Incoming offer requests (subcontractor side)

How a request reaches you

A client company (the "client", „възложител“) sends you an offer request from its own bill of quantities (BoQ). How it reaches you depends on whether your company is already linked to that client on BuildColab.

• Your company is already linked to the client. Members of your company who can accept requests get an in-app notification "Received an offer request "{requestName}" — project "{projectName}"" (Получихте запитване…), in the category "Needs action", with the request deadline as due date. Your company e-mail also gets an e-mail. Both open the request page.
• You are only an e-mail contact in the client's partner list. The e-mail is the only message. Its link opens a page where you sign in, or register first, and choose or create the company that will answer. That links your company to the client. See "Choosing the company that answers" below.

The e-mail goes to the company e-mail address the client stored. It is in Bulgarian or English: the recipient's saved profile language when the address belongs to a BuildColab account that has one; otherwise the language of the client user who sent the request; otherwise Bulgarian. The Bulgarian subject is „Нова заявка за оферта от {client company}“. It shows the project, the request name, the number of positions to price, the deadline (or „Няма определен краен срок“), the link, and how to respond.

Once your company is linked to a client, later requests from that client arrive directly as notifications and e-mails that open the request page.

The Received bid requests page

Click Requests (Запитвания) in your company sidebar. A badge on it counts requests still waiting for your decision. The page Received bid requests (Получени запитвания) lists every request any client sent to your company, across all projects, newest first. There is no search and no paging.

1. The Requests (Запитвания) entry in the company sidebar, with a badge for requests waiting for a decision.
2. The Date (Дата) column: when the request was created.
3. The Bid request (Запитване) column: the request name, with "· revision {n}" for revisions.
4. The Client (Възложител) and Project name (Име на проект) columns.
5. The Status (Статус) pill shows your company's status on that request.
6. Preview (Преглед) opens the request. It is disabled for declined requests.

Statuses on the Received list

Note the wording: Accepted (Прието) means your offer was sent; Pending (В изчакване) means you accepted the request but have not sent an offer yet.

Every revision of a request is a separate row, including replaced ones. An old revision keeps its last status; open it to see the "answer the new version" banner.

The request page

Open a request with Preview (Преглед) or by clicking its row. Reading a request and its files commits you to nothing.

1. The back arrow returns to the Received list.
2. The title Bid request (Запитване) with the project name, and the line with request name, client company and date.
3. The client's note, if there is one.
4. Deadline: (Краен срок:) with the date, if the client set one.
5. Files (Файлове) opens the documents the client attached.
6. Decline (Откажи) and Accept (Приеми).
7. The quantity sheet: Description (Описание), Unit of measure (Мерна единица), Quantity (Количество) and Note (Забележка), grouped in the client's categories.

• The quantity sheet never shows the client's prices. There is no export on this page; after you accept, your offer contains the same positions.
• Files (Файлове) is enabled before you accept, so you can see which documents the client attached before deciding. It is disabled after you decline, after you are withdrawn or not awarded, and when the request is closed.
• Accept and Decline are enabled only while the request waits for your decision.
• The deadline is information. It never blocks your answer: you can accept and send an offer after it, until the client closes or withdraws the request. Answer on time anyway.

Banners on the request page

At most one banner shows, telling you what the client did:

• "Your offer was chosen." (Вашата оферта беше избрана.)
• "The client revised this request — answer the new version." with the button Open "{requestName}" (Отвори „{requestName}“), which goes to the new revision.
• "Withdrawn by the client — you no longer need to answer."
• "The client chose another offer."
• "This request is closed."
• "This is a revision of "{requestName}" — your offer was carried over with the unchanged lines' prices. Review it and send it." when you had accepted the earlier version.
• "This is a revision of "{requestName}"." when you had not accepted it.

The files page

Files (Файлове) on the request page opens a read-only file list of the documents the client attached. You cannot upload or create folders. Each row has a download icon instead of a menu. There is no back button on this page; use the browser's Back. When the client adds or removes files later, you get the notification "The documents of the offer request "{requestName}" changed (added: {added}, removed: {removed})". If the client withdraws the request from you, you lose access to the files.

How to accept a request

1. On the request page click Accept (Приеми).
2. Confirm in Confirm action (Потвърдете действието): "Are you sure you want to accept the request?" Click Accept offer (Приеми оферта), or Back (Назад).
3. The dialog Add a member to the project (Добавяне на член към проекта) opens. Your company's members are listed by role, with Search members (Търсене на членове) and All (Всички). You and the company owner are ticked and cannot be removed.
4. Tick the colleagues who will price the offer. Each gets the project permissions of his or her role, so pick people whose role has Offers (Оферти) at Edit level.
5. Click Save (Запази). Cancel (Отказ) here cancels the acceptance; the request stays waiting.

1. Search members (Търсене на членове) filters the list.
2. Your own row "(You)" ((Вие)) is ticked and cannot be removed; the company owner is always included as well.
3. Cancel (Отказ) and Save (Запази).

