Bid Package Summary

1. Click Add Bid Package in the Actions menu in the rightmost side of the page.

2. In the Add Bid Package window that opens, select the bid package template you want, then click Submit.

3. Complete the kickoff form that opens.

   Your System Administrator customizes this form. It contains at least:

   • Title

   • Bid Open Date

   • Bid Close Date: Once the Bid Close Date has passed, Bidders cannot submit bids or edit bids they have submitted unless the Bid Manager has set a Bid Grace Period.

     Once the bid is closed, the submitted bids display on the Conditioning tab and may include

   The form may include:

   • Bid Grace Period / Bid Grace Period Time Unit: Enables bidders to submit bids past the bid close date / time in a period set in hours or minutes. Bidders will see the Bid Close Date and Time but will not be able to see the grace period.

   • Bid Contractor Notes: Visible to both bidders and internal users. It is used to add comments for the bidders to view.

4. Click Add.

   The window closes. The bid package is added to the Bid Package Summary page.

When you modify a bid package, an email is generated and sent to your bidders. You can change the bid close date after the bid close date has passed if your user class has Edit access to the Bid Package.

If you edit the Bid Close Date, the Conditioning tab is hidden until the close date is passed again.

If you extend a bid that is currently past its bid close date, the My Bids dashboard widget displays bid status Open.

1. Click Edit in the Actions menu in the rightmost side of the page.

2. Make your changes.

3. Click Update.

You can cancel a bid packages until the bid is awarded. When you cancel a bid package, that bid package is deactivated and removed from the menu to the left of the Actions menu:

• Bidders are removed from the entity, unless they belong to another bid package.

• An email notification is sent to bidders who were invited to bid.

• Questions and answers added to the bid package remain available from the Forms page.

• Documents added to the entity remain available from the Documents page.

1. Select the bid package in the upper-right corner of the page, left of the Actions menu.

2. Click Cancel Bid Package in the Actions menu in the rightmost side of the page.

3. Click Yes in the confirmation window that opens.

   Your System Administrator may have configured an email to be sent to the bidders on the bid package.

4. In the Canceled Bid Notification window that opens, make your changes to the cancellation email.

5. Click Send Email.

1. Navigate to the Forms page of the entity.

2. Select Open/Closed Items or Closed Items from the With Status filter.

3. Expand the bid package form line item.

4. Click Reopen link.

Invite one or multiple Bidders per vendor to bid on a bid package. If more than one Bidder per vendor is invited, the bid options available to Bidder users for their employer display.

• The first invited Bidder to accept or reject a bid invitation does so for the whole vendor record. If a bid invitation is rejected in error, the vendor must request a new bid invitation.

• Removing a Bidder from a bid removes all Bidder users from that vendor. If you only need to remove one Bidder user, remove the user from the Members / Contacts tab of the entity.

• Bid notifications go to all Bidders on the bid package for the vendor.

• All Bidders for a vendor are able to take the same actions on the bid package, provided they have the same user class.

1. Click the Invite Bidder in the Actions menu in the rightmost side of the page.

2. For each bidder:

   1. Use Search at the top of the window to locate the bidder.

      In Column Filter select the columns you want.

   2. Click <invite> in the Planned Invitation column for the bidders you want to invite.

3. When you have selected the bidders you want to invite, click Next.

4. In the Invite Bidders page that opens, enter bid invitation:

   • Email Subject

   • Email Body

     This may already be pre-populated based on the parameters set by your System Administrator. If you have questions about the format of the email, contact your System Administrator.

5. Click Submit.

   The invitation email is sent to the bidders.

Re-Invite Bidder

You can resend a bid invitation to a bidder, or re-invite them to bid on a bid package if they have declined. The first invited Bidder to accept or reject a bid invitation does so for the whole vendor record. If a bid invitation is rejected in error, the vendor must request a new bid invitation.

One of the following must be true:

• You created the bid package.

• You are a member of the project and have the same user class and job function as the bid package creator.

• You are a member of the project and are a bid package assignee because your job title is in the list of bid package assignees.

