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The number on the last page is the least informative part of a bid.

Two bids can be far apart because one of them quietly leaves out the permit, the haul-off, the patching and the old unit. Lay the three side by side on the lines that actually differ, mark what each one puts in writing, and the gap starts explaining itself.

Bid comparison sheet

Put three written bids side by side on what each one includes and leaves out, rather than on the total.

How this works, and what it does not tell you

How this works

You work down the sheet with the three written bids in front of you and mark, line by line, what each one actually puts in writing. The page assembles your marks into one plain-text document, together with the questions each bid has not answered yet. It runs in your browser, keeps your answers on this device only, and sends nothing to Coastal SD Pros or to any contractor.

What it does not tell you

It does not read your bids, it does not know what your job should cost, and it will not tell you which company to choose. It produces no total, no count, no score and no ranking of any business — the sheet records what a document says and turns the silences into questions, and the judgement stays yours.

Three bids only compare if all three priced the same work. If you have not sent one yet, start with the scope brief — the same job description to every company. This sheet assumes the bids in front of you answered the same brief.

JavaScript is off, so this page cannot assemble the document for you. Nothing is lost: the whole sheet is printed below and the print layout turns it into a paper form with writable boxes. Press Ctrl+P, or Cmd+P on a Mac, and fill it in by hand with the bids next to you.

The job these bids priced

One line, so the sheet still makes sense to you in three months.

The job, in one line

For example: the trade, the work, and the address or the room.

The sheet

Mark what the paper actually says, not what you were told on the doorstep. The default on every line is not in the bid, because a bid states nothing until it states it in writing. On a narrow screen the sheet scrolls sideways to reach the second and third bid; printed, it fits the page.

There is no total at the bottom of this sheet, and there never will be. A column total would be a grade, and a grade about a business is exactly the thing this directory does not publish. Read the rows. A bid that leaves five of them silent is not a worse company — it is a document with five unanswered questions in it, and the block underneath turns them into questions you can send.

Rows are what a bid either states or does not state. Columns are your three bids. Name each company in the top row so the document you take away is readable on its own.
What the bid has to say	Bid one — company name	Bid two — company name	Bid three — company name
Permits: who applies, who pays, who is named on them A company that asks you to pull the permit yourself is stepping away from responsibility for the work passing inspection. My note on permits	Permits — bid one	Permits — bid two	Permits — bid three
Debris haul-off and every disposal fee Disposal and hauling is the classic silent omission — work that has to happen, and can be billed on top afterwards. My note on haul-off	Haul-off — bid one	Haul-off — bid two	Haul-off — bid three
Site protection, moving contents, and final cleaning If you are living in the house through the work, this line is the difference between a fortnight and a fortnight of dust. My note on site protection	Site protection — bid one	Site protection — bid two	Site protection — bid three
Patch, sand and paint anything you open Opening a wall is in almost every bid. Closing it back to the finish it had is in far fewer. My note on patch and paint	Patch and paint — bid one	Patch and paint — bid two	Patch and paint — bid three
Removal and disposal of the old unit or old material Taking the old one out is a separate piece of work from putting the new one in, and it is priced separately more often than you would think. My note on removal of the old unit	Old-unit removal — bid one	Old-unit removal — bid two	Old-unit removal — bid three
Brand, model number, grade and finish on every material Two bids naming the same fixture can still be naming two different products. The model number is what makes the comparison real. My note on brands and models	Brand and model — bid one	Brand and model — bid two	Brand and model — bid three
Labour broken out by phase or trade, not one lump sum A lump sum cannot be compared to anything. Split by phase, the difference between two bids becomes visible instead of arguable. My note on the labour breakdown	Labour by phase — bid one	Labour by phase — bid two	Labour by phase — bid three
Which parts are subcontracted, and to whom, by name "Our crew" is not a name. You are entitled to know which companies will be inside your house. My note on subcontractors	Named subs — bid one	Named subs — bid two	Named subs — bid three
The written change-order process This is the line that decides what happens the day someone opens a wall and finds something nobody expected. My note on the change-order process	Change orders — bid one	Change orders — bid two	Change orders — bid three
Material allowances listed separately from fixed prices An allowance is a placeholder, not a price. A bid full of them is not really a bid yet. My note on allowances	Allowances — bid one	Allowances — bid two	Allowances — bid three
Crew size, working days, and the start and completion dates A price with no dates attached is not a schedule, and a schedule is half of what you are buying. My note on crew and schedule	Crew and schedule — bid one	Crew and schedule — bid two	Crew and schedule — bid three
Payment set against work completed, and what the deposit pays for Payments tied to finished work behave differently from payments tied to dates on a calendar. Ask each bid which one it is proposing, and check the current rules on CSLB's own pages before you agree to anything. My note on the payment schedule	Payment schedule — bid one	Payment schedule — bid two	Payment schedule — bid three
Warranty on the labour and on the materials, separately They are two different promises from two different parties. A bid that merges them has told you about neither. My note on warranties	Warranties — bid one	Warranties — bid two	Warranties — bid three
Certificate of insurance, and the licence in the company name Workers' compensation is not general liability insurance. A bid that answers this line with workers' compensation alone says nothing about whether the business carries general liability cover, so ask for both by name — then open the public record yourself. My note on insurance and licence	Insurance and licence — bid one	Insurance and licence — bid two	Insurance and licence — bid three
Exclusions named line by line, and how long the price stays good A bid that names its exclusions is easier to trust than one that names none, because every bid has some. My note on exclusions	Exclusions — bid one	Exclusions — bid two	Exclusions — bid three

What I make of it

Your own reading, in your own words. This sheet will not do this part for you, because this part is a judgement and the judgement is yours.

Where the difference between these bids seems to come from

Scope, materials, crew, timing, or something you still cannot account for.

What I am doing next

For example: sending the questions below, asking for a revised bid, or asking one company to price a line the others included.

Private by design. This sheet never leaves your browser. It saves your marks on this device so you can come back to them, and nothing is sent to Coastal SD Pros or to anyone else. "Clear this sheet" removes what this device holds.

Nothing built yet. Work down the sheet, then press Build my comparison document.

The document you keep Rows first, no totals

Your comparison sheet, ready to copy

Keep it with the three bids. The questions block at the end is written to be sent as it stands.

Questions still to ask

When you build the document, every row you marked not in the bid or in the bid, but vague comes back here as a question you can send, grouped under the bid it belongs to. There is no count and no total attached to it: a bid with several unanswered lines is a document with several unanswered lines, and what that means is for you to decide once you have the answers.

Reading the sheet

Work down the rows with the paper in front of you. If you have to hunt for something, it is not stated — mark it that way.
Send the questions. A bid that comes back complete is a different document from the one you started with, and it may not be the cheap one any more.
Open each company's public licence record yourself. The licence record page shows what the record does and does not tell you.
Keep the sheet. When something is disputed later, the useful thing is a dated record of what was and was not agreed — that is what the project log is for.

Important. Coastal SD Pros is a Roscoe Equity LLC publication and homeowner information service. Editorial decisions are independent of advertising and Roscoe Site Pro client status. It is not a contractor, regulator, insurer, law firm or emergency service. This page is general information, not legal advice, and is not a contract or any part of one. Rules and public records change; confirm anything that matters on CSLB's own pages before signing.

This sheet publishes no total, no count, no score, no grade and no ranking of any business, and it never will. Nothing you type on this page is received, stored, or transmitted by Coastal SD Pros. It stays in this browser until you clear it.