ChatGPT for General Contractors: 10 Prompts for Bids, Subs and Updates

The best ChatGPT prompts for a general contractor turn pasted facts into drafts: screening a bid invitation, writing a trade scope sheet, levelling sub quotes, chasing missing paperwork, two-week look-aheads, daily reports and weekly client updates. None asks ChatGPT to price or schedule. Each needs one check before sending, and confidential contract data stays off free personal plans.

A general contractor's week is mostly paperwork between other people's work: sub quotes, scope sheets, look-aheads, client emails. That is where ChatGPT saves hours, because the inputs are text and the outputs are text. It is poor at pricing, at schedule logic and at anything that depends on a drawing it cannot read, so none of the ten prompts asks for those.

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The examples use four invented jobs: a café fit-out, a dog groomer's unit conversion, a driving school's office extension and a photography studio conversion. Every figure and name is illustrative. Each prompt lists the input to paste, shows an abbreviated output, then gives the check that decides whether it can go out.

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If your contracts carry confidentiality terms, settle the plan and the data rules in the next section before anyone pastes a sub's quote.

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Before the prompts: plan, data and the facts-only rule

All ten prompts share one rule: use only the text pasted in, and write UNKNOWN or [CHECK: what is missing] wherever the input is silent. That rule is what turns a fluent guesser into a drafting assistant. Put it in standing instructions inside a ChatGPT Project, which OpenAI's help page describes as keeping related chats, files and instructions together, with the instructions set under Project settings.

You assist the office of a small general contractor. You draft, tabulate and organise; you do not price, schedule or decide.
1. Use only the text I paste. If something is missing, write [CHECK: what is missing]. Never invent dates, amounts, names or references.
2. Copy every date, amount and reference exactly as I give it. Do not round, convert or recalculate.
3. Never state what a contract, code or law requires.
4. Never include one subcontractor's prices or terms in anything addressed to another.
5. Plain, direct British English. Short paragraphs. No sales language.

On confidential contract data, the plan matters. OpenAI's Data controls page puts the default plainly: on personal plans the Improve the model for everyone setting starts on, so chats may be used to improve its models. Turning it off (Settings, then Data controls) keeps your history intact. Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces are not used for training by default. ChatGPT Business is $25 per user a month billed monthly or $20 billed annually, with a minimum of two seats. Temporary Chat leaves a conversation out of history and training, though a copy may be retained for up to 30 days for safety. One trap: OpenAI says feedback given with the thumbs buttons may send the whole conversation for training, opt-out or not.

Whatever the plan, three things stay out of the chat. Sub prices belong to the sub who gave them, so never paste one sub's figures into a message addressed to another. Owner, tenant and address details come out and "the project" goes in. And anything under a confidentiality agreement stays out unless the agreement allows it, which is a question for the client or your adviser.

Four prompts for bids and tenders

Prompt 1: Screen an invitation to bid in five minutes

The cheapest bid is the one you decide not to price. This prompt turns an invitation into a table of what it says, how it fits your capacity and what to ask before deciding. It does not recommend bidding or not; it finds the questions that would change your answer. Bid invitations and follow-up with AI covers the surrounding routine.

Below is an invitation to bid, then my capacity. Output a table: Criterion | What the invitation says (quote it) | Fit (Good, Poor or Unknown) | Question to ask before deciding. Cover size and type, programme, bid window, qualifications, information supplied, payment terms and anything unusual. Do not recommend bidding or not.
INVITATION: [paste text]
MY CAPACITY: [e.g. two crews free from week 3; target margin 12%; no bonding line]

For a café fit-out in a 180 m2 shell unit, with a bid due in twelve days and completion required in ten weeks, the useful rows come back like this (illustrative):

Check: every quote in the second column must exist in the text you pasted, and the Fit column rests on the capacity line you wrote. The decision stays yours. Three "Unknown" rows aren't a reason to walk away; they are the questions to send this afternoon.

Where a first draft slips: it often marks a row Good when the invitation is silent, because silence reads as "no problem". Move any row you cannot back with a quoted sentence to Unknown, and the table starts telling you what you do not yet know.

Prompt 2: Build a scope sheet for one trade package

A scope sheet tells a sub what is in their package, what isn't and what belongs to someone else. Writing it from drawing notes is slow and the wording matters. Paste your notes for one package and ask for the four-part sheet.

