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Notes from the bid table.

Practical writing on estimating ICI work in Canada — spec reading, addenda discipline, and the arithmetic of a bid/no-bid call. Written by an estimator, for estimators. Forward any of it to a colleague.

Featured guide 14 min · Aug 2026

Construction estimating software in Canada: an honest buyer's guide for ICI subs

What actually differs between takeoff suites, spec-reading tools and the spreadsheet you already trust — including where each one costs you money you can't see. No vendor grid, no scores out of ten.

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The first pieces, in the order they're being written:

Spec reading The seven clauses in Division 01 that quietly cost subs money Temporary facilities, cleaning, hoisting, closeout documentation — the general requirements that never make it into the unit rate. 10 min · Aug 2026 Addenda A method for handling four addenda in the last 48 hours A repeatable read-and-reconcile process that doesn't depend on remembering what you priced ten days ago. 8 min · Aug 2026 Canadian market CSA vs. ACI references in Canadian ICI specs: what to price to Mixed-standard specifications are the norm here. A short guide to which reference governs when both appear. 9 min · Aug 2026 Bid/no-bid The 20-minute bid/no-bid read What to look for first in a project manual to decide whether the tender is worth three weeks of your estimating capacity. 8 min · Aug 2026 Takeoff FF/FL flatness requirements and what they do to your pour plan Why an FF50 imaging suite is not the same job as an FF35 corridor, and how to carry the difference in your number. 9 min · Aug 2026 Spec reading Reading a MasterFormat table of contents when the TOC is wrong Page ranges that don't match, sections issued out of order, divisions that appear twice — and how to index it anyway. 9 min · Aug 2026

Scope by trade — what's included, what isn't, and where the boundary disputes actually live. All 25, indexed by division →

