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Bid collaboration is a way for multiple members of a business to work on the same bid. Collaboration will look different depending on whether the solicitation uses electronic signatures or the Infotech® Digital ID™; but unless otherwise noted, the actions you take as a vendor when preparing a bid will be the same as when you prepare a response to an RFP.
Exporting information presented in tables, such as an item list, will let other members of your business collaborate on the bid or use the information in estimation software.
The information tables can then be imported back into the proposal.
Bid collaboration basics
Bid collaboration will look different depending on whether the solicitation requires an electronic signature or Digital ID for authorization. The differences are outlined below.
Electronic signature solicitations:
- Anyone at your business can update the bid on their own device without exporting the bid.
Digital ID solicitations:
- Only the person who selected the solicitation for bidding can make changes to the bid.
- The bid must be submitted from the same computer used to select it for bidding.
Here are some good-to-know details about exporting and importing tables and items.
- Tables can be exported and imported in CSV, tab-separated, or XML formats so that others can work on the bid.
- Solicitations can only be exported if they have an item list.
- Item unit prices aren't included in an export.
- Export each list individually to avoid overwriting the bid draft, or export them all at once.
- If you export lists all at once, you must import them the same way. Every field in the tables will be overwritten, even if the field has no information.
- Bid Express uses the Row ID or Item ID in the file to match the rows or items in the solicitation.
- Bid Express service does not check to confirm the item is complete.
Export/import a single table or item list
Remember: If the solicitation uses electronic signatures, anyone at your business can update the bid on their own device without exporting it first.
If the solicitation uses Digital IDs, you can export the table or item list as a CSV, tabbed, or XML file. The Bid Express service lists each row and includes an ID number. This number is used to match the rows when the table or list is imported back into the service.
Once you export the file, you can send it to other members of your business. Other members must also have an active Digital ID and correct role.
To export a single table or item list:
- Click Export from the specific table.
- Select the file format you want to export.
- Choose the download destination and click Save.
Importing a table or item list back into Bid Express after collaboration or analysis requires some diligence to ensure you can successfully import the file.
Some things to note:
- It is common practice for www.bidexpress.com advertisements to have one or more item list sections. These may be called "Item Lists," "Bid Schedules," the "Base Bid," "Alternates," etc.
- These bid form sections automatically calculate your line item pricing against a quantity. If a quantity does not appear, the agency may have set all line items to an invisible quantity of "1"; however, if your extended total, section total, or submission total is automatically calculated, you can be certain you're in an item list.
- These sections also contain Import and Export buttons, allowing your team to export copies of a solicitation's item lists for use in estimating software.
Revision numbers
- When you export a bid form section, the file you save locally on your computer will contain a revision number in the top-left. This is the current revision number of the solicitation at the time of export.
- The revision number may change before you import your estimated pricing back into the Bid Express service if any updates have been issued on the solicitation (whether clerical updates or official addenda).
- Not every update to a solicitation is an official addendum that must be acknowledged; see the warning note below.
- The revision number of the file you want to import must match the current revision number of the solicitation in order to successfully import.
Warning: Bid Express does not recommend you consider the revision # the "number of official addenda."
Best practice: Refer to all information available in the advertisement or speak with the agency responsible for the advertisement to make sure you're acknowledging the correct number of addenda in other areas of the bid forms.
If you've selected the solicitation for bidding and generated a draft bid/response, you will receive email updates each time the solicitation is updated by the agency. If you are a general plan holder, you may receive email notices if the agency opts to send plan holder notifications after each update.
To import an item list:
- Find the solicitation and click Import.
- Check the Current Revision number at the top of the drop-down menu.
- If the current revision number in this menu matches the revision number on your exported file, you can proceed to import.
- Select the file type that you want to import.
- Select your file from the file browser, then click Open.
If your file's revision number does not match the solicitation's current revision number, you will receive this error message when you try to import the file:
Return to your import file and change the revision number to match what's shown in Bid Express. Save your work, then return to step 1 and try again.
Export/import a bid
Remember: If the solicitation uses electronic signatures, anyone at your business can update the bid on their own device without exporting it first.
In a solicitation that uses Digital IDs, you can use the Export option in the bid header to export all the item lists and tables. If you use this function, rather than exporting an individual list or table, you must use the Import option in the header to import all of the lists and tables back into the solicitation.
To export a bid:
- From the solicitation header, click Export.
- Select the file format you want to export.
- Choose the download destination and click Save.
For a bid that requires a Digital ID, other members of your business can send you a file containing a draft of the sections they worked on. Any member working on the bid will need an active Digital ID and the correct role in the Bid Express service.
The import file should contain only the sections you wish to import into your bid or response. The Bid Express service imports all fields in the file and will overwrite any information you may already have for those sections in your bid.
All fields in the solicitation are overwritten when importing the items lists and tables, even if the field being imported has no information.
If the owner-agency has issued an amendment for the solicitation, you won't be able to import your draft. You'll need to export the file again.
To import a bid:
- From your bid's solicitation header, click Import and select Import Draft.
- Select the exported bid draft file.
- Click Open.
- Verify the sections to import. If they're not the right sections, click Cancel.
- If you are ready to import the draft, click Ok.
The Bid Express service imports the table or list and displays how many rows or items were successfully imported. The success is determined by how many rows or items match the ID in the file, not if the row or item is complete.