Everything from the estimate to the proposal, in one place.

Proposal Builder Price it. Propose it. Send it. All from Deep Space. Overview Winning work in commercial construction requires more than a competitive price. Clients want clarity: a clear scope, a transparent breakdown, explicit exclusions, and terms they can act on. Pulling that together has typically meant assembling a proposal from several sources, exporting figures from an estimating tool, writing a cover letter in Word, copying terms from a previous job, and hoping the formatting holds together when it lands in a client's inbox. The result is proposals that take too long to produce, look inconsistent across the business, and carry commercial risk from unclear exclusions or outdated terms. Deep Space removes this process entirely with a dedicated Proposal Builder, a structured, section-by-section proposal editor built directly inside the platform, connected to the project's existing data, and capable of producing a client-ready PDF in a single action. A complete proposal, built inside the project The Proposal Builder sits inside the Preconstruction module alongside the Opportunity Tracker and Incoming Tenders, making it the natural endpoint of the pre-award workflow. Creating a proposal takes a single action. The creation modal pulls the client directly from the Client Directory, auto-generates a proposal reference number, links to the active project, and pre-populates the client email. There is no re-keying of information the system already holds. Once created, the proposal is structured into named sections: Cover Page, Letter, Quoted Items, Specifications, Exclusions, Quote Summary, Terms and Conditions, and Contact Details. Each section is edited in a focused workspace on the left while a Live Preview on the right renders the proposal exactly as the client will receive it, updating in real time as content is added or changed. Cover Page The Cover Page captures project name, client name, proposal reference, date, company logo, and a project image, all rendered immediately in the preview panel. Logo and image height are adjustable via sliders, giving teams control over how the cover presents without touching any design tools. Cover Letter The Cover Letter section provides a full-length editable letter with a structured template pre-loaded, covering project understanding, approach, scope of works, programme and delivery, commercial position, and risk and clarity. Template tags such as {{clientname}} and {{companyname}} insert live data automatically.Teams can edit inline or apply a saved template, ensuring the letter reflects the builder's voice without starting from a blank page on every job. Quoted Items Quoted Items pulls trade package values directly from the project's Bill of Quantities, so the figures in the proposal are the same figures the estimator worked with. No re-entry, no copy-paste, no version mismatch between what was priced and what was sent. Where the BOQ figure needs to be adjusted for the proposal, each line item carries an Override field. A commercial decision, a rounding, a margin adjustment the client doesn't need to see broken down: the override takes precedence in the proposal without touching the underlying estimate. The BOQ value sits alongside it as a reference point. Three Pricing Display Modes control how the pricing is presented to the client. High Level shows a single total per trade package, keeping the document clean for clients who want a summary. Expandable lets the client drill into line items on request, giving transparency without leading with it. Fully Expanded always shows every line item and rate, suited to clients or procurement processes that require full cost disclosure. The live preview switches between modes immediately, so the commercial manager can see exactly what the client will see before sending. The Quote Summary calculates automatically. Subtotal, GST, and total inclusive of GST update in real time as package values are entered or overridden. There is no separate calculation step. Specifications The Specifications section allows project-specific technical requirements to be documented directly inside the proposal. General compliance clauses, National Construction Code references, site conditions, and coordination obligations are captured here, making the proposal a complete commercial record rather than just a price. Exclusions Exclusions are explicitly listed as a named section, not buried in fine print. Authority and statutory costs, base building upgrades beyond nominated tie-in points, hazardous materials removal, loose furniture, IT hardware, landlord approval fees, latent conditions, and escalation beyond the proposal validity period etc. can all be called out clearly. This reduces the most common source of post-award disputes: scope that neither party thought to clarify before the contract was signed. Quote Summary The Quote Summary calculates automatically from the Quoted Items entered. Subtotal, GST, and total inclusive of GST update in real time as trade package values change. The live preview shows the final summary figures alongside the full Exclusions list and Contact Details block beneath. Terms and Conditions Terms and Conditions can be loaded from a default template pre-built