How to send an addendum to bidders so every sub actually gets it

A common bid-day failure looks like this: a late addendum adds significant scope to a major trade, the low bidder on that trade priced from the original set and never went back to the plan room, the GC carries their number, wins, and spends the first month of the project arguing about who pays for the difference.

The addendum was posted. It wasn't received. Those are different things, and this process closes the gap.

Why posting isn't notifying

1. Platform notifications get filtered. They come from a domain the sub didn't ask to hear from and land in Other, Promotions or Junk.
2. Downloading the original set doesn't subscribe anyone to anything. Many subs pull the drawings once and price from a local copy.
3. "Everyone" isn't a list. If the original went out by Bcc and the addendum went out from the plan room, the two recipient lists aren't the same, and you don't know who's missing.

The 6-step process

1. Know who's still in

Per scope, list every person who received the original invitation with their current status: bidding, maybe, not bidding, no response. Everyone except "not bidding" gets the addendum, including the silent. Silence isn't a decline, and an addendum that clarifies scope sometimes tips a silent sub into bidding.

If your tracking can't produce that list in a minute, fix the tracking before the next round.

2. Send it to each person, from you

Same channel as the invitation: an email from your name, to their name, with the original subject line plus "Addendum 2." Subs find things by searching the project name. One email per person, because individual emails are what you can track. Mail merge makes this bearable by hand.

3. Say what changed for their trade

You don't need a summary for every trade on a thirty-page addendum, but for the major scopes one line matters:

Addendum 2 affects electrical: the panel schedule on E4.01 changed and exterior lighting was added on the west parkade. Bid date unchanged.

A sub who reads that knows in five seconds whether to re-price. A sub who gets "Addendum 2 has been issued, see attached" has to open a thirty-page PDF to find out, and some won't.

4. Ask for confirmation

End with "please confirm you've received this," and track who does.

5. Follow up non-confirmers the next day

Email for most; a phone call for the trades your bid depends on.

6. Check acknowledgments on bid day

Every proposal's cover page should list the addenda. If it doesn't, call before using the number. It's a thirty-second call.

When the addendum changes the bid date

Then it isn't an addendum notice; it's the most important email of the round. New date in the subject line, individually sent, and a personal phone call to every "bidding" sub on the major trades. A sub who shows up with a number on the old date because they missed the change is a damaged relationship for nothing.

What tracking should show per addendum

• Who was sent it
• Who has opened it, if your tool can see that
• Who has confirmed
• Who is marked "bidding" and hasn't confirmed

That last list is tomorrow morning's phone list. In a spreadsheet, that's a column per addendum. Invite All (our product) sends an addendum to everyone on a scope from your own mailbox with the same per-contact tracking as the invitation (delivered, clicked, viewed), so the "who hasn't seen this" question has an answer without a column to fill in. Either way, the question "does every bidding mechanical sub know about the added scope" needs a yes-or-no answer in under a minute.

Quick checklist

1. Everyone invited on the affected scopes, minus "not bidding"
2. One email per person, from you, same subject line plus the addendum number
3. One line on what changed for their trade
4. Ask for confirmation
5. Follow up non-confirmers next day; phone the ones you need
6. Check every proposal's addenda acknowledgment before using the number