How to manage Inclusions in Bid Leveling

You can add inclusions to your bid form to ask bidders to confirm that their proposals include the required scope. Inclusions are especially helpful in cases where a subcontractor submitted a lump sum amount in their proposal. Adjustments can be made to Inclusions in the Bid Leveling tool. This article will cover:

• How to plug in values for Inclusions in Bid Leveling
• How to add and remove Inclusions in Bid Leveling
   

How to plug in values for Inclusions in Bid Leveling

If you have Inclusions setup in your bid form, your bidders' responses appear in Bid Leveling. Based on their response, you can plug in values as needed to level their bid. 

For example, if a bidder answered "No" to an inclusion, you may have followed up with the bidder and confirmed the additional price to include that inclusion. You can plug in that value to get the "Leveled Bid" value that accurately reflects all the work you need to be completed.

To start, navigate to the "Bid Leveling" tab within a bid package. 



Under “Inclusions,” click on the line that you want to adjust the price for.



Change the answer to "Yes or "No", add an adjustment to the bid, or also leave a note for reference. You can also choose a color from the options in the bottom right corner to highlight the cell and indicate that a change was made. 

Note: Any adjustments to the bid are automatically highlighted in blue.

Click “Enter” to save the changes.



Any adjustments you make contribute to the Leveled bid total that appears at the top. In this case, you can see the difference of $3,000 because of the change that was made in the Inclusions. 


 

How to add and remove Inclusions in Bid Leveling

If you have additional inclusions that you need to add during the bid leveling process, you can do so from the Bid Leveling tab. For example, there may be additional requirements that come up after you have received bids.

Note: When you add an Inclusion in Bid Leveling, it is also automatically added to the scope-specific bid form for this bid package. 

Navigate to the "Bid Leveling" tab within a bid package. 



In the "Inclusions" section, click the "Edit Section" icon. 



Type in the Description and select whether the inclusion is required or not. The response type can't be changed because Inclusions must be answered with a yes/no response. 

Click "add inclusion" to add more. 



To remove an inclusion, click the "x" icon in the "Required?" column. 



Note: Even though you remove an inclusion, they are still maintained for record. They will appear under the Alternates section as a "Additional Item". You can toggle this line item on and off depending on if you want any cost adjustments in these lines to contribute to the Leveled Bid. Learn more about how to manage Additional Items.



To reorder inclusions, hold the left side of the line and drag and drop it to the desired location. 



Click "Save.” 

Note: Subcontractors are not notified when Inclusions are added to a bid form, but the bid form on their end does update accordingly. Therefore, if a subcontractor is filling out the bid form in BuildingConnected while the form is modified, they will receive a notification on the end alerting them of the change. You can also ask invited subcontractors to return to BuildingConnected and revise their bid based on your updated changes.