Tool 04 · free · no account

Three prices only compare when three companies priced the same list.

Most homeowners describe the job three slightly different ways on three phone calls, then try to compare three numbers that answered three different questions. This tool fixes the input side: one job description, one inclusions list, one format — sent by you, word for word, to everyone you ask.

Get three comparable quotes

Write the job once and send the same scope brief to every contractor you ask for a bid.

How this works, and what it does not tell you

How this works

This tool assembles a plain-text brief from the answers you type and the standard inclusion lines printed on this page. It runs in your browser, it keeps your answers on this device only, and it sends nothing to Coastal SD Pros or to any contractor.

What it does not tell you

It does not price your job, it does not know which contractors are available, and it does not judge a bid. Three bids only compare when every bidder priced the same scope, so the wording you send has to stay identical from one company to the next.

JavaScript is off, so this page cannot assemble the text for you. Nothing is lost: every line the brief would contain is printed further down this page, under Standard inclusions and Every bid should also state. Copy those lines into your own email and add your own answers.

Your job, in your words

Trade

Oceanside and Vista plumbing registries are the ones published today. The brief itself works for any trade.

City

Where the work happens. It goes in the brief so bidders can tell you straight away if they cover it.

Job type

This chooses which standard inclusions list goes into the brief. Every bidder gets the same list.

What you want priced

The cheapest patch and the ten-year fix are different jobs at different prices. Ask everyone for the same one.

When the work should happen

Timing changes price. Telling everyone the same window keeps that variable still.

What is happening, in your words

Plain description. What you see or hear, where it is, when it started, and what you have already tried.

Property and access notes

Optional, and worth the minute. Age of the home, slab or crawl space, where the equipment sits, parking, gate codes, HOA, pets, stairs.

Your first name

Optional. It only signs the message you copy out of here.

How bidders should reply to you

Optional. A phone number or an email address, in your own words. It is typed into the message, not stored anywhere off this device.

Private by design. This form never leaves your browser. It saves your answers on this device so you can come back to them, and nothing is sent to Coastal SD Pros or to anyone else.

Nothing built yet. Fill in the job and press Build my scope brief.

The brief you send Same words to every bidder

Your scope brief, ready to copy

Paste this into an email or a text message. Send the identical text to every company. Changing a word between bidders is what makes bids stop comparing.

Standard inclusions — the same list to every bidder

These are questions, not findings. Coastal SD Pros is not telling you what your job costs or what it needs; it is making sure every bidder answers the same list, so a gap between two prices traces to scope instead of guesswork. The list for the job type you chose goes into your brief.

Water heater — repair or replace

Your diagnosis in writing: repair or replace, and the reasoning behind it.
If replacing: brand, model number, capacity or tankless sizing, and the efficiency rating printed on the unit label.
Code work priced now rather than discovered later: seismic strapping, temperature and pressure discharge piping, venting, and a drain pan where one is required.
Expansion tank included or not, and why.
Permit and inspection: who pulls it, who pays the fee, and who is the contractor of record on it.
Removal and haul-away of the old unit.
Labor hours or crew size you have allowed for the job.
Anything you are excluding, named line by line.

Drain or sewer line

Method proposed: cable or auger, hydro-jetting, spot repair, lining, or replacement — and why that one.
Camera inspection: included or an add-on, priced either way, and whether I keep a copy of the footage.
What the price does if the first method does not clear the line.
Access point used, and whether a cleanout has to be added.
Digging, trenching, or trenchless — and who restores concrete, landscaping, or hardscape afterwards.
Permit and inspection: who pulls it, who pays the fee, and who is the contractor of record on it.
Labor hours or crew size you have allowed for the job.
Anything you are excluding, named line by line.

Leak — find it and repair it

Leak detection method and its price, stated separately from the repair price.
How the repair price changes by where the leak turns out to be: wall, ceiling, slab, or yard.
Drywall, stucco, tile, or flooring restoration: included, excluded, or priced separately.
Moisture check after the repair, and who handles drying if it is needed.
Materials for the repair: brand, model, and grade.
Permit and inspection if the repair needs one: who pulls it and who is the contractor of record.
Labor hours or crew size you have allowed for the job.
Anything you are excluding, named line by line.

Repipe or new lines

Pipe material proposed, with the reason for that material over the alternative.
Full repipe or partial, and exactly which lines and fixtures are in the price.
How many walls or ceilings get opened, and who patches, textures, and paints them.
Water heater and fixture reconnections: included or excluded.
Water shut-off duration, and how many days the house is affected.
Permit and inspection: who pulls it, who pays the fee, and who is the contractor of record on it.
Labor hours or crew size you have allowed, and which trades are subcontracted.
Anything you are excluding, named line by line.

Toilet or fixture

Who supplies the fixture — you or me — and if you do, the brand and model number.
Removal and disposal of the old fixture.
Wax ring, supply line, and shut-off valve: replaced as part of the price or not.
Flange, subfloor, or tile repair priced as a contingency, so a surprise has a number attached before it happens.
Labor hours or crew size you have allowed for the job.
Permit and inspection if one applies: who pulls it and who is the contractor of record.
Anything you are excluding, named line by line.

