What is the difference between the old and new bid management experience in the Bidding tool?
Background
Procore is introducing Bid Management Enhanced Experience, a streamlined experience for managing bids in the Bidding tool. See About Bid Management Enhanced Experience. This article details the differences between the new and legacy experiences.
Answer
While many features in the Bidding tool remain unchanged, the new bid experience offers bid forms, bid leveling, and an integration with the Procore Construction Network.
See the information below for more details:
Process Changes
The table below describes processes that have changed or are completed in other areas of the tool. All other processes remain the same.
| Action | Legacy Experience | Enhanced Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Add and Invite Bidders |
You can add and invite bidders after creating a bid package. An 'Add Bidders' button is available at the top of the page. |
After creating a bid package, you must create a bid form before you can add bidders. An 'Add Bidders' button is available after creating the bid form. You can also add bidders from the 'Bidders' tab of the bid form, and the 'Bidding' tab of the bid package. |
| Open Company Directory to Access Bidder Info | Click the company’s name from the 'Bidders' table | From the table on the 'Bidding' or 'Bidders' tab, click the vertical ellipsis icon on a bidder row and select Company Directory. |
| Manage Bid Recipients |
When inviting bidders, you can update recipients, but not add new contacts. When adding bidders, you can add a new contact for companies that don't have any default bid contacts, but you can't manage the existing contacts. Bid recipients can't be edited in the Bidder tables. |
You can manage bid recipients and add new contacts when inviting, adding bidders, or from the 'Bidder' tables. |
| Filter and Group Bidders | You can filter and group bidders by Cost Code and Trade. | You can filter and sort bidders by options such as bid status, location, and business certifications. |
| Send a Correspondence | You could send a correspondence from the Correspondence tab or from the Bulk Actions menu. | You can send a correspondence from the Correspondence tab. You can select recipients by bid form. |
| Submit a Bid on Behalf of a Subcontractor | Click the 'View' button from the 'Bidders' table to open the Bid Sheet tab. | Click the bidders name from the table on the 'Bidding' or 'Bidders' tab to open the Bid modal. |
| Resend a Bid Invitation to an Individual | You can't resend a bid invitation to an individual bid recipient unless you remove all other bid recipients from the company on the 'Reinvite Bidders' page. Note: This is not recommended since it removes the recipients that you previously invited from the bidders table, along with their contact info. |
From the table in the 'Bidding' or 'Bidders' tab, you can click an email icon for an individual bid recipient and resend the invitation to them. |
Feature Comparison
Note: Additional features are planned and in development for Bid Management Enhanced Experience.
See the table below for features available in the Legacy and Enhanced bid management experiences in the Bidding tool:
| Action | Legacy Experience | Enhanced Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Create and Manage a Bid Package |  |
|
| Create and Manage Bid Forms | |
|
| Search for, Add, and Invite Bidders from the Company Directory | |
|
| Search for, Add, and Invite Bidders from the Procore Construction Network | |
|
| Add New Companies and Contacts to the Directory from the Bidding Tool | |
|
| Compare Bids (Bid Leveling) | |
|
| Resend a Bid Invitation to an Individual Bid Recipient | |
|
| Download Bid Attachments from 'Bidders' Table | |
|
| Inline Edit Bid Recipients from 'Bidders' Table | |
|
| Send a Correspondence | |
|
| Award a Bid | |
|
| Soft Award a Bid | |
|
| Convert an Awarded Bid to a Subcontract or Purchase Order | |
|
| Bid Form Templates | planned for development |
FAQ
Why use Bid Forms?
Bid forms make it easier to break down scope and cost information and help to standardize the responses that are being received from bidders. In addition, the use of bid forms allows for bid leveling on submitted bids. See Level Bids for a Bid Form.
What if I don’t plan to define scope?
Bid forms aren't just about scope. They can help you better assess coverage by allowing you to customize how you organize your bidders. If you create one bid form per trade and have bidders that bid on multiple bid forms, you can now track Bid Status, Notes, and Activity separately. This wasn’t possible in the old experience, since bidders were tracked by Company instead of Trade.
Example
A General Contractor invites Acme Construction to bid on two bid forms: one for Electrical and one for HVAC. If the company chooses to bid on Electrical, but not bid on HVAC, both statuses will still be recorded. Notes and Activity are also tracked per bid form instead of per company.What permissions are required to view a bid form?
Users must have 'Read Only' or higher level permissions to the project's Bidding tool and be added to the 'Bidding CC Group'.
Where do I add bidders?
In the new experience, you can add bidders after you create a bid form. See Add Bidders to a Bid Form.
There are three (3) different areas where you can add bidders:
- While creating or editing a bid form, click Save and Add Bidders. See Create a Bid Form.
- From the 'Bidders' tab, click Add Bidders.
- From the 'Bidding' tab of the bid package, click the plus + icon on the right side.
Can I modify the columns on a bid form?
Yes. You can click the vertical ellipsis 
icon on a column to adjust the sizing of the columns or pin them to a certain side.
Can I Switch back to the old bidding experience?
No. Once you update a project to the new experience, it cannot be switched back.
Will more features be added?
Yes. Additional features, such as templates, are planned for development.