Creating and sending an offer request

How offer requests work

• A request is always cut from a BoQ. You tick positions or whole categories in a priced BoQ and create the request from them. The second way is from a package of the contracting schedule. There is no "new request" button on the project's list of requests, because a request needs a BoQ selection.
• Creating a request locks the current BoQ version. BuildColab freezes the BoQ version the request was cut from and starts a new working version. The request always shows the positions as they were in that frozen version. This keeps the quantities stable while partners price them. Expect the BoQ version number to go up each time you create a request. See Versions, comparing and locking.
• One BoQ can feed many requests. The usual pattern is one request per trade, for example Electrical, HVAC, Joinery. A position can be in several requests, but it can be awarded only once.
• The request lives beside its BoQ. Opening a request opens its BoQ, filtered to the request's positions, with the request panel on the right.
• Lifecycle. A new request is a Draft (Чернова). Sending it to the first partner makes it Sent (Изпратено). It ends as Closed (Приключено) when it is awarded and contracted, withdrawn, closed by you, or replaced by a revision. You can change its positions only while it is a draft. After sending, positions change only through a revision. See Revisions, withdrawing and closing.
• Partners come from your company's partner list. A partner can be a company already on BuildColab, an e-mail-only contact who will be invited to join, or a self-managed subcontractor that never logs in.

Requests can be created from a priced offer BoQ, from an investor's budget draft and from a contract budget. The Outgoing bid requests button is hidden while you enter an offer on behalf of a self-managed subcontractor, and disabled while the BoQ is locked for another operation.

How to create an offer request from the BoQ

1. Open the priced BoQ of the project.
2. Optional: tick the positions and categories you want to request first. The create button will already show the count.
3. In the BoQ action bar, in the group Related (Свързани), click Outgoing bid requests (Изходящи запитвания). On a narrow screen the group folds into a Related menu. The list panel Outgoing bid requests opens on the right.
4. Click Create bid request (Създаване на заявка за оферта). If positions are ticked, the button reads Create bid request ({count} selected).
5. The BoQ enters selection mode. The bar "Select the work items you want to include in the offer" (Селектирайте СМР-тата, с които желаете да направите оферта) shows a counter "{count} selected items".
6. Tick individual positions and whole categories. Ticking a category selects its positions. To request the whole BoQ, tick all top categories.
7. Click Save (Запази). Save stays disabled while no position is selected. Cancel (Отказ) restores your earlier ticks.
8. In the dialog Create bid request (Създаване на заявка за оферта), type the name in Save request as: (Запиши запитването като:). The dialog shows "Selected items: N" and "categories: N".
9. Click Create request (Създай заявка), or press Enter.

The toast "The bid request was created successfully" (Запитването за оферта беше създадено успешно) confirms it. The new request opens in the request panel. The BoQ now shows only the request's positions, read-only. Nobody is notified: the request is a draft.

1. The Outgoing bid requests (Изходящи запитвания) button in the Related (Свързани) group of the BoQ action bar opens the list panel.
2. Ticked positions in the BoQ are carried into the new request.
3. Create bid request ({count} selected) starts the request from the ticked positions.
4. Existing requests from this BoQ are listed with their deadline; a chevron opens each one.

1. The Save request as: (Запиши запитването като:) field holds the request name and is required.
2. The summary shows how many positions and categories are selected.
3. Create request (Създай заявка) creates the draft request and locks the current BoQ version.

How to create an offer request from a package

If you plan procurement in the contracting schedule, open the package and click New request from the package (Ново запитване от пакета). The dialog New offer request (Ново запитване) prefills the name and the Offers by (Оферти до) deadline from the package and lets you add a Note to the contractors (Бележка към изпълнителите). It states which BoQ version will be locked. After Create the request (Създай запитването), the same request panel opens inside the package page, and the request stays linked to the package. See Contracting schedule and packages.

The request panel

The request panel is on the right of the BoQ page (and inside the package page for package requests). Below 1024 pixels wide it covers the whole BoQ. The close button (×) is always there.

1. The request name; click it to edit.
2. Deadline: (Краен срок:) with the date field.
3. The status chip Draft (Чернова).
4. The Project description (Описание на проекта) note for the partners.
5. Attach files (Прикачи файлове), Edit (Редактирай) and Self-managed contractor (Самоуправляван изпълнител).
6. Send to partner (Изпрати към партньор) opens the partner picker.
7. The card Request results/offer status (Резултати от запитването/статус на офертата); before sending it says "The offer has not been sent to any company yet".

Name, deadline and note

• Name: click the name in the request panel to edit it. Editable until the request is closed.
• Deadline: pick a date next to Deadline: (Краен срок:). A draft accepts any date. After sending, a past date is refused: "The deadline cannot be in the past." Today is allowed. The deadline is informational: partners can still answer after it until you close or withdraw the request.
• Note: the field labeled Project description (Описание на проекта) is the note to the partners for this request, not the project's description. Up to 1000 characters. Enter saves; Shift+Enter adds a new line; while the field is focused a Save description (Запази описание) button appears.

When you save a name, deadline or note, the confirmation currently reads "The update request was sent successfully" (Заявката за актуализация е изпратена успешно). For a draft nothing is sent to anyone.

Actions by request state

Without Edit on Outgoing bid requests, close, withdraw and award are hidden, and the other buttons open a permission message.

Change the positions of a draft

1. In the request panel click Edit (Редактирай). It is available only before the first send.
2. The BoQ enters selection mode with the request's positions ticked. Change the ticks.
3. Click Save (Запази).