Turn my notes into a scope sheet for the drywall and ceilings package. Four headings: Included; Excluded; By others; Questions. Use my wording where possible. If my notes do not say who owns an item, put it under Questions, not under Excluded.
NOTES: [e.g. new partition, 14 m long, 3 m high, double-boarded; acoustic insulation in studio walls; suspended ceiling in reception only; bulkhead for ducts; access hatches; painting by decorator]

The output for the photography studio conversion (illustrative, shortened):

• Included: partition, 14 m long and 3 m high, double-boarded; acoustic insulation in studio walls; suspended ceiling in reception only; bulkhead framing for ducts; access hatches.
• Excluded: none stated in my notes.
• By others: painting (decorator).
• Questions: Is an acoustic performance specified for the studio walls? Who supplies and fixes the duct inside the bulkhead? Who owns fire stopping at penetrations?

Check: run the "one owner" test across all your scope sheets. Paste every package sheet into one chat and ask ChatGPT to list each item that appears on more than one sheet or on none. Each overlap or orphan is either a double price or a hole, and finding it before award is cheap. A person confirms each finding against the drawings.

A realistic slip in the first draft: "acoustic insulation to the specified rating". Your notes named no rating, so "specified" is invented. Delete the phrase and let the question about the rating stand.

Prompt 3: Level three subcontractor quotes into one table

Bid levelling means making competing quotes comparable by adding back what each leaves out. The lowest quote is often the one that excludes the most, and a table makes that visible. What AI catches and misses when levelling bids goes deeper on the limits. For the prompt, paste the scope lines and totals of each quote, with sub names replaced by A, B and C.

Below are three subcontractor quotes for the same package, labelled A, B and C. Build a table: Scope item | A | B | C, with each cell showing Included, Excluded or Unclear. Then list questions for each sub on every Excluded or Unclear item. Do not add up totals, adjust prices or recommend a sub.
QUOTES: [paste scope lines and totals]

On the café electrical package, the table shows that B is the lowest because B excludes lighting controls and fire alarm devices, while C includes temporary power that the specification gives to the main contractor. The sums happen outside ChatGPT, in a spreadsheet, with your own estimates for the gaps (illustrative):

The cheapest quote becomes the most expensive, and A wins by $1,000. Check: verify each Included, Excluded or Unclear cell against the quote's own text, compute the totals in a sheet, and never let any figure from one sub reach another sub.

One more place to look: a sub who wrote "controls as per drawings" tends to get marked Included. That phrase is exactly the ambiguity a conflicted set of documents leaves open, so it belongs under Unclear. Reread every Included cell that rests on "as shown", "as per drawings" or "as specified".

Prompt 4: Write the "basis of our price" page for the owner

Owners misread bids because exclusions hide in appendices. A one-page plain-English summary of what the price includes, what it does not and what you assumed prevents disputes. Construction tender writing with AI covers longer tender narratives; this prompt is the short page that sits in front of the numbers.

Write a one-page "basis of our price" for the owner, in plain English, under 250 words, with four headings: What the price includes; What it does not include; What we have assumed; What could change the price. Use only my figures and wording. Explain any allowance in one sentence: what it is and what happens if the real cost differs.
MY SUMMARY: [price, allowances, exclusions, programme and access assumptions, decisions needed from the owner]

For a driving school's office extension, with a price of $212,000, allowances of $9,000 for flooring, $4,500 for external lighting and $6,000 for signage, a 14-week programme from permit and decisions needed from the owner by week 3, the output reads (illustrative, condensed):

What the price includes: The extension as drawn, finished to the specification, for $212,000. It includes allowances of $9,000 for flooring, $4,500 for external lighting and $6,000 for signage. What it does not include: Furniture, IT equipment and data cabling. What we have assumed: A 14-week programme from the date the permit is granted, site access on weekdays from 7.30 to 5.00, and ground conditions as shown in the trial pit report. What could change the price: If the real cost of an allowance item differs, we credit or charge the difference at cost. Choices on wall finishes and flooring are needed by week 3 to hold the programme.

Check: every figure comes from your summary, the exclusions match the contract documents, and the allowance sentence describes how your contract treats the difference. If the contract says something else, the contract wins and the sentence changes.

Numbers lose their precision in first drafts. "$212,000" becomes "about $210,000", and an allowance quietly turns into a fixed cost. Both change what the price means, so compare every figure in the output with the summary you pasted.

Three prompts for managing subcontractors

Prompt 5: One scope question per line, with a reply format

Subs answer short numbered questions and ignore long paragraphs. After levelling, send each sub only the questions about their own quote, in a shape that is easy to answer.