If you do not meet these criteria, but need to take over bidding activities for a bid package, your System Administrator can add you to the project and do one of the following:

• Edit the bid package template to add your job title.

• Edit your user to add a job title that is listed in the bid package template.

• Assign you to the same user class as the bid package creator.

1. Click Re-Invite in the Bidder List next to the bidder you want to re-invite.

2. In the Invite Bidders window that opens, enter bid reinvitation:

   • Email Subject

   • Email Body

     This may already be pre-populated based on the parameters set by your System Administrator. If you have questions about the format of the email, contact your System Administrator.

3. Click Submit.

   The invitation email is sent to the bidder.

Removing a Bidder from a bid removes all Bidder users from that vendor. If you only need to remove one Bidder user, remove the user from the Members / Contacts tab of the entity.

Removing a bidder from a bid package also removes them from the entity, unless they are invited to another bid package on the entity or they are part of a work flow.

To remove losing bidders after notification, one of the following must be true:

• You created the bid package.

• You are a member of the project and have the same user class and job function as the bid package creator.

• You are a member of the project and you are a bid package assignee because your job title is in the list of bid package assignees

If you do not meet these criteria, but need to take over bidding activities for a bid package, your System Administrator can add you to the project and do one of the following:

• Edit the bid package template to add your job title.

• Edit your user to add a job title that is listed in the bid package template.

• Assign you to the same user class as the bid package creator.

1. Click Remove in Bidder List next to the bidder you want to remove.

2. Click Yes in the confirmation window that opens.

Once the bid close date passes, the submitted bids display on the Conditioning tab, where you compare bids and add comments to line items. Once you complete your review, you enable bid conditioning. This causes the bid and your comments to display on the Bid Submission tab.

Enable bid conditioning

• Select Allow Conditioning for the bid in the Bidder List.

  The bidder is sent an email informing them that the conditioning period has begun.

Disable bid conditioning

• Clear Allow Conditioning for the bid in the Bidder List.

  The bidder is sent an email informing them that the conditioning period has ended.

Your System Administrator can configure your bid packages to go through a tiered bid award approval process. This gives them greater control over the bidding process by requiring you to seek approval for bids that exceed a certain amount, or by requiring you to seek approval regardless of amount.

The Award Approval action appears in the Actions menu of the Bid Package Summary page if these conditions are met:

• Your System Administrator has configured this bid package template to require award approval, and

• The bid close date has passed.

When the you click Award Approval, the kickoff form for the bid award approval work flow opens. You and the approvers must complete the work flow. Once the work flow is in progress, bids and bid package data is not editable.

If the bid award is approved, the value of the Bid Package Status changes to Approved. Once this happens, the Award button appears in the Actions menu of the Bid Package Summary page.

The Award action is only visible after the Bid Close Date has passed.

If you select a bidder other than the top-ranked bidder in the Award Bid window and award the bid to that bidder, the selected bidder becomes the top-ranked bidder .

1. Select the bidder you want to award the bid to from the Bidder List.

2. Click Award in the Actions menu on the rightmost side of the page.

   If the budget template is configured correctly, the Select Winner window opens.

   Contact your Bid Manager if a message states Used For Bidding, Used For Bid Conditioning, and Bid Template must be cleared the in Estimated column of Budget Type.

3. Confirm that the bidder you want is selected in the Select Bid Winner field, and click Next.

4. In the Award Bid window that opens, click Notify Winning Bidder.

   An email window opens. The fields in this window may already be pre-populated based on the parameters set by your System Administrator.

   If you have questions about the format of the email, contact your System Administrator.

5. Enter any additional information you want to send the winning bidder in the Email Subject and Email Body fields, and click Send Email then Close.

6. Click Notify Losing Bidders.

   An email window opens. The fields in this window may already be pre-populated based on the parameters set by your System Administrator.

   If you have questions about the format of the email, contact your System Administrator.

   The Remove Losing Bidders after Notification? check box is pre-selected in this window. This removes losing bidders from the project or capital project unless:

   • the bidder has been invited to bid or accepted an invitation to bid on another bid package

   • the bidder is assigned to a schedule task on the project or capital project

   We recommend leaving Remove Losing Bidders after Notification? selected.

