June 2025
Bidding on megaprojects comes with high stakes—and little room for error.
Even experienced teams can misjudge scope, underestimate risk or miss requirements under pressure. These missteps don’t just lose jobs—they can win the work but set a project up for failure, eroding profits and damaging reputations down the line.
Below are five common bidding mistakes and the preventive steps construction managers can take to avoid them.
Misjudging Scope and Costs
What goes wrong:
The more substantial the project, the more variables to manage—making the scope significantly more complex. When that complexity is underestimated and critical variables aren’t completely identified or scaled correctly, bidding teams risk creating assumptions that miscalculate costs and timelines.
Practical steps to avoid it:
- Conduct a thorough scope review and validation process across all disciplines by dividing the project into manageable components for focused assessment. Unclear on specifics? Don’t make assumptions—ask for clarifications.
- Verify estimates against current cost data and historical benchmarks from comparable projects—but use a discerning eye, as every megaproject carries unique specifics.
- Hold scope definition workshops to gain input from those with experience on similar projects to surface interdependencies that might otherwise be overlooked.
Underestimating Project Risks
What goes wrong:
It’s not just costs that can ruin a bid—overlooked risks can be just as damaging. Underestimating or misjudging them can render contingency plans inadequate when challenges inevitably arise. From permit delays to extreme weather, unaccounted-for risks can blow budgets and timelines.
Practical steps to avoid it:
- Hold risk assessment workshops tailored to the project’s specific scale and details, involving cross-discipline stakeholders who can surface risks based on real-world experiences.
- Analyze historical data from similar projects to identify past risks and quantify their impact on costs and timelines.
- Use that analysis to quantify the potential impact of identified risks and build contingency allowances that reflect realistic expectations.
Submitting a Noncompliant or Incomplete Proposal
What goes wrong:
With the size and complexity of megaproject RFPs—and the number of stakeholders involved—it’s remarkably easy to overlook a requirement. Scattered data only compounds the problem. When key documents live across email threads and disconnected systems, teams can easily miss a required detail or submit outdated information—leaving an otherwise strong bid open to disqualification.
Practical steps to avoid it:
- Go through paperwork with a comprehensive checklist mapped to the RFP requirements and refer to it throughout the bid assembly process.
- Appoint someone to be responsible for checking compliance from the start, with a final review just before submission.
- Set up a standard bid assembly workflow so everyone follows the same process without missing any steps.
- Gather all bid data and documentation in a single shared environment.
Ignoring Market Volatility and Cost Escalation Risks
What goes wrong:
Megaprojects often span years—plenty of time for inflation, cost escalation and market shifts to drive up costs. Volatile market conditions—driven by supply chain issues, labor shortages or demand spikes—can destabilize even stable markets. Basing estimates on current pricing without factoring in future fluctuations and cost escalation can sabotage a bid, leaving construction companies absorbing those rising costs as profits erode.
Practical steps to avoid it:
- Set cost escalation limits to prompt automatic analysis before submitting bids or during contract negotiations. Proactive monitoring helps ensure bids reflect real-time market conditions, including inflation trends and raw material price instability.
- Strengthen procurement strategies by securing long-term supplier agreements that lock in pricing where possible.
- Factor in future cost increases by incorporating escalation forecasting into baseline estimates, using historical data and current industry trends.
Competing on Cost Alone Instead of Value
What goes wrong:
Companies that compete on cost alone often face paper-thin margins, minimal risk tolerance and little room for error or negotiation. Historically, owners have awarded contracts to the lowest bidder, reinforcing the “lowest bid wins” mindset. But owners are gradually prioritizing factors beyond price: technology adoption, relevant project experience, sustainability commitments and the ability to manage risk. In a word, they’re looking for value.
Practical steps to avoid it:
- Position the company as more of a strategic partner rather than a low-cost provider by demonstrating the value delivered for the price.
- Highlight what sets the company apart—technology use, sustainability initiatives, project outcomes and experience with large-scale projects. Align these with the client’s stated goals.
- Include in bids any relevant success stories or case studies that show measurable outcomes and prove performance on similar megaprojects.
Turning Mistakes into Smarter Bids
Mistakes can cost construction companies a coveted job or, if the bid is accepted, jeopardize an already slim profit margin. But implementing practical preventive steps can increase the odds of winning bids while protecting profits.
That’s why it’s essential to approach bidding not just as a pricing exercise, but as a strategic, data-informed process.
Want more insights? Download Action Steps and Strategies to Avoid Megaproject Bidding Mistakes , our full guide featuring two additional common bidding mistakes plus the strategies and tools that support the action steps outlined above.
Lifecycle cost management solutions like Contruent Enterprise bring structure and clarity to the bid process. Contruent has proven experience in helping companies manage costs while enabling them to bid smarter, protect profitability and deliver megaprojects with more accuracy and control.
Contruent can prepare you for your next bid and beyond. Learn more or request a demo today.