Find Public Construction Bids & RFPs Automatically

Overview

Public work is won on timing. A solicitation posts, a clock starts, and the contractors who were already talking to the owner — or already teamed with the prime — are the ones who make the shortlist. Everyone else is filling out paperwork against a relationship that formed weeks ago.

This Hound watches the bid boards across every jurisdiction you serve, filters for the solicitations that fit your trade and capacity, finds both the contracting officer and the primes who'll need subs, and opens the conversation the morning each bid drops — so you're a name they know before the proposal deadline, not a stranger in the pile.

How to set it up

Four things to brief your Hound. This is the exact configuration behind this play.

A · Describe the opportunity

This is the brief every source is filtered against. You describe what you're looking for in plain language, add keywords to sharpen it, then set the structured criteria. Forest applies this same brief to every source below.

Tell Forest what you're looking for:

"I'm looking for public construction solicitations in my trade and territory — RFPs, ITBs, and RFQs from federal, state, and local agencies for work I can bid or sub on. I also want the early heads-up: sources-sought notices, approved capital budgets, and passed bond measures that mean a solicitation is coming. Match to my trade and bonding capacity. Skip set-asides I don't qualify for and anything already awarded."

Keywords to watch for: RFP · invitation to bid · RFQ · sources sought · pre-solicitation · notice of intent · capital budget approved · bond measure · [your trade / NAICS] · [your agencies or counties]

Fields to extract: solicitation_number · agency · project_scope · estimated_value · bid_due_date · pre_bid_meeting · set_aside_type · location · naics_code· description

Match criteria:

• ✓ Scope matches your trade (CSI division or NAICS — e.g. 238210, 238220, 238290)

• ✓ Estimated value between your min and max bonding capacity

• ✓ Bid due date ≥ 10 days out

• ✗ Exclude set-asides you don't qualify for

B · Choose the sources to monitor

The specific boards this Hound checks continuously. Forest ships with these connected; toggle the ones that match your work and add your own.

Government (structured)

• SAM.gov — sam.gov — Federal solicitations and awards. The baseline for all federal work. — est. 20/wk

• BidNet Direct — bidnetdirect.com — Aggregated state, county, and municipal bids across all 50 states. — est. 45/wk

• GovernmentBids — governmentbids.com — Broad federal/state/local aggregator. — est. 30/wk

• Your state procurement portal — e.g. caleprocure.ca.gov (CA), txsmartbuy.com (TX), emma.maryland.gov (MD) — Forest auto-selects your state's portal by service territory. — est. 25/wk

Already pay for a plan room? Connect it (optional) 🔵 If you already subscribe to a private plan room, Forest can watch it alongside the public sources — but you don't need one. The public boards above cover all public work for free.

• Dodge, ConstructConnect, PlanHub, or The Blue Book — connect your existing login; Forest reads new projects into the same feed.

News & Press 🟡

• Configure this generic source to catch what the boards miss. For this Hound, point it at regional construction and business press and instruct it to flag: groundbreaking announcements, capital-project approvals in city council minutes, and "selected as GC" press releases — the early signals that precede a formal solicitation. (See the News & Press setup note below.) — est. 8/wk

C · Define the ICP to reach

Which people to find and reach for each bid, in priority order, with fallbacks.

1. Contracting Officer / Buyer — Primary for direct bids — owns the solicitation — PRIMARY

2. Prime's Estimator / BD Lead — When you're subbing — owns the sub list

3. Project Manager (Owner side) — Fallback for questions and relationship — FALLBACK

D · Email & LinkedIn sequence

The play the Hound runs for each match. Fields from the solicitation drop in as variables.

Email · Day 0 Saw {{agency}} posted {{solicitation_number}} for {{project_scope}}. We're a {{trade}} sub with bonding above {{estimated_value}} and a clean record in {{location}}. Are you taking sub quotes on this one, or building your team now?

↓ Wait 2 days · no reply

LinkedIn · connection request · Day 2 Hi {{first_name}} — reaching out on the {{solicitation_number}} solicitation. Would like to connect ahead of the pre-bid.

↓ Wait 3 days · no reply

Email · Day 5 · follow-up Following up before the {{bid_due_date}} deadline on {{solicitation_number}}. Happy to send our quals and past-performance sheet — even if this one's covered, we'd like to be on your list for the next.

⏸ Any reply on either channel pauses the whole sequence — the conversation is yours.