Scope by trade What's actually in an electrical scope, and what isn't The Division 23/26 starter boundary, fire alarm's four duties, and who pays for temporary power. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a drywall scope, and what isn't The wall type schedule is the whole bid — except the Level 5 finish clause, which is hiding in the painting section. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a flooring scope, and what isn't Moisture testing decides who pays, and the curing-compound clause is written in the concrete section. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a cladding scope, and what isn't The panel schedule prices the panels. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a concrete finishing scope, and what isn't "Place and finish" gets written as one line on suspended slabs more often than not, but a finisher who refuses to vibrate concrete they didn't pour is normal, not difficult — and the FF/FL numbers that actually price the job routinely hide in Division 01, not the finishing section. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a concrete forming scope, and what isn't Placing and vibration ownership is formed-surface ownership — honeycombing found at strip belongs to whoever poured it, not whoever built the forms. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a reinforcing steel scope, and what isn't Anchor bolts, sleeves and connection plates have to be cast in before the pour, and the most common gap in reinforcing bids is exactly that: embeds sitting in no trade's scope at all. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a concrete supply scope, and what isn't The exposure class table that actually sets your mix price sits on the structural general notes or the S-sheets, not in the concrete section where a supply bid would naturally go looking for it. 10 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a conveying equipment scope, and what isn't The hoistway tolerance clause — plumbness, dimensional accuracy, and who surveys it before the equipment shows up — is the single most common delay claim on an elevator job, and it's written to constrain a trade that isn't yours. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a demolition scope, and what isn't The designated-substances survey is the real bid — quantities, conditions, and the gap language about what happens when a substance turns up that the report didn't assume — and it's a separate document from the demolition drawings most estimators read first. 10 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a doors and hardware scope, and what isn't Whether this trade installs what it supplies changes tender to tender — frames commonly go to another trade while hardware install lands almost anywhere — and electrified hardware gets its wiring split argued about on nearly every job that has any. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a firestopping scope, and what isn't Divisions 21 through 28 routinely disclaim firestopping at their own penetrations, pushing it onto this trade by default language buried in a section nobody cross-reads. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a glazing scope, and what isn't Door hardware on an aluminum entrance is split between this trade and Division 8 more often than either bidder expects, and slab-edge fire safing at curtain wall gets claimed — or disclaimed — by both the glazing and firestopping packages on the same tender. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in an interior finishes scope, and what isn't The recessed pocket for an entrance mat is concrete's to form and this trade's to fit a frame into — and demountable partitions are routinely a separate supplier-installed system hiding inside a finishes section that reads like it's all one scope. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a masonry scope, and what isn't Loose lintel supply is the steel trade's and installation is masonry's on most sets — but not all — and the structural general notes routinely carry grouting and reinforcing requirements the architectural wall types never mention at all. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a mechanical scope, and what isn't Every scheduled unit needs a starter, a VFD, or a disconnect — furnished under Division 23, wired under Division 26, or the reverse — and the schedule almost never says which by default. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a millwork scope, and what isn't The backing behind every cabinet, grab bar and TV mount is drywall's material, but its location comes from millwork's shop drawings — and if those drawings run late, the backing gets framed to a guess. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a miscellaneous metals scope, and what isn't A bollard shows up on the civil sheet, a ladder on the mechanical detail, a lintel on an architectural section — and none of them live anywhere near the metal fabrications specification. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a painting scope, and what isn't The clause that decides whether Level 4 drywall finish is acceptable — a critical-lighting or skim-coat requirement — is written in the painting section, not the drywall one, so it's easy to assume it's someone else's problem right up until it's yours. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a roofing scope, and what isn't Wind uplift attachment density decides how the field of the roof gets fastened, but the drain-to-flashing split gets argued fresh on every reroof, and the curb sizes that drive your flashing labour are usually written in someone else's section, not yours. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a rough carpentry scope, and what isn't The shearwall nailing schedule that actually drives your labour hours hides on a single structural sheet, and the backing every other trade assumes you'll frame in gets called up a phrase at a time across mechanical, electrical and specialties sections nobody hands you as a list. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a site work scope, and what isn't The geotechnical report is the real bid document on almost every site work tender, but the rock excavation line depends entirely on how "rock" is defined in this contract, and the point where building excavation ends and sitework begins is drawn — or not drawn — in whichever document nobody double-checked. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a specialty doors scope, and what isn't Power to the disconnect is electrical's, but the run from the disconnect to the motor gets argued on nearly every job, and the jamb steel that supports your guides is sometimes yours to supply and sometimes misc metals' — with the schedule rarely saying which. 8 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a steel scope, and what isn't Base plate grouting is the single most litigated gap between steel and concrete — usually excluded by the erector, rarely claimed by the concrete sub, and disputed at strip time on nearly every job that has it. 9 min · Aug 2026 Scope by trade What's actually in a waterproofing scope, and what isn't A 14 to 28 day concrete cure precondition, stated once ahead of the membrane spec, can own your whole schedule before a roller ever touches the wall. 8 min · Aug 2026

Deep dives — one boundary or one question, covered in full:

Deep dive The Division 23/26 boundary, exhaustively Starters, VFDs, disconnects, duct detectors and interlock wiring, checked unit by unit — not just the first one on the schedule. 9 min · Aug 2026 Deep dive Fire alarm's four duties — why bids miss one Device installation, wiring, programming and verification. The last two get excluded by everyone at once, on nearly every job. 8 min · Aug 2026 Deep dive The geotechnical report as the real site-work bid document Rock, unsuitable material, dewatering and haul distance — plus how to actually read one in 20 minutes. 8 min · Aug 2026 Spec reading How construction scope disputes actually get resolved They aren't random — they cluster into a handful of recurring patterns across every trade. Recognize the pattern, spot the next one before it costs you. 9 min · Aug 2026 Glossary Construction tender terms, for Canadian ICI subcontractors Bid bonds, holdback, substantial performance, statutory declarations — the vocabulary the rest of this site assumes you already know. 10 min · Aug 2026 Canadian market CCDC contracts, plainly: what a subcontractor actually needs to know What CCDC 2 actually governs, how a subcontract flows down from it, and why the supplementary conditions are the part worth reading twice. 9 min · Aug 2026

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