M11 Consulting(262) 216-6822

For contractors who bid public work

Public bids, read before you spend a night on them

I find the school, county and village bids in your trade, read the full documents, tell you which ones are worth it, and manage the paperwork through submission. You keep the pricing and the signature.

Get a free list of open bids near youSee a real brief

Wisconsin and northern Illinois. I run public bids for a commercial contractor and am taking on a few others.

Most public bids are lost before anyone reads the price

The lowest number does not win if the bid is thrown out. And the work that keeps it in, reading a 50-page solicitation and every addendum, is the work nobody in a busy shop has time for until the night before it is due.

  • ×A mandatory pre-bid meeting nobody put on the calendar
  • ×An addendum that changed the bid form, never acknowledged
  • ×A bid bond missing from the envelope
  • ×A manufacturer-certified installer requirement found the week it was due
  • ×Insurance limits that did not match, discovered at contract signing
  • ×Addenda that only reached registered plan holders

How it works

01

Watch

I watch the public bid boards, plan rooms and owner websites for your trade and the area you work in. Every Monday you get the new ones, with due dates and pre-bid meetings.

02

Read

When one looks right, I read the whole solicitation and every addendum, and send you a short brief within a day: the dates, what has to be submitted, bonds and insurance, the traps, and an honest call on whether it is worth bidding.

03

Manage

If you decide to go after it, I run the rest: the forms, the clarification questions, the insurance and bond checks, the addenda, the packaging and getting it delivered on time. You review and sign.

04

Learn

After the bids are opened I pull the public results: who won, at what number, and where you landed. Over a season that tells you which owners and job sizes you actually win.

What I do

Find, read, brief, track every date and addendum, draft the questions, check bonds and insurance against the requirements, assemble the package and get it delivered.

What you keep

The price, the takeoff, the technical decisions and the signature. I never sign for you, never set a number, and nothing is submitted without your written go-ahead.

A real brief

A Wisconsin county roof replacement out for bid this fall, read from the county's posting, the request for bids and the addendum. The call is “skip it”, and the reason is on the first line. An honest no is worth as much as a yes: it is a week of estimating you get back.

I would skip this oneMarinette County, Marinette, WI

RFB #26-015-34 - Law Enforcement Center Roof Replacement

Marinette County LEC ballasted roof tear-off to a Tremco TPO system, bids due Nov 16, 2026 at 1:00 PM CT, but the mandatory pre-bid was Oct 14 and has already passed.

  • •The mandatory pre-bid conference was Oct 14, 2026, with registration due Oct 12. Both dates have passed.
  • •If you did attend and registered, this flips to bid-with-conditions: you need Tremco approved installer status, a solid takeoff, and a plan to hit July 2, 2027.
  • •Owner buys the main roofing materials, so this is mostly a labor and sheet metal bid, which narrows the dollars at stake.

Dates

Pre-bid registration form (Attachment A) due: Monday, October 12
Emailed to martin.keyport@marinettecountywi.gov. Already passed.
Mandatory pre-bid conference: Wednesday, October 14
10:00 AM CT, front of main entrance at the LEC. Already passed.
Addendum #1 posted: Friday, October 16
Dropped the four canopy roofs. New bid form must be used.
Last day for addenda per RFB: Monday, October 19
RFB says addenda posted by 4:30 PM. Check the website anyway.
Bids due: Monday, November 16
1:00 PM CT, sealed, to Facilities and Parks, 1926 Hall Ave, Marinette. Late bids not considered. No fax.
Major work complete: Friday, July 2
$500 per day penalty off the labor contract if not done.

Bonds and insurance

  • No bid bond, performance bond, or payment bond is mentioned in the pages provided.
  • General liability: $1,000,000 per occurrence, broad form.
  • Auto liability: $300,000 per occurrence, including non-owned and hired vehicles.
  • Workers comp: statutory.
  • Marinette County named as additional insured on all liability policies, including completed operations, with no special limits.
  • Waiver of subrogation in favor of the county on all required policies.
  • 30 day notice to the county before cancellation, non-renewal, or material change.
  • Certificates of insurance due before contract signing. Subs must carry the same coverage.

