Bid Comparison Checklist for Owners

Why this matters

Clarify cost, scope, and responsibility before work starts. A useful page should help the reader decide what to check, what to avoid, and when to bring in the right team.

• Florida construction risk grows quickly when scope, documentation, and payment controls are loose.
• The best field outcomes usually start with better preconstruction questions.
• Licensing, insurance, lien documents, W-9s, COIs, and written scopes are not paperwork; they are project controls.

What to check first

Start with the items that can change cost, timing, responsibility, or trust. These are the questions that usually determine whether the next conversation is productive.

1. Confirm the correct contracting entity, license needs, insurance, and written scope before mobilization.
2. Collect W-9, COI, workers compensation coverage or exemption, and license documentation where applicable.
3. Define inclusions, exclusions, alternates, change-order process, schedule assumptions, and payment terms.
4. Keep lien waivers, releases, notices, and pay application backup organized from the first draw.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most expensive problems often begin as small assumptions that were never written down, reviewed, or challenged early enough.

• Starting work on handshake scope or incomplete drawings.
• Approving payment before releases, backup, or percent-complete review are clear.
• Letting RFIs and field changes live in text messages without documentation.
• Ignoring Florida lien, license, and insurance issues until a dispute appears.

Recommended next step

Use this resource as a decision checklist, then connect it to the right service, ministry, or project conversation.

1. Build a one-page scope matrix before issuing or accepting the proposal.
2. Review documentation and insurance before crews mobilize.
3. Use weekly reporting to make schedule, cost, and open decisions visible.