into the system, pulled from the CDE, or entered manually. The default template covers validity, scope of works, pricing and GST, payment terms including progress claims, deposit, and final payment, variations, programme, site conditions, defects liability, insurance, dispute resolution, and governing law. Teams can edit the default inline or switch to manual for full customisation per proposal. Contact Details Contact Details are connected to Company Settings, so the business name, phone, email, and address populate automatically without any manual entry. If the details need to change for a specific proposal, every field is editable directly inside the section. A reset to Company Settings option is available at any point to restore the defaults, ensuring that any proposal-level edits don't carry forward and that the business details remain consistent across every document issued. Send Proposal When the proposal is ready, the Send workflow walks through four steps: PDF Preview, Your Signature, Signed PDF, and Send. The first step shows a full in-browser PDF preview of the final document before anything is dispatched, giving the sender a last opportunity to review the formatted output exactly as the client will receive it. A Download PDF option is also available for teams that need to distribute the document outside the platform. Proposal status tracks from Draft to Sent to Viewed from the Proposal Builder dashboard. Proposal Dashboard and Overview Every proposal created in the system is tracked from the Proposal Builder dashboard. The list shows all proposals across the business with client, reference, status, and created date at a glance. Draft, Sent, Viewed, Rejected, and Expired counts sit at the top as live totals, so the preconstruction team knows exactly where every proposal stands without opening individual records. Clicking any proposal opens a structured overview panel showing the full proposal record: title, reference, client, client email, status, created and updated dates, cover page details, and a Quote Summary with subtotal, GST, and total inclusive of GST. Tabs for Agreement, Documents, Attachments, and Timeline sit alongside the Overview, making the proposal a living record rather than a document that gets filed and forgotten after it is sent. In Practice From BOQ to client inbox, one workflow, one system A commercial manager at a mid-sized fitout builder receives an invitation to quote on a $1.2M office fitout in Richmond. The project already exists in Deep Space. The estimator has completed the BOQ. The commercial manager opens the Proposal Builder, creates a new proposal linked to the project, and selects the client from the directory. The reference number is generated automatically. They move through each section: the cover letter template is already structured, so they edit the project-specific paragraphs and leave the commercial and risk language in place. Quoted Items are imported directly from the BOQ. They set the display mode to Expandable so the client can review the trade breakdown without seeing every line item. Exclusions are added: authority fees, structure beyond the tenancy boundary, and builder's work by others. Terms are loaded from the default template. Contact details pull from company settings. The live preview has been updating throughout. The commercial manager steps through the Send flow, reviews the PDF preview, signs, and dispatches. The proposal status moves to Sent. When the client opens it, the status updates to Viewed. BOQ Estimate -> New Proposal -> Section Editing -> Live Preview -> Sign + Send -> Sent · Viewed Why It Matters Proposal quality has a direct effect on win rate A proposal that clearly defines scope, explicitly lists exclusions, and presents pricing in a format the client can understand is more likely to convert and less likely to generate a dispute after award. For builders running multiple proposals across multiple projects simultaneously, the consistency problem is significant. When each proposal is assembled manually, the quality depends on who is producing it and how much time they have. The Proposal Builder standardises the structure without removing the ability to customise: every proposal reflects the same commercial rigour, regardless of who builds it. The connection to the BOQ means pricing flows through without re-entry. The connection to the Client Directory means contact information is accurate. The Terms and Conditions section means commercial protections are present in every document the business issues. How It Fits The endpoint of the preconstruction workflow The Proposal Builder sits at the end of the preconstruction workflow. The opportunity is identified in the Opportunity Tracker. The tender is managed in Incoming Tenders. The estimate is built in the Estimation module. The Proposal Builder draws on all of it: project data, client records, BOQ figures, and produces the commercial document the client receives before a contract is signed. Once the proposal is accepted, the project moves into delivery. The scopes documented in the proposal, the exclusions called out, and the terms agreed become the baseline for the contract, the budget, and the commercial management that Deep Space handles from that point forward. Deep Space Product Team