Construction Proposal Template

What is a Construction Proposal?

A construction proposal is a contractor's formal offer to perform described work, for a stated price, on stated terms, until a stated date. It is an offer, not a contract, and it becomes binding only when the owner accepts it.

Four things separate it from an estimate or a quote. It defines the scope line by line. It states what is excluded. It names the conditions the price depends on. And it holds only until its validity date, because the supplier quotations behind it expire too.

The estimate calculates the work, the proposal explains it, and the contract formalizes it. If you are responding to a formal invitation to bid rather than approaching an owner directly, use the construction bid template. For a shorter priced offer on a smaller job, the construction quote template is the better fit.

Construction Proposal Sample

Here's a construction proposal example covering a retail center tenant fitout with a contract sum of $912,500.

What to Include in a Contractor Proposal

A contractor proposal needs the price and the three things that define it: the exclusions, the allowances and the qualifications. Everything else supports those four.

The schedule of values sits in section 4 rather than after award, which means it is what your pay applications get measured against from the start.

Scope and Exclusions: Why Every Line Needs Its Own

Put each exclusion beside the work it qualifies, not in a list at the back. A single list gets read once. An exclusion in the same row as the scope it limits gets read every time somebody checks that division.

Three examples from the template:

• Carpentry and millwork. Included: rough framing, blocking, finish carpentry, plastic-laminate casework. Not included: stone or solid-surface tops, furniture, owner-supplied fixtures.
• Finishes. Included: gypsum board, taping to Level 4, paint, resilient flooring, acoustical ceilings. Not included: wall covering, specialty coatings, floor prep beyond 1/8 inch in 10 feet.
• Technology and security. Included: rough-in, backboxes and conduit only. Not included: all cabling, devices, programming and commissioning, by the owner's vendor.

Each of those exclusions names something an owner could reasonably have assumed was covered. That is the test.

Allowances, Alternates and Qualifications

Allowances cover work that cannot be priced yet. Alternates are optional items priced outside the base. Qualifications are the conditions the whole price depends on. These three decide who pays when something changes.

An allowance is not a budget and not a cap. Say that in front of the owner when you present, because an owner who thinks it is a cap will treat the reconciliation as a claim.

How to Write a Construction Proposal Using This Word Template

Fill in the exclusions and qualifications before the price. Those two sections decide who pays for a surprise, and a proposal with a detailed price and vague exclusions is one you will lose money on.

1. Complete the header block, including the drawings, specifications and addenda revisions the price is based on.
2. Write the understanding section in the owner's own words, not your description of the work.
3. Name the one constraint that shapes the price: an occupied building, a fixed opening date, restricted hours, limited laydown, a long-lead item.
4. State what you verified yourself and what you took from the documents, since that line decides who owns a surprise.
5. Set the scope division by division, and write each exclusion in the same row.
6. Build the schedule of values by division, and total it as a stipulated sum.
7. Set the allowances with what each covers and how each reconciles, then total the contract sum.
8. Work through the qualifications and delete anything that does not apply to this project.
9. Price the alternates separately, with the schedule effect of each.
10. Set the validity date, and reprice if the owner signs after it.

Keep the formatting plain and consistent. Owners read the understanding section, the price and the exclusions, then decide whether to read the rest, so effort is better spent making those three legible than on a cover design.

Related Articles and Templates

Explore these resources for construction proposals, estimating, pricing, and project planning:

• Construction Proposal Guide: Steps, Tools, and Tips
• Project Proposal Template
• Project Management Proposal Template and Example
• Construction Estimate Template
• Commercial Construction Estimate Template
• Basis of Estimate Template

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