How to Level BuildingConnected Bids (Step by Step)

Short answer: To level bids in BuildingConnected, open the bid package’s Bid Leveling tab, add plugs and notes to each proposal, and export the leveled bids. Bid leveling is a BuildingConnected Pro feature. Autodesk’s help center gives these steps:

1. Open the bid package and go to the Bid Leveling tab. Each proposal gets its own column, split into the sections and line items of your bid form. The apparent low bidder sits farthest left (Bid Leveling Overview).
2. Compare each proposal with the estimated cost shown at the top left.
3. Click a value to add a plug where a subcontractor excluded or mispriced scope. A plug can be positive or negative. Add a note and a color so your team knows why. Subcontractors don’t see plugs (How to make adjustments to bids in Bid Leveling).
4. Click Sort to reorder the bids, because plugs can change the apparent low bidder.
5. Click Export, then Export Leveled Bids, to download an XLSX file with your plugs, colors, and notes (How to export Bid Leveling).

BuildingConnected levels what subcontractors type into the bid form. To level the scope inside their PDF proposals, connect BuildingConnected to Consight. Consight imports the project, bid packages, bids, and bidder files, and turns your bid form lines into a scope sheet. Consight reads each proposal, and Level Bids fills in the scope sheet from it. Consight also imports bid packages, bids, and bid files from Procore. Your invitations to bid stay in BuildingConnected.

What you need before you start

• A BuildingConnected project you can open, with bid packages and bids.
• A Consight account. An administrator connects the BuildingConnected integration the first time.

Step 1: Connect BuildingConnected

In Consight, open the account menu (your profile picture in the header), then Settings, then Integrations, turn on BuildingConnected and sign in. You only do this once per account.

Step 2: Import the project

From your project list, click Import and choose BuildingConnected. Pick from My Projects, My Office’s Projects or My Company’s Projects, search by name, choose the workspace and press Import. Consight opens BidGrid when the import finishes.

What comes across from BuildingConnected?

• Project details, dates and address.
• Bid packages, with instructions, estimated cost, schedule dates and number. The package lead becomes the assignee.
• Bid form lines, which become the scope lines in your scope sheet.
• Bids, with the submitted total, the bidder’s notes and the revision.
• The files each bidder attached, plus a searchable PDF of each bidder’s completed bid form built by Consight.
• The bidder companies and contacts behind the bids.

Step 3: Check your scope sheet

Each package gets a scope sheet built from its bid form. Add any scope your bid form missed, bring in your internal estimate, or generate scope from your plans and specs. The more complete the scope, the more useful the leveling.

Step 4: Run Level Bids

Level Bids reads each subcontractor proposal and matches the bidder’s items to your scope items. Items Consight can’t confidently match land in the Suggested Items tray instead of being guessed into your sheet, so you approve or dismiss them.

Step 5: Review gaps, exclusions and qualifications

Work down the sheet. Where a bidder excluded or missed scope, add a plug to carry the cost so totals stay comparable. Check the qualifications tab for language that changes what a price covers. Every extracted item links to its source in the proposal, so you can verify it in a click.

Step 6: Handle new and revised bids

There is no sync button. With the project open, Consight checks BuildingConnected every few seconds, and every 10 minutes when it’s closed. New bids arrive with their files and the package lead gets an alert. A revised bid comes in as a new version and becomes the active one, while earlier revisions stay available.

Step 7: Award and export

Soft award your pick to push their price to the project total, then export a bid report to Excel with the summary, markups, exclusions and bid tabs. Awards made in Consight don’t write back to BuildingConnected; Consight only reads.

Tips for cleaner BuildingConnected bid leveling

• Build a detailed bid form in BuildingConnected. It becomes your starting scope.
• Archive, don’t delete, imported items you want out of the way. Deleting tells Consight never to accept that item again.
• Re-importing a project is safe. Consight adds only what is new and leaves your edits alone.

See the full BuildingConnected bid leveling overview, or read about common BuildingConnected bid leveling limitations.

Frequently asked questions

Does Consight change anything in BuildingConnected?

No. Consight only reads. It can’t create, change, delete, invite or award anything in BuildingConnected.

Do later edits in BuildingConnected update Consight?

New items come in automatically. Changes to items already imported, like a renamed package or a changed date, don’t, so edit those in Consight to match.

Can Consight level bids that didn’t come through BuildingConnected?

Yes. You can upload subcontractor bids directly to any bid package and level them on the same scope sheet.