What happens when you accept:

• The toast "Offer accepted" (Приета оферта) appears and you land on the project page of the client's project.
• Your company joins the client's project as a subcontractor. No separate project is created. The project appears in your project list in the phase Offering (Офериране).
• The colleagues you chose become project members and get read access to the attached files.
• A first offer named "{Project name} - Offer 1" is created on the project's Offers (Оферти) page. It contains the requested positions and categories, without prices.
• Your status on the Received list becomes Pending (В изчакване).
• The client is not notified. It sees "Processing" on your card.

Next: price the offer and send it. See Preparing and submitting an offer.

How to decline a request

1. On the request page click Decline (Откажи).
2. Confirm in Confirm action (Потвърдете действието): "Are you sure you want to decline the request? This action is irreversible." Click Decline offer (Откажи оферта), or Cancel (Отказ).

The toast "Offer declined" (Отказана оферта) appears and you return to the Received list.

There is no third answer such as "return with a comment". If you have questions, contact the client directly before deciding.

Choosing the company that answers

If you were invited only by e-mail, the link in the e-mail opens /partners/{partner}/offer-requests/{request}/select-company-for-partnership. You must be signed in. If you have no BuildColab account, register first (the e-mail explains how), then open the link again. See Create an account and sign in.

Step 1: Select an organization

1. The page Select an organization (Изберете организация) lists the companies you belong to: "Continue to review the bid request through the organization you belong to."
2. Click the company that should answer.
3. Confirm in Confirmation (Потвърждение), "Confirm opening partnership", with Yes (Да).

BuildColab links your company to the client, switches your selected company to it and opens the request page. From now on, requests from this client arrive directly in that company. If linking fails you see "Failed to create partnership".

Step 2: Create or join an organization

If the right company is not in the list, click Choose another organization (Избери друга организация). You have two options:

• Create a new organization (Създаване на нова организация): click Create organization (Създай организация). The company form can use the details the client entered; edit them as needed. Saving creates the company, links it to the client and opens the request.
• Join an organization (Присъединяване към организация): give your e-mail to your manager so they can invite you, then accept the invitation from Invites (Покани).

Go back (Върни се назад) returns to Step 1. See Create or join a company.

What you see when the client acts

For update requests and offers see Preparing and submitting an offer.

Recording a tender you received outside BuildColab

Sometimes a client who does not use BuildColab sends you a BoQ by e-mail or on paper. You can record that tender as your own request base, freeze its quantities, and price one or more offers against it. This is a "self-serve" request. Only the company that created the project can do this.

How to create a self-serve request

1. Open your project's Offers (Оферти) page, /projects/{project}/offers.
2. Click New request (Ново запитване) in the action bar, or the "+" on the Requests (Запитвания) box. On an empty project the page says "There are no offers on this project yet." with the same button. From the project page, Create a request (Създай запитване) in the incoming requests card opens the same dialog.
3. In the dialog New request (Ново запитване) type the Name (Име) and click Create (Създай).
4. The request base opens at /projects/{project}/offer-requests/{request}/base: a BoQ in quantity-only mode, without prices.
5. Load the client's quantities. Typically use Exchange (Обмен) → import from Excel. See Importing a BoQ from Excel.
6. Click View details (Виж детайли) under View (Изглед) to open the request panel and set the deadline and note, or attach files.
7. Click Accept BoQ (Приеми КС). Confirm Finalize request (Финализиране на запитването): "Are you sure you want to finalize the offer base? The bill of quantities will be locked and Offer 1 will be created automatically."

Finalizing runs in the background ("Finalizing the request..."). When it is done, "The request was finalized successfully." appears and you return to the Offers page. The request shows Active (Активно), with Open request (Отвори запитване), Create offer (Създай оферта) and a delete button. An unfinished base shows Draft (Чернова) with "Draft · no offers".

Finalizing is refused when the base has no positions ("Quantity list must contain at least one task before finalizing") or was already finalized.

Working with a self-serve request

• Create offer on a self-serve request always creates a new offer, so one tender can hold several priced variants.
• There is no client on BuildColab, so there is no Send to client. Use Export (Експорт) on the offer to produce the file you send. See Exporting.
• When the client accepts your offer outside the platform, record the deal with Turn into contract (Превърни в договор). See Self-managed subcontractors and self-contracts.
• A finalized self-serve request can be revised from its panel: a new draft copy of the base opens for your changes.
• Self-serve requests never appear on any Received or Outgoing list.

How to delete a self-serve request

Click the red delete button Delete request (Изтрий запитването) on the Offers page, or delete the base while it is a draft. Confirm Delete request (Изтриване на запитването): "Are you sure you want to delete this request? This action cannot be undone." The request and all its offers are deleted. Deleting is refused when an offer from it has become a contract: "The request cannot be deleted — an offer from it has already been converted into a contract."

On the Free plan you can create, finalize, price and delete self-serve requests. Changing the name, deadline or note of a self-serve request and revising it use the Outgoing bid requests permission, which needs a paid plan or trial.

Permissions and plan

All three are in the Free plan. A member of a paid company without a seat license can still answer requests. Without plan access a page shows "This feature is in a higher plan"; without the role permission it shows "You don't have access to this section".

Error messages

Common questions

Related

• Preparing and submitting an offer
• Create or join a company
• Notifications and their settings
• Contract proposals
• Procurement: offer requests and offers