One line: 'Restoration work — lump sum — $84,000.' No breakdown. It looks clean and simple, and that's exactly the problem. In 26 years of estimating I've learned that a lump sum is where both missing scope and padded margin go to hide, because you can't see either one.
Why lump sums are risky for you
- You can't tell what's included — so you can't tell what's missing.
- There's no unit price, so when quantities change there's no agreed rate.
- It can't be compared line-for-line against a competing itemized bid.
- It hides the margin, so you don't know if you're overpaying.
How to open it up
Ask for the estimate behind the lump sum — the actual line items and quantities that add up to it. A contractor who has genuinely measured the job will have it. One who won't produce it is telling you something. Then compare those line items against a complete scope to see what's missing.
BidsScores rolls every bid up to the same trade-level scope and prices the gaps, so a lump-sum bid gets held to the same standard as an itemized one — no hiding place.