The 90-minute pre-submit ritual every concrete estimator should run

Most bid-day mistakes aren't math — they're missed steps in the final 90 minutes. Here's the exact checklist we run before hitting send.

Every estimator I've worked with — including me — has lost a job to a missing addendum, a wrong scale, or a margin column nobody re-checked after the last "small" change. The math was usually fine. The ritual wasn't.

What follows is the exact 90-minute pre-submit checklist we run on every Bedrock concrete bid. Print it. Tape it to the wall. It saves jobs.

Re-read the invitation to bid and every addendum, in order. Note the last addendum number. Confirm your scope letter matches the latest addendum. If anything was added (winter heat, traffic control, dewatering), it's in or it's excluded — never silent. Walk the takeoff sheets one more time at full screen. Look for anything you didn't trace: equipment pads, exterior stairs, dumpster enclosures, generator pads.

Open the assembly summary next to the takeoff. Every line item should trace back to a measurement. Spot-check three assemblies: largest CY pour, largest formwork SF area, longest LF of footing. If any number looks 10% off your gut, find out why now. Confirm waste factors are applied where they should be — not double-applied.

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