Item Specification Composer
Compose tender-ready contract packages from libraries, not blank pages
Build the schedule of items, general provisions, and item special provisions from libraries instead of last year's Word file. Link OPSS, OPSD, and municipal standards, handle addenda with red-text re-issues, and export in the formats bidders and clients expect.
Key benefits
From standards search to a linked special provision to the exported tender package.
This is the actual workspace: search the public standards library right from the schedule, quick-add the item, pick the governing general provisions, and watch the item's special provision reference write itself before you export.
- Produce tender documents quickerSearch your item library, the public standards library, and past projects, then drop results straight into the schedule with units, rates, and spec references already filled. Excel import covers the schedules you already have.
- Every tender improves the next oneEverything you compose stays searchable from past projects, and items saved to your organization's template library carry descriptions, units, rates, spec references, and provision language forward, so the next project starts from your best previous work instead of a blank page.
- Standards linked, not retypedLink items to OPSS, OPSD, and municipal standards with pinned versions. Reference lines generate automatically in the item special provisions, and the wording stays editable where the work differs.
- Addenda without the scrambleMark added or revised items under an addendum label, then re-issue exports with changes highlighted in red and an addenda summary, so bidders always know exactly what moved.
Standards library
The public standards library is built in, searchable, and versioned.
Ontario provincial and municipal standards live in a shared public library inside the composer. Search by publisher and location, link the standard to your item, and the contract cites the edition you reviewed.
Search by publisher and location
Filter the library to the publishers and jurisdictions that govern your work, open a publisher's profile to see what it covers, then link the matching standard in the same search you use for your own templates.
Linked and version-pinned
Items pin the standard version you reviewed, so the tender cites the edition you checked rather than whatever is newest.
References write themselves
Linked items generate the correct reference line in the item special provisions automatically, so the wording stays consistent across the package.
The text stays yours
Linking a standard fills the specification fields, but the free text remains editable and survives unlinking, so you always control the final wording.
Template library
Every tender you issue makes the next one faster.
The composer is built around a library your organization owns. Items, rates, spec references, and provision language accumulate with every project, so tender production gets quicker and more consistent the longer you use it.
Organization item templates
Save an item once with its unit, rate, spec reference, and provision language. Every future project can pull it in seconds, and favourites float to the top.
Past projects are searchable
The composer search also covers items from your previous projects, so proven schedule lines are one click away even before they become templates.
Contract formats that match the client
Set document titles and item numbering per project, with OPS/MTO and municipal presets, so one library serves every municipality you work for without parallel Word documents.
Knowledge stays in the firm
Junior staff compose from the organization's approved language instead of reinventing it, and senior review time drops with every tender.
Addenda
Addenda are part of the tender period, so they are part of the tool.
When questions come in and the scope moves, mark the changed items and re-issue. Bidders see exactly what changed, and you stop comparing PDFs at nine at night.
Mark changes under a label
Set the active addendum label and mark added or revised items as you work. The base document stays clearly separated from addendum changes.
Red-text highlighting in exports
Re-issued schedules, special provisions, and tender packages highlight changed items in red, so bidders spot every change without a comparison exercise.
Addenda summary included
Exports list the items changed under each addendum, giving bidders and reviewers one place to confirm the current state of the document.
Works across the package
Addenda highlighting runs through the schedule of items, the item special provisions, and the combined tender package export.
Who uses it
Built for the people who produce and price tender documents.
Municipal contract administrators
Produce tender packages from a library that already matches your municipality's format, instead of copying the last similar contract and hunting for stale standard references.
Consulting engineers
Serve multiple client municipalities from one item library, with per-project contract formats (document titles, item numbering, OPS/MTO and municipal presets) so every package goes out the way that client expects.
Estimators and cost teams
Work from clean schedules with consistent units and quantities, export bid tables and Excel for pricing, and produce a client-facing cost estimate from the same items.
Firm principals and owners
Keep specification knowledge in the organization instead of one senior person's folder. New staff compose from approved language, and every finished tender strengthens the library.
Workflow
From the first schedule line to award, without starting from a blank page.
Step 1
Build the schedule
Add parts, then pull items from your template library, the public standards library, and past projects. Import from Excel or type new items directly, with sub-items where the work needs them.
Step 2
Set the provisions
Select the governing general provisions document, such as OPSS MUNI 100, pin its version, and add supplementary text. Linked items write their own special provision reference lines.
Step 3
Issue the tender
Export the schedule without rates for bidders, a printable bid table for RFQs, or a client-facing cost estimate, in formats built for bidsandtenders.ca, Biddingo, and MERX postings.
Step 4
Handle addenda and award
Mark changes under an addendum label and re-issue with red-text highlighting and an addenda summary. After award, send the schedule into Job Cost Tracker as the cost baseline in one click.
Tender exports
Exports built for how tenders actually go out.
Most civil work posts to a bidding platform. Schedule exports come in formats built for bidsandtenders.ca, Biddingo, and MERX postings, alongside a printable bid table for direct RFQs, a client-facing cost estimate, and branded provisions and tender package documents.
Export formats built for
Bidding-site export formats
Export the schedule to Excel in layouts structured for the bid tables on bidsandtenders.ca, Biddingo, and MERX, so posting a tender does not mean rebuilding it.
Printable bid table for RFQs
Invite quotes directly with a clean bid table that bidders can price and return, no platform required.
Client-facing cost estimate
Present the same schedule with rates, plus an optional contingency allowance, as a cost estimate for client approval before the tender goes out.
Red-text addenda re-issues
Re-issue documents during the tender period with changed items highlighted in red and an addenda summary attached.
No-rates tender issue with your branding
Print the schedule without rates for tender issue, include them for the contract set, and apply the export style template that matches the client on every document.
Works with Job Cost Tracker
Send the schedule into Job Cost Tracker when construction starts.
One click turns the awarded schedule of items into the project's cost baseline in Job Cost Tracker, so cost tracking starts from the same numbers the contract was tendered on. The handoff is optional: Item Specification Composer is a complete tool on its own.
One-click cost baseline
Send schedule items into Job Cost Tracker so budget tracking starts from the tendered quantities and rates.
No retyping between tools
Items, units, quantities, and rates carry over exactly as they appear in the schedule of items.
Optional, not required
Item Specification Composer works without Job Cost Tracker. The handoff is there when your organization wants it.
Simple pricing
Start with Item Specification Composer, then add tools as your work grows.
Item Specification Composer
$40/ seat / month
or $432 / seat / year (save 10%)
14-day trial (No Credit Card Required)
Per-user, per-tool billing
Tender package, bid table, cost estimate, and bidding-site formats included
Questions?
Search the FieldWorks FAQ.
Type a topic or select a question to see the answer on this page.
Which FieldWorks tools are available now?
Inspection Tracker, Job Cost Tracker, Deficiency Tracker, and Submittal Tracker are the live FieldWorks tools. Additional tools are planned as the toolbox grows.
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