7. Enter any additional information you want to send the losing bidders in the Email Subject and Email Body fields, and click Send Email then Close.

8. Do one of the following:

   • If a post-award work flow is configured:

     1. Click Next.

     2. Complete the kickoff form for your post-award work flow.

        If you accidentally close the form, you can reopen it by following the Post-Award Work Flow procedures below.

        Post-Award work flows are highly configurable. Contact your System Administrator if you have questions about your firm's post-award work flow.

   • If a post-award work flow is not configured:

     • Click Close.

       The window closes. The Winning Bid column in the Bidder List is now updated to reflect who won the bid and who lost the bid.

1. Navigate to the Budget page of the entity.

2. Click Budget Creation in the Actions menu on the rightmost side of the page.

3. Click Status in the Actions column of the bid award budget column.

4. In the Status window that opens, select the default Status for the bid award budget column.

5. Click Update.

   The bid is no longer awarded to that bidder.

Bid Managers can kick off a Post-Award work flow from the Actions menu. This allows Bid Managers to kick off the work flow even if they have closed the work flow kickoff form before completing it. Triggering the work flow in this manner will still auto-populate the data from the winning bidder.

1. Select a bid package from the menu, left of the Actions menu.

2. Click Post-Award Work Flow in the Actions menu on the rightmost side of the page.

3. Complete the Post Award work flow kickoff form that opens.

Bid Managers and Bidders can send questions to one another to get clarification on project details. These questions can either be public or private.

If your company uses sealed bidding, the names of bidders will be anonymized.

Public vs. Private Question Behavior

• If a question has been made private when it was previously public, it will be hidden from all users except the Bid Manager and the Bidder who originally asked the question. This means that even if another Bidder replied to the question, they will no longer be able to see it.

• If a question is made public when it was previously private, both the question and its replies will be made visible.

• Bid Managers can change the value of the Private? field.

• If a Bid Manager asks a private question, it is only visible to other Bid Managers.

• Replies to a question inherit the setting of the Private? from the parent question.

• Shared questions cannot be private.

Shared Questions Behavior

• When a question is shared, all bidders and assignees on the entity receive a notification.

• All assignees and the creator of the shared questions will receive notifications about replies to the shared question.

• Notifications are not sent to bid packages on the entity that have already been awarded.

• Shared questions cannot be private.

If you want to set the Shared? flag for a question to No when it previously had been set to Yes, navigate to the bid package where you want the question to be saved, and then update the flag.

Questions can be assigned to one or multiple users:

• System Administrators can configure bid package templates to have default assignees for questions.

• When a question has been assigned to a user, the question is shown in the Bid Q&A table of the My Form Assignment dashboard widget and the Forms page.

  The question is only visible to other Bidders on the bid package if the question is made public.

• If your firm has sealed bidding, bidder names will be anonymized in the Assignments field.

• You can assign a question to multiple users and you have the option to send the question as an email to users.

• Notifications go out in real time when the assignee is added.

Add Q & A

If the enableQandAPublish feature switch is turned on, questions created by the capital project manager or bid administrator are locked and cannot be modified by vendors once they are published. Contact your Accruent representative for more information.

A notification is sent to you when someone replies to your question.

1. Click Add Q&A in the Actions menu on the rightmost side of the page.

2. Complete the Add Question dialog that opens:

   • Title: Brief summary of your question.

   • Question: Displays in the Bid Q&A table with Title.

   • Document:

     1. Click Add Document.

     2. In the Documents window, select an existing document using the folder tree or Upload a new document.

   • Shared: Select whether the question is to be shared:

     • Yes: The question is visible to all bid packages on the entity. You can use this when the information in the question is beneficial to bidders on all bid packages. This reduces the amount of time needed to disseminate information and keeps answers consistent across the entity.

       Shared questions cannot be private. Private?, must be No if you select this option.

     • No: The question is not visible on all bid packages.

3. Add the question:

   • Click Add to save the question to the Bid Q&A pane so that you can edit and publish it later.

