Tool / Bids

Put your bids side by side

Three bids rarely cover the same work. Enter what each one says and see where they differ and what is missing before you compare the totals.

Sheet: T-2
Status: AI research draft, human review pending

Draft. This worksheet runs in your browser. What you type is saved only on this device and is never sent to MNRenovate. It is not legal advice.

Bid 1

Firm name

Total price

Scope in the bid

Copy or summarize what the bid says it will do: demolition, cabinets, counters, electrical, plumbing, flooring, paint.

Does it name materials by brand, line or model?

Allowances inside the price

Placeholder amounts for items you pick later, such as tile or fixtures.

Exclusions and what you pay separately

Fees outside the price

Design, permit or engineering fees the bid charges on top.

First payment or deposit

Payment schedule

Final payment held until inspections pass?

Lien waiver with each payment?

Minnesota license number

Who applies for permits?

Bid 2

Firm name

Total price

Scope in the bid

Copy or summarize what the bid says it will do: demolition, cabinets, counters, electrical, plumbing, flooring, paint.

Does it name materials by brand, line or model?

Allowances inside the price

Placeholder amounts for items you pick later, such as tile or fixtures.

Exclusions and what you pay separately

Fees outside the price

Design, permit or engineering fees the bid charges on top.

First payment or deposit

Payment schedule

Final payment held until inspections pass?

Lien waiver with each payment?

Minnesota license number

Who applies for permits?

Bid 3

Firm name

Total price

Scope in the bid

Copy or summarize what the bid says it will do: demolition, cabinets, counters, electrical, plumbing, flooring, paint.

Does it name materials by brand, line or model?

Allowances inside the price

Placeholder amounts for items you pick later, such as tile or fixtures.

Exclusions and what you pay separately

Fees outside the price

Design, permit or engineering fees the bid charges on top.

First payment or deposit

Payment schedule

Final payment held until inspections pass?

Lien waiver with each payment?

Minnesota license number

Who applies for permits?

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Side by side

Nothing to compare yet

Enter a firm name or a price in any bid above and the comparison appears here.

What the Minnesota sources say

A written bid has required contents. Under Minn. Stat. 326B.809, proposals, estimates, bids and contracts from a licensee must be in writing with a detailed summary of the services, a description of the materials or a list of standard features, and the total price or how it is calculated. The worksheet flags a bid that lacks these.
Deposits: advice, not a cap. We read the licensing statutes (326B.802 to 326B.885) and found no percentage limit on a down payment, so the worksheet never calls a deposit illegal. The Attorney General's handbook calls a token down payment customary and advises avoiding anyone who insists on a large one. We have not searched every Minnesota chapter, so ask DLI or a lawyer if the answer matters.
License numbers. Look every number up in DLI's lookup. Residential licenses start with BC, CR or RR. DLI says IR numbers are registrations without the same insurance, bonding or recovery fund protections.
Permits. The handbook says whoever obtains the permits is responsible for code compliance. Minnetonka issues permits to homeowners only for homesteaded property, and the homeowner who signs acknowledges they will personally do all of the work (city page). To estimate the fee, use the permit cost calculator.

Provenance

How this was made

Primary sources: Minn. Stat. 326B.809, written contract requiredMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minn. Stat. 326B.84, grounds for sanctionsMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Attorney General, Home Building and Remodeling Handbook, Consumer ProtectionsMinnesota Attorney General
DLI, tips for hiring a contractorMinnesota Department of Labor and Industry
DLI, residential contractors, remodelers, roofersMinnesota Department of Labor and Industry
FTC, how to avoid a home improvement scamFederal Trade Commission
Date checked: Nov 6, 2026
Review status: AI research draft, human review pending. No named professional has reviewed this page yet.
Method: Each flag comes from a rule or a piece of official guidance on the sources above, and links to it. The checks run in your browser on what you enter. Thresholds that turn a number into a question (a deposit above 20% of the price, a bid more than 20% under the others, allowances above 25% of the price) are our prompts to ask, not legal limits.
What is still unknown: Whether a Minnesota rule outside chapter 326B limits down payments. We did not find one.
Whether a firm's license number belongs to the firm named on the bid. Only DLI's lookup can tell you.
How your city values the project and which permits it needs.
Spot a mistake?: Tell us at corrections@mnrenovate.com. Corrections are made on the page and dated.