Write an email to a subcontractor with numbered scope questions, one per line, each answerable in a few words. Ask them to reply with the number and their answer. State the date I need replies by. Mention no other bidder, no prices from anyone else and no target price.
QUESTIONS: [paste the list for this sub]
REPLY BY: [date]

The email to B from the café levelling reads (illustrative):

Hi [first name], thanks for your electrical quote. Before we finalise, could you reply with the number and your answer for each point by [CHECK: date]? 1. Your quote excludes lighting controls: is that all controls, or only the networked part? 2. Fire alarm devices are shown as excluded: does that include supply, installation or both? 3. How long does your price remain valid? Thanks, [your name]

Check: the email contains no hint of other bidders' numbers, and nothing like "we need to be nearer $X", which is negotiation and belongs in a phone call. The reply date is checked against your award date.

Tone is the other thing to watch. A draft that adds "we would appreciate a more competitive position" has slid into negotiation. Strip it back to the questions.

Prompt 6: Chase missing paperwork with exactly what is missing

Paperwork chasing fails when the message is vague. One message per sub, listing exactly what is missing and the date it is needed, gets results. AI for building contractors: chasing subcontractors and progress updates goes into the wider habit.

Write one short email per subcontractor in the table below. Each email lists exactly the documents missing for that sub, the date I need them by, and one sentence on why we need them before start. Polite and firm. Do not threaten anything. Do not state what the subcontract allows.
TABLE: Sub | Missing documents | Needed by | Start date

For a sub whose insurance certificate has expired and who hasn't returned the signed subcontract, the output reads (illustrative):

Hi [first name], to keep your start on [CHECK: start date], we still need two things from you by [CHECK: needed-by date]: a current insurance certificate (the one on file has expired) and the signed subcontract. Could you send both or tell me what's holding them up? We need them in place before anyone starts on site. Thanks, [your name]

Check: the sentence "we need them in place before anyone starts" is accurate only if your subcontract and site rules say so. Read the clause, or ask your adviser, before you send anything that sounds like a condition. Dates come from your programme.

Look at the verbs. "Unfortunately we cannot allow you on site" is firmer than the facts you gave. Swap it for the plain request, and let the subcontract, not the draft, decide what happens if the documents do not arrive.

Prompt 7: A two-week look-ahead for each trade from the schedule

Subs need to know what is expected on which day. Paste the next two weeks of schedule lines for one trade, and ask for a notice they can act on. The dates have to be yours, because ChatGPT doesn't do schedule logic, so the prompt tells it to copy and not to calculate.

From the schedule lines below, write a two-week look-ahead notice for the electrical subcontractor. Sections: Week 1 tasks with dates; Week 2 tasks with dates; Access and dependencies (from the predecessor column); What I need them to confirm. Copy every date exactly. If a date is missing, write [CHECK: date]. Do not add tasks.
SCHEDULE LINES: Task | Start | Finish | Predecessor

For electrical first fix in the dog groomer's unit conversion, the notice comes back like this (illustrative, shortened):

Week 1 (Mon 10th to Fri 14th): first fix in reception and the grooming room, Monday 10th to Thursday 13th; first fix in the drying room, Friday 14th. Week 2 (Mon 17th to Fri 21st): first fix in the wash bay, Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th; containment above the bulkhead, Thursday 20th to Friday 21st. Access and dependencies: first fix starts only where the partitions are boarded on one side; the wash bay follows the plumber's drainage, due to finish [CHECK: date]. Please confirm: crew numbers for week 1 by Wednesday this week.

Check: compare the dates with the schedule line by line; any date that moved is a defect in the prompt, not in the schedule. The dependency note should come from the predecessor column, not from ChatGPT's idea of how a conversion usually runs. The [CHECK] tag is the prompt doing its job: the drainage line had no finish date, so the draft asked instead of guessing.

Another slip: when the schedule starts mid-week, a draft may label the first three days "Week 1" and push everything after them back a week. Asking for the date on every line catches it.

Three prompts for site records and client updates

Prompt 8: Turn dictated site notes into the daily report

Site managers who dictate notes into a phone produce rambling text. A structured daily report is what the file needs. The input is the transcript, and the prompt bans invention.

