Alternates and options are essential components of construction estimates, especially during competitive bidding phases and value engineering exercises. They provide flexibility for owners while challenging estimators to maintain accuracy and accountability across multiple scenarios. For architects, engineers, and general contractors, understanding how to manage these variables in the estimate is crucial for project clarity and cost certainty.

Why Alternates and Options Matter

Alternates and options allow owners to evaluate different scopes, materials, or systems without committing to them at bid time. These line items offer value in multiple areas:

• Design Flexibility: Allows for selection between finishes, system types, or manufacturers without affecting the base scope.
• Budget Management: Gives owners pricing visibility on enhancements or cost-saving substitutions.
• Negotiation Leverage: Helps teams align scope with budget during procurement discussions.

However, improperly structured alternates can result in confusion, scope gaps, or misaligned expectations—especially when multiple trades and design updates are involved.

Best Practices for Structuring Alternates in an Estimate

To avoid pitfalls and ensure accurate cost tracking, alternates should be organized with precision:

• Clearly Define Scope: Each alternate must have a complete scope description, including assumptions, exclusions, and affected assemblies.
• Isolate Quantities: Track material quantities and labor separately from the base bid to avoid duplication or omission.
• Tag Design Impacts: Note if the alternate changes wall types, ceiling heights, MEP coordination, or fire ratings.
• Provide Total and Incremental Pricing: Give clients the delta from the base scope and the full price as a standalone.

Estimators who fail to isolate alternates often find their base bid compromised when change orders arise later.

Using Data-Driven Tools for Alternate Management

Handling complex options in spreadsheets can quickly become unmanageable. Modern tools like Active Estimating are built to handle alternates and options efficiently by enabling:

• Real-time linking of alternate quantities to base models or takeoffs
• Side-by-side comparison of base scope and alternates for cost and time
• Audit trails for every change made to an alternate over time

This structured approach ensures that alternates are not just documented—they're embedded into the cost tracking workflow, helping teams respond dynamically to owner decisions.

Integrating Options Into Continuous Estimating

Alternates should not exist as static PDF notes or spreadsheet tabs. Instead, they need to be part of a living, version-controlled estimate. With a drywall estimating software platform that supports subjective and objective value tracking, teams can:

• Update option pricing as designs evolve without losing track of earlier assumptions
• Capture stakeholder decisions and associated cost impact history
• Forecast the impact of selected alternates on the project timeline and workforce

This is especially powerful during design-build projects, where alternates may be evaluated iteratively throughout preconstruction.

Conclusion

Alternates and options are not a pricing nuisance—they’re strategic tools for delivering value. But they must be tracked with the same rigor and precision as the base scope. By using systems like Active Estimating, construction teams can bring transparency, accuracy, and accountability to alternate management, ensuring every option remains an asset—not a liability.

Contact Information:
Active Estimating
508 2nd Street, Suite 208
Davis
California
95616

Rich Schoener
richard@activeestimating.com
(877)