Once the request is sent, its positions are locked: "A sent request's lines can't be changed — revise the request instead." See Revisions, withdrawing and closing.

Attach files

1. In the request panel click Attach files (Прикачи файлове).
2. The file picker shows the project's files and folders. Files already attached are ticked.
3. Tick files and folders to attach, untick to detach. The picker replaces the whole set.
4. Click Attach (Прикачи).

The toast "The files were successfully attached to the bid request" confirms it. A file must be in this project's or your company's storage, not deleted, and readable by you; otherwise: "Some files cannot be attached…". Partner members who accept the request get read access to the attached files. Before you send, nobody is notified. After you send, partners still in the tender get a notification about added and removed documents. See Folders, uploading and navigation.

How to send the request to partners

1. In the request panel click Send to partner (Изпрати към партньор). After the first send, use Add a participant (Добави участник) → Send to partner.
2. The dialog Send request to partner (Изпращане на заявка към партньор) lists all your company's partners, with name, e-mail and a Self-managed (Самоуправляван) badge where it applies. Type in Search partner (Търси партньор) to filter by name or e-mail.
3. Tick one or more partners. The dialog does not mark partners you already invited.
4. To invite a company that is not in your list, click Add partner (Добави партньор). See "Add a new partner while sending" below.
5. Click Send to partner (Изпрати към партньор) at the bottom. It stays disabled until you tick a partner.
6. Confirm in Are you sure? (Сигурни ли сте?): "Once sent, the request's lines can't be changed — to change them, you revise the request. You can withdraw or close it at any time." Click Send (Изпрати).

1. Search partner (Търси партньор) filters the list by name or e-mail.
2. Add partner (Добави партньор) adds a company that is not yet your partner.
3. Each partner row has a checkbox; a Self-managed (Самоуправляван) badge marks a contractor without login.
4. Send to partner (Изпрати към партньор) continues to the confirmation; nothing is sent before you confirm.

Toasts after sending:

• "The bid request was sent successfully to the selected companies": all ticked partners were invited.
• "The request was sent to {successful} companies. Skipped: {skipped}.": some were already invited.
• "The request has already been sent to the selected companies for this project": everyone ticked was already invited. Nobody is invited twice.
• "Error sending the bid request": the send failed.

The request becomes Sent (Изпратено) and each partner card shows Sent (Изпратена). You can keep inviting more partners while the request is open.

Add a new partner while sending

1. In the send dialog click Add partner (Добави партньор).
2. In Add partner (Добавяне на партньор), search for a company already on BuildColab with Search company (Търси компания).
3. If it is not on BuildColab, fill the Create partner (Създаване на партньор) form: Company name (Име на компания), Company email (Имейл на компания) and Company phone (Телефон на компания).
4. Click Add (Добави). The message "Partner added successfully" confirms it; click Close (Затвори).
5. The new partner appears in the send dialog. Tick it and send.

Adding a partner sends nothing by itself. The partner is contacted only when you send it a request. See Partners.

What the partner receives

E-mail. Every partner with an e-mail address gets one e-mail when you first send the request to it. The e-mail 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 person who sent it, otherwise Bulgarian. Subject: "New request for quotation from {your company}" (in Bulgarian „Нова заявка за оферта от {your company}“). It shows the project, the request name, the number of positions to price, the deadline (or „Няма определен краен срок“), a link, and how to respond: sign in and open „Запитвания“, or register and then open the link to choose the company that answers.

• If the partner is already linked to a BuildColab company, the link opens the request in that company.
• If not, the link opens a page where the person signs in or registers and chooses or creates the company that will answer. See Incoming offer requests (subcontractor side).
• A self-managed subcontractor gets no e-mail.

In-app notification. If the partner is already linked to a BuildColab company, its members who can accept requests get a "Needs action" notification: "Received an offer request "{requestName}" — project "{projectName}"" (Получихте запитване „{requestName}“ — проект „{projectName}“). Its due date is the request deadline.

Partners you cannot invite again

A partner who declined, or from whom you withdrew the request, cannot be invited again to the same request. Ticking it gives the "already sent" message. To reach that partner again, create a revision of the request and send the new revision to it, or create a new request. See Revisions, withdrawing and closing.

Partners without a BuildColab profile

For a subcontractor that works only by phone or e-mail and will never log in, do not add it as a regular partner. In the request panel click Self-managed contractor (Самоуправляван изпълнител); after sending it is in the Add a participant menu. You then enter its offer on its behalf. Nobody is e-mailed. See Recording offers from companies outside BuildColab.

The project list of outgoing requests

The project sidebar entry Outgoing bid requests (Изходящи запитвания), /projects/{project}/offer-requests, lists every request your company created from its own BoQs in this project. Only BoQs that have requests appear.

• Grouping (Групиране): By bill of quantities (По КСС, default) or No grouping (Без групиране). Groups show the BoQ name, "v. {n}" and the request count, and can be collapsed.
• Columns: Bid request (Запитване) with the name, "· revision {n}", the tags superseded (заменена) or current (текуща), and from v. {n} (от в. {n}); Created (Създадено); Recipients (Получатели, every invited partner including declined and withdrawn); Responses (Отговори, number of offers); Status (Статус).
• Click a row to open the request beside its BoQ.
• Empty list: "No requests have been sent for this project yet."

The Status column of this list is currently empty for regular requests. Open the request to see its status in the panel.

Request statuses

Error messages

Common questions

Related

• Revisions, withdrawing and closing
• Comparing offers
• Awarding (whole or by line items)
• Partners
• Recording offers from companies outside BuildColab
• Contracting schedule and packages