Turn the dictated notes below into a daily report with headings: Weather; Workforce on site (by trade and number); Work completed; Deliveries; Issues and delays; Safety; Photos taken; Tomorrow. Use only what the notes say. If a heading has no information, write "Not stated". Copy numbers exactly.
NOTES: [paste transcript]

A transcript like "rained till ten, four electricians, two on the boarding, tiles arrived but the wrong grout, need to chase, tomorrow the plumber starts first fix" produces a report with "Weather: rain until about 10:00", "Workforce: electricians 4; boarders 2", "Deliveries: tiles arrived; grout not as ordered", and "Safety: Not stated". Check: the "Not stated" lines are the point, because they show what you forgot to dictate. Safety entries and incident details never come from a draft: type them yourself from your own record. If you want actions chased from meetings, construction meeting minutes with AI applies the same approach to minutes.

A transcript that says "a couple of lads" tends to come back as "Labourers: 2". The report is a record, so keep "a couple" or write [CHECK: number] and ask the foreman.

Prompt 9: The weekly client update from the diary and schedule

Clients want the same four things every week: what happened, what's next, what you need from them and whether anything has changed on cost or time. The prompt makes the structure fixed and the content yours.

Write a weekly client update under 160 words from the facts below. Four short paragraphs: Done this week; Next two weeks; Decisions I need from you (with dates); Changes to cost or time. Mark any change that is not yet agreed as "pending your approval". Calm, factual, no reassurance language.
FACTS: [diary entries, schedule status, pending decisions, pending variations]

For the dog groomer's unit, with partitions up, the drainage trench complete, a wash-bay tile decision due on Friday and a $640 variation for an extra drain point not yet approved, the update reads (illustrative):

Hi [first name], this week the partitions went up and the drainage trench was completed. Over the next two weeks we start plumbing first fix for the bath and lay the flooring in the reception area. We need your decision on the wash-bay tile by Friday so the order can go in. One change is pending your approval: an extra drain point for the second bath, $640. We'll hold that work until you confirm. Nothing else has moved on cost or time. [your name]

Check: the word "pending" must survive, because a draft that quietly writes "we've added" turns a proposal into a done deal. Dates and amounts are checked against the diary and the variation record. General contractor AI: turn site messages into change orders covers how the variation itself gets written up.

Cut the phrase "we are on track" unless the schedule says so. Reassurance is the first thing a draft adds when the facts are thin.

Prompt 10: A decision reminder that explains the consequence

Clients delay decisions because the cost of delay is invisible to them. The reminder works when it names the decision, the date and exactly what slips if it is late, with no threat in the tone.

Write a short email (under 100 words) asking the client to make one decision by a date. Name the decision, the date, and what happens to the programme if it is later, using only the facts below. Offer a call. No pressure language, no mention of cost unless I give a figure.
FACTS: Decision; Needed by; Supplier lead time (from written quote); Programme effect if late

For the photography studio, where the floor finish must be chosen by the 14th or the floor slips ten days because the supplier quotes six weeks, the email reads (illustrative):

Hi [first name], we need your choice of floor finish for the studio by the 14th. The supplier's lead time is six weeks from order, so a decision after the 14th moves the floor, and the work that follows it, back by about ten days. If it would help to look at the samples together, I can call you any day this week. [your name]

Check: the lead time comes from the supplier's written quote, and the programme effect from your schedule, not from ChatGPT. If your contract attaches a cost to client delay, don't mention it in this email unless your adviser has agreed the wording.

Delete any sentence that starts "we must insist". It turns a reminder into a dispute, and the facts already carry the weight.

How the prompts chain into each other

The ten are more useful as a chain than as separate tools, because the output of one is the input of the next. The levelling table (3) produces the list of gaps that prompt 5 turns into questions, and the answers come back into prompt 3 to re-level before award. The levelled totals and your own estimate feed the basis-of-price page (4). The look-ahead (7) and the daily report (8) feed the weekly update (9), which feeds the decision reminder (10) when a choice is overdue.

Keep each output as a file in the Project rather than only in a chat, so the next prompt can start from the saved version. A chain also gives you a second chance to catch errors: a wrong date in the look-ahead that slips past the first check often shows up when the weekly update repeats it and you compare the two.

Five questions to ask of every output before it leaves the office

The ten checks above come down to five habits. Put them on a card beside the screen and apply them to every draft:

• Numbers: does every amount and quantity match your source document, character for character?
• Dates: does every date come from your schedule, diary or written quote, and does every [CHECK] tag have an answer?
• Promises: does the draft commit you to anything you haven't decided (a start day, a price, a fix, a credit)?
• Confidentiality: is any other party's price, name or private detail in this message?
• Owner: has the person who is responsible for the decision, not the person who ran the prompt, read it?

