How to Write a Subcontractor Scope of Work

Start with the documents

List the drawing sheets, specification sections, addenda and revision dates the scope is based on. If the sub prices from different documents than you did, you will pay for it later.

Describe what is included

• The work, by area or system, in plain language
• Materials the sub furnishes and installs
• Labor, equipment, mobilization and cleanup
• Permits, inspections, testing and closeout documents (O&M manuals, warranties, as-builts)

Be explicit about exclusions

Name the items a bidder might assume are someone else's: temporary power and water, dumpsters, hoisting, layout, patching and painting after rough-in, and anything that belongs to an adjacent trade. Say who owns each one.

Set the schedule and logistics

• Start and completion windows, and key milestones
• Working hours and site access
• Staging and storage areas
• Coordination meetings the sub must attend

Spell out price and payment

• Lump sum or unit pricing, and what unit prices apply to
• Allowances, if any, and how overruns are handled
• Pay application schedule, retainage, and required backup
• How change orders are requested, priced and approved before work starts

Have a second person read it

Ask a superintendent or an estimator from another trade to read the scope cold. Anything they have to ask about is a gap a bidder will either price high or price out.