Also called: exclusions, excluded work, not included.
Common exclusions on property work: permits and permit fees, disposal of hazardous material, repairs to rot or structural damage found after demolition, painting after a repair, moving furniture or tenant belongings, and anything an inspector requires that was not visible at bid time.
Exclusions usually appear as a short list at the end of a proposal, in smaller type than the price. Two bidders can exclude entirely different things and neither is being dishonest — but the bid that excludes more will always look cheaper.
The right response to an exclusion is not to reject the bidder. It is to price the excluded item, decide who carries it, and put the answer in writing before work starts.
Why it matters
Exclusions are where the price difference between bids usually lives. A quote that excludes permits, disposal and deck repair on a roof job can easily sit 30% below one that includes them, and the difference will be billed to you anyway — later, at the contractor's number rather than a competitive one.
Related terms
- Bid leveling — Bid leveling is the process of adjusting competing contractor bids onto a common basis so their prices can be compared directly — adding in what one bidder excluded, stripping out what another included, until every number covers the same work.
- Change order — A change order is a written amendment to a signed contract that adds, removes or alters work, and adjusts the price and schedule accordingly. It is the mechanism by which a job's final cost stops matching the bid you accepted.
- Allowance — An allowance is a placeholder amount included in a bid for work or materials that have not been specified yet — a budget line to be reconciled against the actual cost once the choice is made.
- Scope of work — A scope of work is the written, itemised description of exactly what a contractor will do on a job — the tasks, the materials, the quantities and the conditions. It is what a price is a price for.
Quotrium drafts the scope, sends it to the contractors you pick, and scores every bid against it line by line. See how it works.