Which prompts to start with, and a first-month plan

Start with high-frequency, low-risk prompts, and add the high-stakes ones once the checks are habit. The daily report (prompt 8), the weekly client update (9) and the sub scope questions (5) happen constantly and rarely cause damage if a check is skipped once. Bid levelling (3) and the basis-of-price page (4) pay the most per use but carry money risk, so they come later.

The time case, with illustrative figures: a firm running four jobs at once might save about six minutes on each of 80 daily reports a month (eight hours), fifteen minutes on each of 16 weekly updates (four hours) and ten minutes on each of eight scope email batches (about an hour and twenty minutes). That is around thirteen hours a month for three prompts, before any bid work. Time yourself on five real uses of each prompt and replace my numbers with yours, because your reports and updates may be longer or shorter than the ones I've assumed.

If you'd rather fit the prompts to your own contracts and software with someone, that is what my AI implementation consultation covers.

Questions general contractors ask before using these prompts

Is it safe to paste a subcontractor's quote into ChatGPT?

A subcontractor's pricing is confidential to them and to you, so check your tender terms and subcontract first. Remove names, paste only the scope lines and totals you need, and use a plan where training is off: the setting under Data controls on personal plans, or a Business workspace. Never paste one sub's figures into a chat or email addressed to another.

How do I keep the ten prompts consistent across project managers?

Keep them in one shared place: a shared ChatGPT project on a Business workspace, or a document everyone copies from. Store the standing rules and one good example for each prompt, change them in one place, and review them monthly against the mistakes your checks caught. Prompts that drift between people produce outputs you cannot compare.

Can ChatGPT replace my project management software?

No. Apart from apps (formerly connectors) you choose to link, it sees only what you paste or store in a project, and it is not a system of record for schedules, cost reports or RFI logs. Treat your project software as the record and ChatGPT as a drafting assistant that works on exports from it.

What should I do when the output contradicts my schedule?

Trust the schedule and fix the prompt. It usually means a date was missing from the input, so ChatGPT invented one, or two dates were ambiguous. Paste the schedule lines with start and finish dates, tell it to copy dates exactly, and add a rule to write [CHECK: date] wherever the input is silent.

Further reads

• How Can AI Help General Contractors? Ten Jobs, Ranked by Effort — See ten office jobs ranked by effort before choosing your first.
• How to Use AI as a General Contractor: Four Weeks, Four Jobs — A four-week plan that introduces one job at a time.
• Best AI App for General Contractors: Site and Office Tools Compared — Site and office apps compared, for when chat is not enough.
• Which AI Tools Should a General Contractor Buy? What to Skip — Which AI tools a general contractor should buy, and which to skip.
• Subcontractor Prequalification Questionnaire: Build and Score It With AI — Build and score a prequalification questionnaire for new subs.
• AI in Contracting: Subcontractor Paperwork Chasing Checklist — A checklist for chasing subcontractor paperwork.
• ChatGPT for Electrical Contractors: Bid Clarifications and RFIs — The subcontractor's side of bid clarifications and RFIs.
• AI Assistant for Contractors: ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on Real Jobs — One bathroom refit, three jobs: quote lines, a scope of works and a tricky client email, run the same way through ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
• ChatGPT for Builders: Ten Prompts for Quotes, Chasers and Client Emails — Ten copy-and-paste ChatGPT prompts for domestic builders, from scope notes to overdue chasers and handover emails, with sample replies and what to fix.
• ChatGPT for Construction Estimating: Check a Quote, Do Not Write It — A worked check of a small extension quote: arithmetic, scope gaps and omissions found with ChatGPT, every change left to the estimator.
• ChatGPT for Contractors: Five Customer Messages to Draft and Check — Quote follow-ups, delay notices, snag replies, payment chasers and review requests: the prompt and the send-check for each.
• Subcontractor Management: Track Insurance Expiry and Onboarding With AI — A document pack checklist, an expiry tracker with working formulas and four reminder emails, with AI reading certificates and a person approving them.
• Can ChatGPT Draft a Subcontractor Agreement? Clauses to Check — Drafting prompts for a subcontractor agreement in ChatGPT, plus the six clauses a solicitor must check before you rely on it.
• AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.

Sources: OpenAI help pages (Data controls in ChatGPT; Projects in ChatGPT; ChatGPT Business overview) and ChatGPT pricing pages, read on 1 November 2026. All jobs, quotes and figures in the examples are invented.