Invitation to Bid (ITB), also referred to as Invitation for Bids (IFB), plays an important role in the construction industry. It’s a formal document, issued by project owners as part of the procurement process for inviting contractors to submit bids for a construction project. The goal is to attract potential bidders to participate in competitive bidding for the project.
Here we’ll explain the basics of the invitation to bid process, along with how contractors can use ITBs to draft winning proposals.
Key Takeaways
An Invitation to Bid (ITB) represents a formal solicitation to bid a construction project, primarily issued by project owners. This solicitation seeks bids for undertaking specific construction projects using specific products and having the right technical expertise to successfully complete the project. As part of the sealed bidding system often used in government contracts, the ITB plays a critical role in ensuring a fair and competitive selection process, free from favoritism.
An invitation to bid will include relevant information about the project, including:
By offering this level of information upfront, owners can attract a pool of qualified, potential bidders to choose from.
Especially if you’re eyeing government contracts, you’ll want to make sure you understand the basics of invitation to bid solicitations. Because ITBs include important information on the what/when/where/why of a specific project, you can (and should) use this information to craft a persuasive bid proposal.
To provide more clarity and protect both parties, invitation to bids also typically outline contractual terms and conditions, including warranties. Before you start drafting a bid, you’ll want to double-check that these terms align with your expectations around the job.
For project owners, using the invitation to bid process can be an incredibly helpful way to source qualified contractors when used effectively. To get the best results, you’ll need to narrow your criteria and search to only qualified contractors. In practice, this means prequalifying bidders and setting clear evaluation criteria to create a transparent selection process and avoid favoritism. If you’re starting new projects consistently, you can use an ITB template to streamline the process.
If you’re a contractor, carefully review the ITB bid documents before you start drafting a bid. For example, if you aren’t typically the lowest bidder on projects, you’ll need to be able to demonstrate value in your bid proposal, ie, why the owner should choose you over someone else. Conducting jobsite visits and including key subcontractors in the process are both great value-adds. However, if you see that the owner’s selection criteria is the lowest bidder, then you’ll know to not waste your time responding to the invitation to bid.
One more note here: make sure you can complete the work based on the contract type. For instance, if the project is design-build, you might need to partner up with an architect. Fully understanding the ITB beforehand will help you avoid projects that don’t suit your operational strengths.
While an ITB focuses on soliciting price-based bids for construction projects, RFPs and RFQs are more about evaluating a contractor’s approach, qualifications, and technical expertise.
For example, requests for proposals are often much more complex and ask contractors to provide different project methods and prices for the owner to look over. Requests for qualifications focus on gathering details on a specific pool of contractors’ qualifications to meet project needs.
Usually, ITBs are sent out when an owner knows pretty much exactly what they want. When a client knows the end goal they want to achieve, but maybe isn’t as sure about the exact deliverables or pricing, they’re more likely to send out an RFP.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen construction bidding change drastically. For one, invitations to bid aren’t distributed via paper anymore. Today, bid management software streamlines the entire process, opening up the door for collaboration on a much wider scale than ever before. What’s more, this software typically integrates into project management platforms, helping teams move seamlessly from bidding to the construction process.
ITBs are fundamental to the construction bidding process, particularly in government contracts. By facilitating a fair and transparent selection process, invitations to bid ensure contractors in the construction industry are chosen based on merit, technical expertise, and capabilities.
Want to streamline your bidding process and win more work? Learn how to create a standardized bidding process.