RFP review for trade contractors

Construction RFPs are getting harder to read, not easier.

BidTerms turns long RFPs into a clear scope summary, deadline list, submission checklist, and red-flag review before you price the job.

  • Catch the clauses that hurt margins. Pay-if-paid, liquidated damages, broad indemnification — flagged with the source text quoted.
  • Everything before you commit. Scope, deadlines, submission checklist, and fit score before you spend hours on a bid.
  • Ready to respond. Generate a branded proposal draft and bid risk report straight from the review.
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City_HVAC_Replacement_RFP.pdf
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Scope
Replacement of HVAC units at the Civic Center. Contractor responsible for removal, installation, permits, startup, and training. Prevailing wage applies.
Deadlines
Site walkJun 6
Q&A dueJun 10
Bid dueJun 17
Company Fit
74/100
Possible fit
Top risk flags
Pay-When-PaidCritical
"Subcontractor payment is contingent upon receipt of payment from Owner."
Liquidated DamagesHigh
"$500 per calendar day for each day of delay beyond completion."
Broad IndemnificationHigh
"Contractor shall defend and hold harmless Owner from any and all claims…"
Key terms

Bid bond

10%

of contract value

Performance bond

100%

required at award

Retention

10%

until 50% complete

Warranty

2 years

parts & labor

GL insurance

$2M

per occurrence

Workers comp

Statutory

CA required

Compliance checklist
Prevailing wageDIR registration required
DBE / SLBE requirementNone identified
!
Subcontractor listingDue at bid — Sublisting Law
DVBE participation3% goal — docs required
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Built for every trade

Electricians HVAC Contractors Plumbers Roofers General Contractors Mechanical

Every clause BidTerms flags is quoted verbatim from your RFP, so you can verify any flag against the source document in seconds.

Tested before every release against a benchmark of real public construction and trade RFPs.

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No setup, no spreadsheet triage. Upload the RFP and get a structured review of what deserves attention before you bid.

1

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Native PDFs and scanned documents are parsed into a structured review workspace.

2

Review the evidence

Scope, deadlines, required documents, fit score, and risk clauses are organized with source excerpts.

3

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Turn reviewed findings into a checklist, bid risk report, and branded proposal draft.

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What you get

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Real outputs from a real RFP (City HVAC Replacement, 94 pages). This is exactly what you get, minutes after uploading.

Scope summary Auto-generated

City_HVAC_Replacement_RFP.pdf

Replacement of 14 rooftop HVAC units at the Civic Center — mechanical trade, City of St. Louis. Contractor responsible for removal, installation, permits, startup, balancing, and training. Prevailing wage applies under Missouri Chapter 290.

Mechanical Public works Prevailing wage

Plain-English, trade-specific. No lawyer needed.

Deadlines Calendar export

Pre-bid site walk

Attendance mandatory — p. 8

Jun 6

9:00 AM

Questions due

Written only — Section 3.2

Jun 10

5:00 PM

Bid due

Hard sealed bid — p. 4

Jun 17

2:00 PM

Substantial completion

LD clock starts — p. 22

Nov 30

Contract day

Every date, with the page it came from.

Risk flags 3 found

Pay-When-Paid

Critical

"Payment to subcontractor contingent upon receipt of payment from Owner." — p. 31

Liquidated Damages

High

"$500 per calendar day for each day of delay beyond completion date." — p. 22

Broad Indemnification

High

"Contractor shall defend and hold harmless Owner from any and all claims…" — p. 14

Source clause quoted. Page number included.

Company fit score Personalised
74

/100

Possible fit

License match✓ Qualified
Bond capacity✓ Within range
Prevailing wage exp.⚠ Review needed
DVBE 3% goal✗ Gap identified

Know your chances before you spend 40 hours on a bid.

Submission checklist 8 items
Bid bond — 10% of contract value
Completed Bid Form (Exhibit A)
Subcontractor listing (Sublisting Law)
DIR contractor registration proof
Certificate of insurance — $2M GL
Performance & payment bond commitment
DVBE participation plan (3% goal)
References — 3 similar public projects

Extracted from the RFP. Nothing generic.

Key terms Extracted

Bid bond

10%

of contract value

Performance bond

100%

required at award

Retention

10%

until 50% complete

Warranty

2 years

parts & labor

GL insurance

$2M

per occurrence

Liq. damages

$500/day

beyond completion

Every number you'd spend hours hunting for.

All of the above, from one PDF, in minutes.

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⚠️ What gets missed without BidTerms

Hidden clauses can change the job economics

A pay-when-paid clause buried on page 47. Liquidated damages in an appendix. Broad indemnification that shifts the owner's legal costs onto you. These are the clauses that turn a profitable job into a loss.

  • ! Pay-when-paid / pay-if-paid. You may never get paid if the GC doesn't get paid.
  • ! Liquidated damages. Fixed daily penalties for delays — even ones outside your control.
  • ! Broad indemnification. You cover the owner's legal costs, not just your own.
  • ! No guaranteed minimum. On-call contracts with zero promised work volume.
⚠️ Risk detected — Broad Indemnification
"The Contractor shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Owner, its officers, agents, and employees from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, and expenses — including attorney fees — arising out of or resulting from performance of the Work, regardless of whether such claim is caused by the negligence of the Owner."
Why this matters

This clause makes you responsible for the owner's legal costs even when the owner's own negligence caused the problem. This can expose you to unlimited liability on a job that goes wrong for reasons outside your control.

Found on p. 14, Section 9.3

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  • Company profile and fit scoring
  • Calendar export for deadlines
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Review the risk before you price the job.

BidTerms gives your team a faster way to inspect RFPs, check submission requirements, and move from document review to bid prep.