Scope & fees
What we do, and what we will not do.
Public bidding punishes vagueness, so the scope is written the way a contract should be: specific about what is included, explicit about what is not. The work is done from outside the United States, in a time zone ahead of yours, which is how it lands while your office is closed.
Section AIncluded
Five things, from the solicitation to the last payroll.
- A.1
Bid identification
Daily monitoring of SAM.gov, your state DOT and the county and municipal portals you name. You get a shortlist with scope, value, bonding and licence requirements, the pre-bid date, and a plain bid-or-pass call.
- A.2
Packet assembly
The instructions to bidders become a checklist for that solicitation. Every form, certification and affidavit completed with your details, every addendum tracked, delivered in submission order for your review and signature.
- A.3
Subcontractor and supplier quotes
Invitations go to your bidder list and get chased until they answer, logged in one sheet showing who quoted, who declined and who is silent. Coverage gaps on listed trades are flagged early, not on bid morning.
- A.4
Estimating support
Quantity takeoffs from the plan set, unit-price schedules built and totalled, extensions and alternates checked twice. We do not set your prices or production rates. We make sure the arithmetic behind them is right.
- A.5
Prevailing wage and certified payroll
After award: WH-347s, worker classification against the wage determination, fringe calculation and weekly statements of compliance, filed through whatever portal the awarding authority uses, so payroll paperwork is not what holds up a payment.
Section BNot included
The boundaries, stated up front.
Anyone who tells you these are included is either confused about the rules or hoping you are.
- No signing, no submitting. Every document goes to you for review and signature. Nothing is filed in your name and nobody here speaks to the awarding authority on your behalf.
- No legal advice. Contract interpretation, protests, claims and disputes go to your attorney. We prepare documents; we do not advise on what they mean legally.
- No bonding or insurance. We are not a surety or a broker. We request, chase and track your bonds and certificates. Your surety underwrites them.
- No stamped engineering. No sealed drawings, no design, no professional engineering opinions. Takeoffs are measurement, not design.
- No contingent fees, ever. No percentage of contracts won, no success fee, no commission. FAR 52.203-5 makes that arrangement grounds for the government to annul a federal contract and recover the fee. Many state and local solicitations carry a similar clause, so check the one you are bidding.
Section CFees
Published prices. No proposal, no discovery call to sit through.
Buy one bid at a time or buy the month. Nothing auto-renews into something more expensive, and no rung is priced on what you win.
Packet audit Most start here
$150
Per bid
- You assembled it. We find what is missing
- Line-by-line against the instructions to bidders
- Written defect list before you seal the envelope
- Back within 24 hours of receipt
- No commitment beyond the one bid
Packet build
$450
Per bid
- We assemble it. Every form, from scratch
- Certs, affidavits and addenda tracked
- Subcontractor and supplier quotes chased
- Delivered in submission order for your review and signature
- Complex multi-division work quoted at $650 to $900
Retainer
$1,800
Per month ยท $2,500 with payroll
- Continuous monitoring across your bid territory
- Up to five packets assembled a month
- Go / no-go read on everything we find
- Addenda turned around within 24 hours of receipt
- At $2,500: certified payroll for two active jobs
Why five packets and not fifteen. Five is what one person can do properly in a month alongside quote chasing and payroll. When the month is full you will be told it is full, rather than quietly served worse.
What a retainer packet includes. A packet inside the retainer is the same work as a packet build, quote chasing included. Retainers run month to month with thirty days’ notice either side, and nothing auto-renews into something more expensive.
Turnaround on a packet build. It is agreed per bid when you send the solicitation, because it depends on the due date and how much of the paperwork you can supply. Audits and addenda are back within 24 hours of receipt.
Where the work happens. From outside the United States, in a time zone ahead of yours. That is why it lands while your office is closed. You deal with one named person, you sign and submit everything yourself, and every document stays yours.
Section DSecond line
Spanish-language trade support.
Separate from the bid work: subcontractor and supplier calls, quote chasing and crew-facing documents handled in Spanish. On plenty of jobs the people holding your numbers are easier to reach in Spanish than in English, and a quote you cannot chase is a quote you do not have. Priced hourly at $40, or folded into a retainer.
Section EQuestions
Asked before every engagement.
What does bid support actually do?
Bid support handles the paperwork side of a public bid: monitoring the portals for solicitations worth bidding, reading the instructions to bidders, assembling every required form and certification, tracking addenda, chasing subcontractor quotes, and preparing certified payroll after award. The contractor still sets the price and signs the bid.
How much does bid packet assembly cost?
A packet build is $450 per bid, and complex multi-division commercial packets are quoted at $650 to $900. A packet audit, checking one the contractor assembled, is $150. A monthly retainer covering portal monitoring and up to five packets is $1,800, or $2,500 with weekly certified payroll.
What makes a public works bid non-responsive?
A bid is non-responsive when it fails a mandatory requirement of the solicitation rather than on price: an unacknowledged addendum, a missing or unnotarised affidavit, an absent subcontractor listing, an expired bond, or arriving after the stated deadline. A non-responsive bid is rejected without the price being considered.
Do you take a percentage of contracts we win?
No, never. Fees are flat and charged for the work whether the bid wins or loses. FAR 52.203-5, the Covenant Against Contingent Fees, makes a contingent fee arrangement grounds for the government to annul a federal contract and recover the fee, so a success-based bid consultant is a risk on an award.
Can you prepare certified payroll and WH-347s?
Yes. After award, that means classifying workers against the applicable wage determination, calculating fringe benefits, preparing the WH-347 and its statement of compliance, and submitting weekly through whatever portal the awarding authority uses. It is offered inside the $2,500 retainer or standalone at $400 a month per active job.
How fast is the turnaround?
Work happens while the contractor's office is closed, from outside the United States and in a time zone ahead of the contractor's. Documents sent during a US business day and complete enough to work from are normally returned before the next morning, and addenda are turned around within 24 hours of receipt. Turnaround on a full packet build is agreed per bid when the solicitation is sent, because it depends on the due date and how much of the paperwork the contractor can supply.
Can I cancel?
Per-bid work is paid per bid, with nothing owed beyond that bid. A retainer is month to month with thirty days' notice either side, and nothing renews into a higher price. Every document remains the contractor's.
What happens to the documents and bid information I send?
Solicitation documents and bid information are treated as confidential. They are used only to do the work, are never shared or sold, and are not used as examples or case studies without the contractor's written agreement. The privacy page names the email and cloud providers involved and how long records are kept.
Who is responsible for the bid once it is submitted?
The contractor. Work is checked against the instructions to bidders the contractor provides, then the contractor reviews, signs and submits it in their own name. Truepoint Works is not a law firm, gives no legal advice, and does not represent the contractor to the awarding authority.
Section FNext bid
Send the one on your desk.
The fastest way to judge any of this is to hand over a live solicitation and see what comes back. The first read costs nothing.