How to read this sheet
Use bid-week side-by-side with your checklist. Goal: classify each gap quickly — RFI now, qualify or assume in the proposal, or carry explicit risk — instead of re-litigating omissions between reviewers.
Policy bullets
- RFI now when the omission changes scope, code, safety, labor access, allowances, warranty, or money beyond what you can reasonably bound with a stated assumption.
- Do not RFI trivia you resolve from another sheet, enlarged plan, or specification anchor — cite the governing reference in your exclusions or assumptions instead.
- When the GC will not respond in time, carry risk in writing: assumption, exclusion, allowance, or bid alternate with a clear reversal clause if assumptions are rejected.
- Schedule vs plan mismatch — align to the negotiated basis-of-design narrative; escalate if scopes truly diverge.
- Legend gaps / orphan symbols — RFI when counts swing dollars; otherwise exclude or annotate with an explicit zero-qty note. Position with rationale.
- Contradictory refs — one consolidated RFI listing both anchors and requesting the governing document.
- Deadline rule: if no answer arrives before bid time, move to exclusions plus allowances plus a written escalation path — assumptions must be deliberate, not accidental.
If / then shorthand
| Situation | Default move |
|---|---|
| Unresolved detail changes scope or allowance basis | Quantify allowance + escalate or RFI |
| Spec references incomplete equipment narrative | Baseline to schedule note + caveat |
| Two discipline notes contradict | Single RFI naming both locations |
| Incomplete legend on the sheet you are counting | Hold the pattern, or send an RFI if it changes the bid |
Drafting RFIs. Estym8 surfaces the conflicts and drafts the RFI wording. You review it and decide what ships. The narrative report downloads with the takeoff.