Construction estimating · A Bytown Intelligence product
The tender package goes in. A priced, submission-ready bid comes out.
BidTrace is AI-powered estimating for construction and restoration contractors. Upload the documents as issued — drawings, specifications, addenda — and BidTrace extracts the line items, flags where the documents disagree, and prices the bid. Every number identifies its source.
Built by a contractor who prices real tenders with it — not by a software company guessing at how bids get won.
What it does
The estimating work nobody has time for, done before you sit down.
Reads the whole package
BidTrace automatically identifies each document for what it is — drawings, specifications, addenda, schedules — and works from all of them together, the way an estimator is supposed to and rarely has time to.
Extracts the line items
The scope comes out of the documents as priced line items with AI-derived quantities — a structured estimate your estimator reviews, not a blank spreadsheet they start from.
Flags document conflicts
Where the spec says one thing and the drawings say another, BidTrace flags it before you price it — the discrepancies that otherwise become disputes, change orders or eaten costs after award.
Prices a submission-ready bid
The output is a priced bid ready for your review and submission — not a pile of extracted text that still needs a week of work.
Every number shows its source
The rule BidTrace is built on: no number appears in an estimate without identifying where it came from. Your estimator can verify any line before the bid goes out the door.
Drafts the consultant emails
When a conflict or gap needs a clarification, BidTrace drafts the email to the consultant for you — so the question gets asked before closing day instead of after award.
How it works
Four steps from tender to submission.
Upload
Drop in the tender package exactly as issued — drawings, specs, addenda. No re-formatting, no data entry.
Review the flags
See the document conflicts and open questions BidTrace found, with consultant emails drafted and ready to send.
Check the numbers
Walk the priced line items. Every quantity and price identifies its source, so verification is fast.
Submit
Adjust what your judgment says to adjust, and the bid is ready to go — in a fraction of the usual estimating time.
Built by a bidder, not a vendor.
BidTrace comes out of an Ottawa building restoration company — concrete repair, parking garages, building envelope — where its founder, Dan Fried, prices real tenders. It exists because the estimating grind is real: the tool gets judged on live bids, in a real market, every month.
Common questions
Straight answers.
Who is BidTrace for?
Construction and restoration contractors who bid specified work from tender packages — general contractors, restoration and concrete contractors, and subcontractors pricing scopes out of drawings and specs.
What do I upload?
The tender package as issued: drawings, specifications, addenda and the rest. BidTrace identifies each document automatically — you don't label or reorganize anything.
Does AI really do the takeoff?
BidTrace produces AI-derived quantities and pricing, and pairs every number with its source. That's the design principle: the AI does the hours of extraction and pricing, and your estimator does the minutes of verification and the judgment calls — not the other way around.
What happens when the documents contradict each other?
That's one of the main reasons BidTrace exists. Conflicts between documents are flagged before pricing, and BidTrace drafts the clarification email to the consultant so the question is on record before you commit a number to it.
How do I get started?
Create an account at the sign-up link on this page and bring a real tender package — the fastest way to judge BidTrace is on a bid you're actually pricing. If you'd rather talk it through first, book a working session with Dan.
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Price your next bid with BidTrace.
Sign up and run a real tender package through it — or bring your estimating workflow to a 15-minute working session and get a straight answer on whether BidTrace fits it.