A property manager or a GC gets three or four proposals for the same lot and lays them next to each other. If yours is a single number with "pave parking lot" above it, it gets compared on price alone. If it shows what you saw, what you measured and what you're doing about it, it gets compared on whether you know what you're doing.
Walk the lot
Plans and satellite views tell you where the lot is and how big it is. The walk tells you what's wrong with it.
- Pavement condition. Alligator cracking and soft spots (base failure), ruts, raveling, and cracks that need sealing. Mark failed areas with paint and measure each one.
- Drainage. Where water sits, where it's supposed to go, and whether the drains work. Ponding on a new overlay is your callback.
- Edges and tie-ins. Curbs, gutters, sidewalks, drains and building entrances the new surface has to meet.
- Utilities. Manholes, valve boxes and cleanouts that need adjusting to the new grade.
- Access and phasing. When the lot can close, whether it has to stay partly open, where the trucks come in, and anything overhead.
- Concrete and striping that's part of the job, or should be.
Photograph everything, especially the problems. A proposal that says "base failure at the dumpster pad, see photo 4" makes a stronger case than one that says "unforeseen conditions excluded."
Break out the takeoff
Measure from the plans or a satellite view, and check the big numbers on site. Separate the job into the pieces that price differently:
- Base repair or full-depth patching, by area and depth
- Milling, by area and depth
- Overlay or new paving, by area, depth and mix
- Crack sealing, by linear feet
- Sealcoat, by area and coats
- Concrete: curb and gutter by linear feet, flatwork by area
- Striping: linear feet, stalls, ADA spaces and markings
- Equipment transport and setup, traffic control and permits
Each one is its own line on the proposal. It's how the customer compares apples to apples, and it's how you add or drop a piece without repricing the whole job.
Write the scope in plain words
The person reading it may manage buildings, not pavement. Instead of "mill 2", R&R failed areas, 2" HMA overlay," write:
"Mill the existing asphalt 2 inches deep. Cut out and replace failed areas marked on the attached plan, about 1,200 square feet, with new base and asphalt. Pave the lot with 2 inches of new asphalt, compacted."
Give depths as compacted depths and name the mix.
What goes in the proposal
- Scope, in plain words, with the measured quantities
- Line items, each with a price
- Unit prices for things that commonly grow once work starts, like extra base repair per square foot or extra milling depth
- Exclusions: what's not included. Utility adjustments beyond what's listed, base failure deeper than a stated depth, permits and fees if not included, testing, and anything outside the marked area.
- Schedule and phasing: how long, in what order, and which parts of the lot close when
- Weather: that paving depends on temperature and rain, and how you'll reschedule
- Payment terms, including progress billing and retainage if the contract has them
- Warranty and what it covers
- How long the price is good for, because plant prices move
On GC work, read their subcontract before you price the job: retainage, pay-when-paid terms, insurance requirements, liquidated damages and who pulls permits all change your price.
Follow up, and learn from the losses
Send a short note a few days after the proposal goes in, and again at about a week. Commercial decisions can take weeks.
When you lose, ask why. Property managers often tell you: price, timing, scope, or that they went with the contractor they already use. Write the reason down. After a season, the pattern is more useful than any single answer.
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- Managing subs: COIs, W-9s and payment terms
Pavr is estimating software for paving, sealcoating, striping and concrete contractors. Take off the lot on the satellite view or the GC's PDF plan, and see the margin on every line before you send it. Try it free → Shopping for software to price this work? Pavr compared with the other tools puts each one beside the jobs on a commercial lot, with a source and a date on every claim.