What would get this bid thrown out or cost you money

  • Mandatory pre-bid conference already happened on Oct 14, 2026. RFB Section V calls it mandatory and required registration by Oct 12. If you did not register and attend, expect your bid to be rejected.
  • Must use the revised bid form from Addendum 1. Addendum 1 removed the canopy roofs and renumbered the joint sealant work to Alternate 2. It says to use the updated bid form.
  • Every addendum must be acknowledged. Addendum Sheet says responses that do not acknowledge addendums will be rejected. You are responsible for checking the county website.
  • Must be a Tremco-approved installer. Spec 075423 1.5 and 1.7 require a manufacturer letter approving the installer for this project, workers certified by the manufacturer, and a full-time on-site supervisor with at least five years of experience.
  • $500 per day penalty after July 2, 2027. RFB Section VIII.5 says major work must be done before July 2, 2027 or $500 per day comes off the labor contract.
  • Leaks and water damage are on you. RFB VIII.8 and spec 07591 make the contractor pay for damage and county labor from any water getting in due to failure to secure daily work.
  • You own the takeoff. RFB VIII.4 says each bidder must verify core results and area dimensions. Bidders also must confirm the owner material quantity list before the due date per spec 01100 1.5.
  • Occupied jail and sheriff building with access limits. Spec requires exterior ladder access only, check-in to enter, 48 to 72 hour notice before disruptive work, a secured portable toilet on the roof, and clear driveways and entrances at all times.
  • Costs that are easy to miss. Contract sum must include manufacturer inspections in years 2, 5, 10, and 15, local building permits, receiving and protecting owner-furnished materials, plywood and insulation protection over hauling routes, and repair of lawn, pavement, and walls.
  • Contract must be signed within 60 days of award. RFB XI lets the county go to the next bidder if you do not sign in 60 days.
Questions I would send the owner, and what is still unknown
  1. Will a bid be accepted from a contractor who did not attend the Oct 14 mandatory pre-bid conference?
  2. How and by when do bidders confirm the owner-purchased material quantity list before bid day, and who at Tremco/WTI is the contact?
  3. Spec 075423 3.9 says the Owner will engage a roofing inspector, then says to engage one for one day per 40 hour crew week. Who pays for that inspector?
  4. The bid form unit price labels look misaligned. Please confirm the unit for each line: labor rate, material markup, 2x6 blocking, 2x10 blocking, drain replacement, and wet insulation replacement.
  5. Spec 075423 2.8 C shows a placeholder for the cover board. Is a cover board required, and is it owner-furnished?
  6. Is the $1,000 allowance for Base Bid and Alternate 1 each to be carried inside the bid price or listed separately?
  7. Are there bid, performance, or payment bond requirements, and is any federal money in this project that would trigger Davis-Bacon wages?
  8. When can work start, and is winter work allowed or expected, given the July 2, 2027 completion date?
  9. Is existing stone ballast reusable or must new ballast be supplied, and is it owner-furnished?
  10. What ANSI/SPRI RP-4 system and ballast weight applies to each roof?
  • Whether non-attendees of the pre-bid will be rejected outright. The RFB calls it mandatory but the pages shown do not state the penalty.
  • Roof areas, square footage, and roof heights. Drawings (Attachment E) were not read.
  • Sample contract terms (Attachment F), including payment terms and retainage.
  • Any bid, performance, or payment bond. None shown in the pages read.
  • Wage requirements. Nothing in the source says prevailing wage or federal funding.
  • Questions deadline. None is stated.
  • Construction start date and whether work is expected over winter.
  • Whether ballast is reused or new, and who supplies it.
  • Who pays the roofing inspector.
  • Cover board requirement.
  • Remainder of spec 099653 and anything after page 47 of Attachment D, which was cut off.
  • Engineer's estimate or budget. Not given.

Read from: The county posting, the full RFB through Attachment C, Attachment D specifications through about page 47 of 51, and Addendum #1. Drawings (Attachment E) and the sample contract (Attachment F) were not read. Written Saturday, October 31.

Questions

Do you price my bid?

No. Pricing, takeoffs and technical decisions stay with you. I make sure you are pricing the right scope, from the latest addendum, and that nothing outside the price gets the bid rejected.

Where do you work?

Wisconsin and northern Illinois, for school districts, technical colleges, counties, cities, villages and utilities. Work is done remotely; I am based in Slinger.

Which trades?

I started with roofing, and the method works for any trade that bids public work: mechanical, electrical, paving, envelope, and so on. I take one contractor per trade per area, so I am never helping two firms bid the same job.

How do fees work?

A small monthly amount for the watching and the briefs, a flat fee for each bid you decide to go after, and a success fee only when you win. The numbers depend on your trade and how often you bid, so I quote them after a conversation. If a solicitation does not allow a success fee, that bid is flat-fee only.

Is this the same as the free bid-matching from WPI?

The Wisconsin Procurement Institute will email you matching bids for free, and you should use it. That is a list. This is the reading, the decision and the paperwork that come after the list.

Start with a free bid list

Tell me your trade and where you work. I will send the open public bids near you, with a brief on the one that looks best. You keep it whether or not we work together.

Email meCall (262) 216-6822Everything else I do →