What is Contract Bidding in Construction?
The term contract bidding in construction refers to the process of submitting a bid, also commonly referred to as a request for proposal (RFP), for a project contract. This is where interested project owners, often government or large, national contractors, invite bids on projects to carry out specific tasks or to supply specific material. This process often takes place once project owners have received designs from architects or primary contractors and then they invite bids from contractors and subcontractors to execute certain jobs.
The two most popular forms of contract bidding are public bidding (or open bidding) and selective bidding. The difference between the two is that while public bidding allows any prospective buyer to bid on the project, selective bidding happens when the owner of the project invites only certain companies and groups to bid while closing it to the public. This article will focus on the best resources that Canadian contractors can use for contract bidding so they can find the best jobs that align with their capabilities.
Contract Bidding in Canada
Contractors in Canada rely on bidding resources in order to find work in their area that they are capable of carrying out. Project owners and general contractors invite bids from contractors and subcontractors to carry out a job and select the best option based on the bid price and past experience of the contractor.
The process of bidding in Canada is similar to the contract bidding process in the United States with a few differing resources. Government projects are regulated to ensure fairness in competition while private projects are less regulated but typically still consider all bids unless there is a connection from past projects.
5 Best Contract Bidding Resources
The resources listed below are trusted websites that have numerous users across Canada inviting bids for projects. The websites are easy to use and simplify the entire bidding process.
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Merx - Provides access to thousands of government project bids as well as exclusive private construction projects. Merx has 20 years of experience helping businesses of all sizes find job opportunities.
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BuildWorks Canada - BuildWorks Canada is a top procurement and business development platform for the construction industry. With over 7,500 construction opportunities currently on the site, there could be a job waiting for your company. However, you do need to create an account to see any of the projects listed.
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Biddingo.com - Another paperless bidding technology that allows access to thousands of construction jobs across Canada. Both government and private jobs are listed on their platform. It's great because you can also search by your postal code and distance so that you're finding jobs that are local to you.
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BidClerk - BidClerk is a great bidding website that allows users to bid on projects across North America. This site has over 400,000 jobs posted on the database and allows users to create alerts for specific types of bids, search and organize for very specific jobs, and see what companies and contacts each project has.
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BidCentral - While it's focused primarily on British Columbia, this is also a great bidding website with mobile capabilities. It allows users to access bids for public and private company projects and also receive notifications for any new projects that are uploaded. BidCentral currently has over 50,000 jobs posted on the site currently.
Why Bid Online?
Online bidding is optimal for contractors looking for projects. Anywhere that you have access to a computer or a phone for most of these resources, you can look for work on any of the platforms listed above often with multiple jobs being posted daily. They all allow you to filter by area and type of job which makes it easy for focused project searching. The entire process can be done through a mobile experience until it's time to execute the project which saves time and allows you to get working quicker than ever.
