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What Is a Bid Package in Construction?

By Wyatt Cooper · Published · 3 min read

Key takeaways

  • A bid package is one slice of the job put out for one price: a written scope, the drawings and specification sections behind it, alternates, addenda and a due date.
  • A general contractor splits a job into many packages, usually one per trade, so every specification section lands in exactly one of them.
  • The owner's bid set is the whole job for general contractors; a GC's bid packages are that job cut up for subcontractors.

A bid package is the set of work and documents a general contractor sends out for one price, usually one trade's scope: a written scope with numbered items, the drawings and specification sections that apply, any alternates, the addenda, and the due date. A job is split into many packages so each subcontractor prices only its own work.

What is in a bid package

Bid package 09: drywall and framing

Specification sections
09 21 16 gypsum board assemblies; 09 22 16 non-structural metal framing
Drawings
A1.1–A1.4 floor plans; A5.1 partition types; A8.1 ceiling plans
Scope items
11, from partitions and soffits to firestopping at rated walls
Alternates
Alt 2: abuse-resistant board in corridors
Addenda
Addendum 1 (revised partition types)
Due
April 4, 2:00 p.m.
One trade's bid package on a small commercial job (fictional)

Federal sealed bidding treats the invitation and "all documents (whether attached or incorporated by reference) furnished prospective bidders for the purpose of bidding" as one thing (FAR 14.101), and any change goes to everyone who received it as an amendment (FAR 14.208). A GC's trade package works the same way: every bidder on drywall gets the same documents, and every addendum goes to all of them.

How to cut a job into packages, with a CSI-division example, is in how to break a job into bid packages. The package goes out with an invitation to bid.

Bid package vs. bid set

The bid set is the owner's complete set of bid documents for the whole job: the drawings, specifications, bid form and instructions to bidders (AIA's version is A701, AIA). General contractors price the bid set. Each GC then carves it into bid packages for its subcontractors. People also say bid package for the owner's whole set, so read the context: one price for the building, or one price for a trade.

How it works in Conflo

Conflo's trade bids are bid packages: one per trade, tied to its CSI division, each with a written scope, scope items, alternates, documents and a due date and time, and the list shows how many bidders have responded, the low bid and the status of each.

The Trade bids list in Conflo: one package per trade with its number, how many bidders have responded, the low bid, its status (bidding, ready to level, selected) and when bids are due.
The Trade bids list in Conflo: one package per trade with responses, the low bid, status and due date.

The bottom line

A bid package is one trade's piece of the job, with its scope and documents, put out for one price.

Draw the package lines so every specification section lands in one package, and the leveled bids add up to the whole job.

See how trade bids work

Sources

  1. FAR 14.101, Elements of sealed bidding — Acquisition.gov, U.S. General Services Administration. Read October 22, 2026.
  2. FAR 14.208, Amendment of invitation for bids — Acquisition.gov, U.S. General Services Administration. Read October 22, 2026.
  3. List of document synopses by family (A701, Instructions to Bidders) — AIA Contract Documents. Read October 22, 2026.

Questions

How many bid packages does a job have?

As many as the trades the GC buys out separately. A small tenant improvement may have ten; a large building can have thirty or more, with some trades split by area or phase.

Can one subcontractor bid several packages?

Yes. A sub that does framing and drywall may bid both packages, or a combined one. Ask for each package priced separately so the bids level against the others.

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