   • Click Add and Publish to save the question to the Bid Q&A pane and publish it to vendors so they can provide answers.

     Once a question is published, it cannot be edited.

4. When the confirmation window opens, click Yes

   The window closes. Your question appears in the Bid Q&A table.

Edit Q & A

If the enableQandAPublish feature switch is turned on, you can only edit questions that have not been published.

1. Click Edit in the Actions column of the record.

   The Edit Question window opens.

2. Make your changes.

3. Select whether the question is to be Private.

4. Select whether the question is to be Shared:

   • Yes: The question is visible to all bid packages on the entity. You can use this when the information in the question is beneficial to bidders on all bid packages. This reduces the amount of time needed to disseminate information and keeps answers consistent across the entity.

     Shared questions cannot be private. Private?, must be No if you select this option.

   • No: The question is not visible on all bid packages.

5. Do one of the following:

   • Click Update to update the question to the Bid Q&A pane so that you can edit and publish it later.

   • Click Update and Publish to save the updated question to the Bid Q&A pane and publish it to vendors so they can provide answers.

     Once a question is published, it cannot be edited.

6. When the confirmation window opens, click Yes.

   The window closes. Your updated question appears in the Bid Q&A table.

Filter Bid Q&A Table

The Bid Q&A table lists questions submitted by bidders about the bid package. These questions can either be public or private.

• Select Question Visibility:

  • Both: Display both public and private questions.

  • Public: Display public questions.

  • Private: Display private questions.

• Select an option from Filter Options:

  • All: Display all questions.

  • Unanswered: Display questions that have no reply.

  • In Progress: Display questions that have a reply.

  • Answered: Display questions marked with an accepted answer.

• Select Assignees:

  • All: Display all questions.

  • Select an assignee to display questions assigned to that user.

Once questions have been posted on a bid package, the person responsible for the bid package can add replies. Bidders will receive a notification when replies are added to their questions. Replies to a question inherit the setting of the Is Private? field from the parent question.

If a Bidder asks a private question and the question is subsequently made public, both the question and replies display.

Member List in the Add Reply window displays only for members with View Private Issue Allowed? set to Yes .

1. Click Reply link in the Actions column of the record.

2. Enter your Reply in the Add Reply window that opens.

3. Attach a document:

   1. Click Add Document.

   2. In the Documents window, select a document:

      • Select an existing document:

        1. Use the folder tree to navigate to the folder where the document is saved, then select the document.

        2. Click Select Document.

      • Upload a new document.

4. Send an email with your reply:

   1. Select the members you want to send the email to in Project Members or All Members / Contacts.

      Press and hold CTRL on your keyboard to select multiple values.

   2. In External Contacts, enter the email address of an external contact to email.

   3. Click the arrows >> next to External Contacts to move the contact to Attention Email To.

5. Click Add.

   Your reply is attached to the question in the Bid Q&A table, and an email is sent to the selected contacts.

Edit Reply

1. Click Edit in the Actions column of the record.

   The Edit Reply window opens.

2. Make your changes.

3. Click Update.

   The window closes. The updated reply appears in the Bid Q&A table.

Accept Reply

Depending on your security settings, you may be able to select a reply as the accepted response for an answer.

1. Click Accept in the Actions column.

2. Click Yes in the dialog that opens.

   The answer you selected is marked as the accepted reply.

Send a message to bidders directly from a bid package using Bid Addendum to inform bidders of ad hoc changes or updates to the bid package. Messages sent are recorded in the Email Log.

There are no restrictions on when you can send a bid addendum. However, if you send a bid addendum after the Bid Close Date, losing bidders do not receive a notification.

1. Click Bid Addendum in the Actions menu on the rightmost side of the page.

2. Complete the dialog that opens:

   • Email Subject: Subject for your message.

   • Email Body: Contents of your message.

   • Attention Email To: Pre-populated with the Bid Package Assignees and Bidders invited to the bid package.

3. Add or remove recipients:

   1. Select the user you want to add or remove.

   2. Click >> or << to add or remove the user.

   3. To send an email to an external contact, enter their email address in External Contacts.

4. Click Send Email.