Scope gap
What is scope gap?
A scope gap is required work that one contractor bid leaves out while others include it — a permit fee, debris disposal, or patch-and-paint that quietly shifts to the property owner. Scope gaps are why the lowest bid often isn't the lowest cost: the missing work returns later as a change order.
On a roof replacement, one bidder prices the tear-off and disposal, another assumes the building handles the dumpster. That second bid looks cheaper, but the difference isn't savings — it's a scope gap. The disposal still has to happen; it just gets billed to you later, after the contract is signed and there's no competitive pressure left.
The fix is to price every gap at what the other bidders charged for it and add it back to the total. Do that across all the bids and you're comparing what each would truly cost to finish the same job.
Compare your bids on true cost, not the headline number.
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