You have your permit. Now it's time to find the right contractor at the right price. A managed bid process protects you from overpaying and under-vetting.
Find Construction Professionals →Most homeowners ask two or three contractors for bids, pick the middle number, and hope for the best. That's not a strategy — it's a coin flip. The contractor bidding process, done correctly, involves a defined scope of work, an apples-to-apples bid comparison, contractor license and insurance verification, and reference checks before a single dollar changes hands.
The lowest bid is almost never the right bid. Contractors who bid significantly below market either missed scope items they'll charge you for later, plan to use lower-quality materials, or are desperate for work for a reason. A proper bid process gives you confidence that you're getting fair pricing from a qualified contractor.
PlanLoft's bid management professionals structure the entire process — from distributing bid packages to qualified contractors, to analyzing received bids, to guiding you through contractor selection. They protect you from the most expensive mistakes in construction.
General contractors manage the full construction process — hiring and coordinating all subcontractors, ordering materials, managing the construction schedule, pulling inspection sign-offs, and ensuring the project is built per the permitted drawings. In California, any project over $500 in labor and materials requires a licensed contractor. Their license and insurance protect you from significant liability.
Independent cost estimators review your permitted drawing set and provide a detailed, line-item construction cost estimate — completely independent of any contractor. This gives you a market-rate benchmark before you solicit bids, so you can evaluate received bids against a neutral third-party reference. They can also analyze bids you've already received to identify gaps, scope differences, and outliers.
Bid managers structure and run the contractor bidding process on your behalf. They prepare a formal bid package from your drawing set, identify and pre-qualify contractors to invite, distribute the package, collect and normalize bids for apples-to-apples comparison, verify licenses and insurance, check references, and present you with a clear recommendation. The result is a competitive, transparent contractor selection process.
An owner's representative acts as your professional advocate during construction — reviewing change orders, attending site meetings, monitoring schedule and quality, reviewing payment applications, and escalating issues before they become expensive disputes. For large projects or first-time builders, an owner's rep levels the playing field between you and your contractor's experienced project management team.
With permit in hand and a vetted contractor signed, you've completed preconstruction. Time to build.