THE STRATEGY OF BIDDING FOR PROFIT. IN: PREPARING FOR CONSTRUCTION IN THE 21ST CENTURY, PROCEEDINGS OF CONSTRUCTION CONGRESS '91, SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS IN COOPERATION WITH THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS AND THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, APRIL 13-16, 1991

The ultimate goal of any contractor engaged in competitive bidding is to achieve the maximum profits possible on the jobs he bids, under the prevailing competitive conditions. By systematically organizing, analyzing and interpreting the data from past experience, he can develop a bidding strategy that will allow him to identify an optimum combination of his chances of being low bidder on future jobs, and the profit resulting from getting the jobs at the low bidder's price. With a good bidding strategy, a contractor can make about half as much profit over the long run as he could if he knew his competitors' bids in advance.