Published · 7-minute read
Why bid data is different
Most business software holds information that would be awkward to leak. Estimating software holds the information you compete on. A competitor who knew your crew rates, your equipment rates and your margin could bid a job a dollar under you every time.
Moving off a spreadsheet is usually a good idea — spreadsheets get emailed, copied and carried out the door on laptops. But it means trusting another company with your numbers, so it’s worth asking that company some direct questions first.
8 questions to ask any estimating software company
Ask them before you enter a single price. Get the answers in writing — ideally in the terms of service you’ll agree to, not just a sales call.
- 1
Who owns my data?
Why it matters: If the contract says the vendor owns or can freely use what you enter, your pricing is theirs to do with as they like.
A good answer: “You do. We only use it to run the service for you.” In writing, in the terms you agree to.
- 2
Do you combine my prices with other contractors’ numbers?
Why it matters: “Anonymized benchmarks” and “market averages” are built from customers’ prices. In a small market, an average of five contractors’ pipe prices isn’t anonymous.
A good answer: “No — not pooled, not averaged, not published in any form.”
- 3
Do you use my data to train AI?
Why it matters: A model trained on your cost build-ups can repeat what it learned to someone else.
A good answer: “No. And any AI service we use is contractually barred from training on it.”
- 4
Who at your company can see my bids — and what stops everyone else?
Why it matters: A promise that only “authorized staff” look is only as good as the thing that enforces it.
A good answer: A short, named answer, and a technical wall — not just a policy — between each customer’s data.
- 5
Does anyone at your company bid work, or consult for contractors who do?
Why it matters: Plenty of construction software is built by people from the industry. That’s a strength — until someone with access also bids against you.
A good answer: A straight answer, and a written promise that your numbers are never used to bid, price work, or advise anyone else.
- 6
Which outside companies touch my data?
Why it matters: Your data goes wherever the vendor’s hosting, email and AI providers are.
A good answer: A complete list, by name, with what each one is for.
- 7
Can I get all of it back out — and have it deleted?
Why it matters: If leaving means losing years of pricing history, you’re not a customer, you’re stuck.
A good answer: “Ask and we send you everything in a readable format, then delete it,” with a time limit.
- 8
When someone leaves my company, how fast can I cut their access?
Why it matters: An estimator who leaves for a competitor shouldn’t still be able to sign in on Monday.
A good answer: Immediately, by you, without calling anyone.
Inside your own company
Most bid data that leaks doesn’t leak from a software company. It walks out with a person. Five habits that close most of the gaps:
Hand out the bid, not the build-up
The owner needs your unit prices and totals. Nobody outside your office needs the cost build-up behind them — your crew rates, equipment rates and margins. Send the bid schedule PDF; keep the cost report internal.
Give people only what their job needs
An estimator needs bids and your price catalog. A project manager needs the jobs they run. Your bookkeeper needs costs. Not everyone needs everything, and not everyone needs to see your margin.
Cut access the day someone leaves
Remove them from your software the day they give notice, not when you get around to it. Change any shared passwords the same day.
Stop emailing spreadsheets around
Every copy of the estimating spreadsheet sent to a personal email or saved to a thumb drive is a copy you no longer control. One shared system, with logins, beats twenty copies.
Know what’s public anyway
On public work, bid results are usually public record once bids are opened — your unit prices on that job are not a secret afterwards. What stays private is how you got there: your build-up, your crew and equipment rates, your production rates. That’s what to protect.
Our answers
How TrenchIQ answers the 8 questions
We wrote the questions, so here are our answers — each one already a promise in our terms or privacy policy.
- 1. Who owns my data?
- You do (Terms §4).
- 2. Combined with others’ numbers?
- Never — not pooled, averaged or published in any form (Terms §4).
- 3. Used to train AI?
- No. Google reads only the documents you choose to upload to the reading features, and doesn’t train on them (Privacy §4).
- 4. Who can see my bids?
- Your company. The database walls every company off on every read, including from our own staff console. Direct database access is held by one founder, who doesn’t bid work (Privacy §3).
- 5. Does anyone bid against me?
- TrenchIQ was built with a working contractor — whose account sits behind the same wall as yours. Nobody at TrenchIQ uses your numbers to bid, price work or advise anyone (Terms §5).
- 6. Which outside companies?
- Six, all named, with what each is for (Privacy §4).
- 7. Can I get it out and deleted?
- Yes — ask, and we send a copy and delete it. Closed accounts are deleted within 30 days (Terms §12, Privacy §5).
- 8. How fast can I cut access?
- Immediately: an owner or admin clicks Remove on the Users page.
The full picture is on Your data, and the binding version is our Terms and Privacy Policy.
This guide is general information for contractors, not legal advice. For a contract you intend to sign, ask your attorney.