Another job — general list

Your written diagnosis before any work beyond the service call.
The service call or diagnostic fee, and whether it credits toward the repair.
Itemized options if more than one fix exists, priced separately rather than bundled.
Materials with brand, model, and grade — or the allowance amount you are carrying.
Labor hours or crew size you have allowed, and which trades are subcontracted.
Permit and inspection if one applies: who pulls it, who pays the fee, and who is the contractor of record.
Cleanup, debris removal, and any restoration of surfaces you open.
Anything you are excluding, named line by line.

Every bid should also state

This block goes into the brief unchanged, whatever the job. It is the format half of comparability: same questions, same order, every time.

The total price, with labor and materials shown separately rather than as one lump sum.
The company name, the license number the bid is issued under, and the name of the person who will be on site.
Start window and how many days the work takes.
Payment schedule tied to work completed, the deposit amount, and what that deposit pays for.
How change orders get priced and approved, in writing, before the extra work starts.
Labor warranty and manufacturer warranty, stated as two separate things.
Insurance the company carries, named policy by policy.
Whether any part of the job is subcontracted, and to whom.
Cleanup and haul-away: included or excluded.
How long the price stays good.

Workers' compensation is not general liability insurance. A bid that answers the insurance line with workers' compensation alone says nothing about whether the business carries general liability cover, so ask for both by name.

Sending it

Choose the companies yourself. The Oceanside and Vista registries list dated public records; the license record page shows you how to read a CSLB record before you call.
Paste the identical brief to each one. Do not tighten the wording for the second company and loosen it for the third.
Ask for the reply in writing. A price read out on the phone cannot be compared to anything.
When the written bids arrive, line them up in the quote comparator, which reads bids and flags what a bid left unsaid.

Ask Coastal SD Pros to send the brief for you

This form records a routing request on your device and shows you exactly what it recorded.

How this works, and what it does not tell you

How this works

The form checks your answers, writes the request and your consent into this browser storage, and prints the record back to you. Nothing leaves the browser: there is no address to send to, no upload, and no contractor on the other end.

What it does not tell you

Routing is off. Coastal SD Pros cannot pass your brief to a contractor today, and recording a request here does not put you in front of anyone. The three conditions that would have to clear first are named under the form, and none of them has cleared.

JavaScript is off, so this form cannot record anything. That changes nothing about the outcome: routing is off either way, and the three conditions below are the reason. Use the brief above and send it yourself.

Routing request — dry run

Your name

Stored in this browser only, so you can see what a routing request would hold.

How a contractor would reach you

A phone number or an email address, written however you like. Stored in this browser only.

No routing request recorded on this device.

Contractors opted in to receive briefs in your trade and city

Not published

Coastal SD Pros has not opened contractor opt-in in any trade or any city, so there is no count to publish and none is shown here. A number in this slot would be an invention, and an invented number is exactly what this directory exists not to do.

Where to check instead: how these records are built, checked and dated.

Coastal SD Pros contractor opt-in · checked Jul 25 2026

The method ran. The output is held.

Read the answers you typed, in this browser.
Checked that the required answers are present and that consent was ticked.
Wrote the request and the consent line into this browser storage, and printed the record back to you above.
Stopped there. It opened no network connection, addressed no message, and contacted no contractor.

What is missing: Three conditions have to clear before Coastal SD Pros routes a brief to anyone. None of the three has cleared, so routing is off and no request on this page reaches a contractor.

Gate 1 — at least three contractors in that trade and city have opted in to receive briefs.

Not cleared.

Contractor opt-in is not open in any trade or any city. Routing to fewer than three would hand one company a captive homeowner, which is the behaviour this directory was built against.
Gate 2 — homeowner routing consent is captured in a consent record.

Not cleared.

The box on this form writes consent into your browser. The durable, reviewable consent record that routing requires does not exist yet, and a tick in local storage is not one.
Gate 3 — an attorney has reviewed the routing flow.

Not cleared.

Passing a homeowner's contact details to a business is regulated conduct. It waits for counsel, and it waits in public rather than quietly.

Who clears it, and how you would know: Coastal SD Pros clears all three: it opens contractor opt-in and counts who joins, it builds the consent record, and it takes the flow to an attorney. When routing switches on, this page says so in this block and the form stops calling itself a dry run. Until that happens, the working path is the one above — copy the brief and send it yourself, which also means no one buys their way to the front of your list.

Important. Coastal SD Pros is a Roscoe Equity LLC publication and homeowner information service — not a contractor, a regulator, an insurer, a law firm, or an emergency service. Editorial decisions are independent of advertising and Roscoe Site Pro client status. This page is general information, not legal advice. Public records and rules change; confirm anything that matters on CSLB's own pages before you sign. Nothing you type on this page is received, stored, or transmitted by Coastal SD Pros.