Quickly apply markups and pricing
Add labor, material, and equipment costs, unit prices, and markups to your estimates in just a few clicks.
Optimize bids for profitability
Easily adjust pricing and markups to strike the perfect balance between competitiveness and healthy margins.
Visualize the impact of changes
See how cost and pricing adjustments affect your bottom line with real-time calculations and benchmarks.
Customize pricing structures
Create flexible pricing models tailored to any project type, from unit price to lump sum or joint ventures.
See what HCSS can do for you
Schedule a demo
Ask our customers why they trust HeavyBid to ensure their bids are competitive
We’ve been able to grow the company and add new estimators.
- Ryan Cornwell, Cleary Construction, Inc.
We’ve been using HCSS since 1998, and I would never use anybody else.
- Charles Blevins, United Brothers Development Group
42
of the ENR top 50 heavy civil contractors use HCSS
50,000+
estimators bid faster and smarter with HeavyBid
60%
more bids submitted by HCSS customers vs. contractors using other software
Always ensure your bid is competitive while maintaining healthy margins
Step 1
Share your business headaches
After submitting a demo request form, an HCSS expert will follow up with you by the end of the next business day to discuss your business needs and requirements.
Step 2
See HCSS in action
Then, we’ll walk you through a demo tailored to specific HCSS solutions that can help solve your current business problems.
Step 3
Get up and running in days
Finally, you’ll be assigned a dedicated implementation specialist who will manage your implementation from start to finish and ensure project completion.
Frequently asked questions
What is construction markup and pricing?
Construction markup and pricing is a financial process that allows contractors to layer indirect costs, overhead, and profit on top of their direct field costs. In HeavyBid, this functionality ensures that every labor hour, machine shift, and material unit contributes correctly to the total bid price while maintaining the exact margin required for company growth.
How does markup and pricing work in HeavyBid?
HeavyBid uses a centralized pricing screen that pulls in all estimated direct costs and applies your specified markup rules across the entire project. The software then allows you to “spread” those markups and indirect costs across your bid items, giving you total control over how your final unit prices appear to the owner while keeping your true costs hidden.
Can HeavyBid handle different markup types (e.g., labor, materials, overhead)?
Yes, HeavyBid allows you to apply different markup percentages to specific cost types (like labor, materials, and equipment). This ensures you can account for different risks and manage profit goals associated with each part of your project.
How can markup rules be customized for different project types?
HeavyBid allows you to customize markup strategies through a combination of high-level estimate rules and granular resource overrides. You can utilize Rate Sets to instantly apply specific pricing models such as Union vs. Non-Union or different geographic regions, ensuring that labor, equipment, and material markups automatically align with the unique risks of that project type. For even greater precision, you can apply markup overrides to individual resources to strategically adjust margins for specific subcontractors or high-risk materials.
How do you validate construction bid pricing?
HeavyBid helps you validate pricing through built-in review checklists and real-time “Top Level” summaries that highlight your total cost versus your total bid price. By visualizing your margins and comparing them against historical benchmarks or similar past projects, you can verify that your pricing is both competitive and financially sound before submission.
How do you balance competitive bidding with profit margins?
The software allows you to run what-if scenarios to see exactly how cutting a margin or adjusting a markup affects your bottom line in real time. This visibility empowers you to find the ideal balance where your bid is aggressive enough to win the work but disciplined enough to protect your project’s profitability.
How do you apply indirect costs to a construction bid?
Indirect costs such as site trailers, mobilization, and bond premiums are managed in specialized folders and then spread back into your bid items. HeavyBid gives you the choice to distribute these costs evenly, proportionally, or manually to specific items, ensuring your unit prices are strategically balanced to front-load cash flow or meet specific owner requirements.
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