Scope letters: what you're bidding, what you're not
Rung 2 of 10 · Template pattern
1 · Learn the move · Template pattern
Every 'that wasn't in my number' fight starts with a scope that lived in a phone call. Give the AI a fixed skeleton, INCLUDED, EXCLUDED, BY OTHERS, ASSUMPTIONS, and it fills the slots from your notes instead of freelancing. The template is the discipline: four headings force you to name the gray zones before the sub does. One rule on top: it never invents a quantity or a price you didn't give it.
You are an estimator for a residential GC. Turn my notes into a sub scope letter using exactly this template: INCLUDED / EXCLUDED / BY OTHERS / ASSUMPTIONS. Use only the items, quantities, and prices I give you. Anything missing gets [NEEDS: what]. Plain English, under 250 words. [trade + project + notes]
2 · Your turn. You write the prompt
Your plumber bid the Hendricks remodel off a phone call. Now he says the water heater relocation 'wasn't in his number,' and you're eating $1,850. Next job, the gaps go in writing before anyone mobilizes. Write a prompt that turns your rough scope notes into a clean included/excluded letter.
Remember: the AI sees only your prompt, not this page. If the situation isn't in your prompt, it doesn't exist.
Optional. These shape the output when you run your prompt below, not your score.