.

2. Ask first, qualify second

If a question can be answered before bid day, send an RFI through the proper channel. A clarification is a fallback for questions that did not get answered. Owners and GCs prefer a bid that matches the documents.

3. Write one item per line, in plain words

Each line covers one item and names the reference. Use the same terms the documents use. Avoid legal-sounding blanket statements. If you know who usually carries the excluded work, say so ("by mechanical contractor"), which helps the GC level and makes you look like you understand the job.

4. Put numbers on options when you can

Instead of excluding something outright, offer it as an add: "Winter protection excluded; available as an add of $14,200 if work occurs December through February." That keeps your base bid comparable and gives the reviewer a price to plug that is yours, not their guess. This works like an alternate bid.

5. Cut the boilerplate

Many contractors attach two pages of standard exclusions to every bid. Reviewers skip them, and some items contradict the documents. Keep a short standard list for things that truly never change (for example, "Excludes bonds unless noted") and make the rest project-specific.

6. Carry them into the contract

Your clarifications only protect you if they end up in the signed contract or subcontract. At award, ask that your proposal, or at least the exclusions list, be attached as an exhibit. Without that, the contract's scope language and the documents usually govern.

Worked example: a plumbing sub's bid

Say a plumbing contractor bids $412,000 on a three-story apartment building. Here is what a focused list might look like. The prices are illustrative.

Eight lines, each tied to the documents. A GC leveling this against two other plumbing bids can plug the firestopping add directly, and knows the site utility line is with the civil contractor. Compare that with "Excludes all cutting, patching, firestopping, sitework, permits, and anything not shown" which forces the GC to guess, usually high. More on how reviewers read these in how to level subcontractor bids.

Items that often need a line

Some scope lands between trades on almost every job. If the documents do not assign it clearly, address it in your list one way or the other:

• Firestopping and sealants at penetrations.
• Cutting, patching, and painting around your work.
• Temporary power, heat, water, and hoisting.
• Permits, inspections, and testing fees.
• Equipment connections between mechanical and electrical trades.
• Overtime, phasing, and number of mobilizations.
• Bonds, special insurance, and price hold periods.

Exclusions on public bids

Sealed public bids are different. Federal rules say that to be considered for award, a bid must comply in all material respects with the invitation for bids (FAR 14.301), and a bid on the bidder's own terms can be considered only if it accepts all of the invitation's terms. Adding exclusions or conditions to a sealed public bid can make it nonresponsive. State and local agencies have similar rules. Ask questions during the question period and bid the documents as written. Subcontractors bidding to a GC on a public job can still qualify their quote to the GC, but the GC cannot pass those qualifications through to the agency. See how to bid public construction projects.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Blanket exclusions. "Anything not shown" is unenforceable in spirit and annoying in practice.
2. Excluding work the documents clearly assign to you. The reviewer will plug it, and you may lose a job you could have priced.
3. Contradicting your own inclusions, such as including addenda but excluding work that an addendum added.
4. Too many lines. Thirty exclusions read as a risky bidder.
5. Not getting them into the contract. If the subcontract does not reference your proposal, the exclusions may not survive.

Related reading

Clarifications sit inside a larger proposal, covered in how to write a construction proposal that wins. They also protect you from scope gaps that turn into disputes later. Smart Business Automator keeps your proposal and its exclusions with the job record, so the project team sees what was and was not priced when the job starts. See estimate to project handoff automation.