self-performed vs subcontracted scope

Mark the trade you hang. RFQ the trade you buy.

This page is for mixed general-contractor shops — the crew that hangs the drywall and buys the plumbing. You are not a national bid desk with a procurement team, and you are not a single-trade shop bidding only your invitation. You need a SELF versus SUB mark per trade so labor on what you hang is an hours-and-rate allowance, and labor on what you buy waits on a quote instead of pretending to be zero.

Owner-operators who bid after the field day have the small-contractors page. Trades that bid someone else’s set have trade-contractors. This page is the split inside one GC bid: mark the trade you hang, RFQ the trade you buy.

Solo at $200 is five successful takeoffs and already includes RFQs, so a two-person shop can hang carpentry and still send plumbing out. Crew at $399 is fifteen and is the featured plan (Most Popular: Full Bid Loop) when that mix is every job. Shop at $699 is forty. RFQs are on every plan. Failed runs do not count.

The problem

The mixed shop’s failure is a fake labor number on a trade you will never staff. You leave plumbing on SELF, the suggested hours look like a bid, and you never sent the plumber a guest link. Or you mark everything SUB and still buy the studs, so the carpenter’s allowance and the framer’s quote sit on the same walls.

Takeoff tools that only count do not know which trade you hang. PM suites want scheduling and payroll before they will let you split scope. You wanted a toggle per trade, a suggested allowance on SELF that is labeled as suggested, and an RFQ on SUB that a guest can answer without a login.

Sunday night is when the unmarked trades become a guess. Sunday-Off: still doing manual takeoffs on Sunday night after 30 days? Full refund.

What you get

Upload the PDF. Processing time varies with plan size and complexity. We email you when the list is ready. On the labor table you mark each trade SELF or SUB. SELF labor is a suggested hours-and-rate allowance, not a sub bid — you can edit hours and rate; you should not paste it onto a proposal as if a plumber signed it. SUB waits on a quote. You send that trade a guest RFQ: quantities and units only, token page, no login, your letterhead, TakeoffSpeed as a footer, due date required.

When the quote returns, apply replace-covered-items or labor-only so the SELF material column and the SUB number do not stack. Price the trades you actually hang as FOUND or BUDGETARY. Export CSV or Word. Em dash on anything still unpriced.

See how it works if you want the screens before you pay. Then run your first bid. First-takeoff refund via feedback@takeoffspeed.io. Sunday-Off after 30 days. Cancel anytime. Failed runs do not count. We do not run your company. We help you get the bid out.

Upload the plans.
Review the takeoff and supporting evidence.
Price self-performed materials.
Send RFQs for subcontracted scope.
Bring the returned quotes into the bid.
Check coverage and avoid double-counting.
Assemble and send the proposal.

In the product

Labor table with a SELF or SUB toggle on each trade: suggested hours and rate on self-performed work, a SUB trade waiting on a quote instead of a fake labor bid.

RFQ send for a trade marked SUB: quantities and units only going to the bought trade, SELF trades left off the request, required quote due date on the compose screen.

What this supports

SELF versus SUB is per trade, not per line. SELF labor is a suggested hours-and-rate allowance, labeled as suggested, not a historical cost database and not a sub’s bid. You can overwrite hours and rate. SUB trades drop the in-house labor sum and wait on a quote instead of printing a fake zero.

Guest RFQs on the SUB slice: quantities and units only, never your prices or other bidders’ names, token page, no login, up to fifteen recipients, required due date, trade sheets plus cover and site plan — or the full set when sheets cannot be sorted. Apply replace-covered-items or labor-only with both totals shown. Additional contingency applies to self-performed material costs only.

Browser-based, no desktop installation. PDF takeoff still sits upstream: fourteen scopes, citations, confidence, Needs your eyes. Solo $200 / 5, Crew $399 / 15 (featured — Most Popular: Full Bid Loop), Shop $699 / 40. RFQs are on every plan. Failed runs do not count. CSV and Word export.

Sample output

The public sample at /sample-bid is already a mixed-scope job, not a second invented project. ZIP 34420. Estimated total $196,682.14 from computeBidTotals. Additional contingency 10%. Markup 15%. Metal framing, gypsum, ceilings, doors, electrical, HVAC, finishes, and millwork sit alongside plumbing. One plumbing quote from Coastal Plumbing is applied in replace mode — the SUB slice — so covered plumbing materials do not also sit in the self-performed total. Coverage exception t4-8 stays in materials when that line is not in the quote.

Plan-page citations on this fixture’s takeoff lines are empty by admission of that page; live takeoffs include available page references for review. We do not invent a carpentry-only sample on top of the golden run. CSV and Word stay disabled until you sign in.

What this does not do

Marking SELF does not schedule that crew. Marking SUB does not run the sub’s payroll or log a change-order when the field condition moves. We do not run your company. We help you get the bid out.

A human reviews every line, including the SELF/SUB split. Suggested labor is an allowance, not a wage survey and not a signed sub bid. We do not claim complete counts. We do not claim mixed-scope shops award more packages by flipping a toggle. You remain the estimator who decides what you hang.

Your first subscription: one free takeoff in a 14-day trial. A credit card is required. Cancel before trial end to avoid billing. First-takeoff and Sunday-Off refunds are manual at feedback@takeoffspeed.io. Cancel anytime. FOUND retail on SELF materials is not your lumberyard quote.

Questions

Is SELF labor a bid I can treat as a subcontractor quote?

No. Labor on SELF is a suggested hours-and-rate allowance, not a sub bid. Edit it. Do not send it as if someone signed it. SUB trades wait on a returned quote instead.

Can a Solo shop mark drywall SELF and plumbing SUB on the same job?

Yes. SELF versus SUB is per trade on every plan. Solo is $200 for five successful takeoffs and already includes RFQs. Crew is $399 for fifteen and is featured. Shop is $699 for forty. Failed runs do not count.

What waits on a quote after I mark a trade SUB?

That trade’s in-house labor leaves the suggested sum. You send a guest RFQ with quantities and units only. Until a quote returns and you apply it, that slice is not a finished number. Unpriced leftover materials still print an em dash, never $0.00.

Does flipping SELF to SUB change the takeoff quantities?

No. The takeoff lines stay. The mark changes how labor is treated and whether you send an RFQ. Apply still decides whether covered materials leave the self-performed column. A human reviews every line after the flip.

Run your first bid