Last reviewed . If your team writes scope letters a way this guide misses, tell us and we will add it.
The short version
List the spec sections and sheets the package covers. Write inclusions as work you can point to, and exclusions that say which package got the work. Settle blocking, patching, firestopping and every other seam in both packages it touches. Flow down Division 01, ask for alternates and unit prices on their own lines, name every addendum, and send the scope with the invitation to bid.
Related: how to read Division 01 before you bid and how to catch scope gaps in sub quotes.
Writing the scope, in order
Start from the spec sections and the sheets, not last job’s scope
Open the project manual’s table of contents and pull every section this package will carry. For a drywall and framing package that is usually 09 22 16 Non-Structural Metal Framing, 09 29 00 Gypsum Board, the sound batts out of 07 21 00 Thermal Insulation, and often 09 21 16 Gypsum Board Assemblies if the specifier wrote the partitions up as assemblies. Then find the sections that touch it without belonging to it: 06 10 00 Rough Carpentry for blocking, 07 84 00 Firestopping, 07 92 00 Joint Sealants, 08 11 13 Hollow Metal Doors and Frames.
Do the same with the drawings. Partition types on the A-500s, wall sections, the reflected ceiling plans for soffits and gypsum ceilings, interior elevations for blocking locations, the life safety plans for rated walls. Write the sheet numbers down. A scope that names A-501 and A-601 can be checked; a scope that says "architectural drawings" cannot.
Last job’s scope letter is a good checklist and a bad starting point. It was written for somebody else’s spec, and the lines that do not apply here will sit in your package looking official.
Write the inclusions as work you can point to
Each inclusion should name a thing, where it is, and the standard it is built to. "All interior partitions per partition schedule A-501, types P1 through P9, full height to underside of deck where noted" is an inclusion. "Drywall per plans and specs" is a hope.
Call out the items subs price differently from each other: heights (to deck or to 6 in. above ceiling), stud gauge and spacing, deflection track at the head, layers and board types, finish level per GA-214 by room, corner bead and trims, control joints, shaft wall, and gypsum ceilings and soffits. If two subs could read a line two ways, they will, and you will get two prices for two different jobs.
Write exclusions that say where the work went
In a GC’s scope letter, an exclusion is not the sub saying no. It is you telling them which nearby work is in another package, so nobody prices it twice. Every exclusion should end with where that work lives: "Exterior cold-formed metal framing, section 05 40 00, is in the exterior wall package."
An exclusion with no destination is a gap you wrote yourself. If you cannot name the package that carries it, either it belongs in this one or you have found something nobody is pricing.
Settle every interface between trades in writing
The seams between packages are where change orders come from. For drywall and framing, the usual ones are: who furnishes and who installs blocking for casework, grab bars, toilet accessories and wall-mounted equipment; who patches the board after the MEP trades cut it; who firestops the penetrations through rated walls and who does the head-of-wall joint; who installs hollow metal frames in stud walls; who installs access panels the MEP trades furnish.
There is no single right answer to any of these. Firestopping is commonly carried by the trade that makes the penetration or by one firestop sub for the whole job, and either works. What does not work is leaving it unsaid in every package, because then it is in none of them.
Write each interface the same way in both packages it touches. If the drywall scope says blocking is furnished by the casework sub, the casework scope had better say the same thing.
Flow down the general requirements from Division 01
Division 01 puts obligations on "the Contractor", and most of them have to reach the subs or the GC ends up paying for them. Go through it for the ones that cost a sub money: daily cleanup and where debris goes, hoisting and material handling, temporary protection of finished work, submittals and mockups, field layout, closeout documents, attic stock, and warranty terms.
Name each one in the scope letter with its section number, and say plainly whether the sub carries it or the GC does. "Daily cleanup of own debris to GC-furnished dumpsters, per 01 74 00" is short and leaves nothing to argue about. Our guide to reading Division 01 walks through where these hide.
Ask for alternates, unit prices and allowances separately
List every alternate on the bid form that touches this package and ask the sub to price each one as its own add or deduct. An alternate folded into the base price cannot be accepted or rejected later without a fight over what it was worth.
Do the same for unit prices the owner asked for in 01 22 00, and say plainly whether the sub should carry any allowance from 01 21 00 or leave it to you. If an allowance covers material only, say so, so the sub prices the labor to install it.
Put it in the same order on every package
A scope letter in a fixed order is faster to write and much faster to level, because every quote comes back answering the same headings. Here is an order that works, with an example line for a drywall and framing package. The example lines are examples, not language for your job; write yours from your documents.
| Heading | What goes in it | Example line, drywall and framing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Documents | Drawing list with sheet numbers and dates, spec sections in this package, every addendum by number and date | Sheets A-101 to A-602 dated 08/15/2026; sections 09 22 16, 09 29 00, 07 21 00 (sound batts only); Addenda 01 to 03 |
| 2. Scope summary | One or two sentences on what the package is | Furnish and install interior non-structural framing, gypsum board, sound batts and finishing for all partitions, soffits and gypsum ceilings |
| 3. Inclusions | The work, by type and location, with the standard it is built to | Partition types P1 to P9 per A-501, full height to deck where noted, Level 4 finish typical, Level 5 at lobby L1 |
| 4. Exclusions | Nearby work that is in another package, and which one | Exterior cold-formed framing, section 05 40 00, is in the exterior wall package |
| 5. Interfaces | Furnish and install for every seam with another trade | Install wood blocking at locations on A-601 interior elevations; blocking furnished by this package. Penetration firestopping by the penetrating trade; head-of-wall joints at rated walls by this package |
| 6. Division 01 flow-down | Each general requirement the sub carries, with its section | Daily cleanup to GC dumpsters per 01 74 00; hoisting own material; submittals per 01 33 00 |
| 7. Alternates, unit prices, allowances | Each one priced separately, in the bid form’s numbering | Alternate 2: Level 5 finish at all corridor walls, as an add. Unit price: add or deduct per LF of type P3 partition |
| 8. Schedule and logistics | Duration, sequence, mobilizations, work hours, staging | Framing follows overhead MEP rough-in floor by floor; material staged on the floor it serves |
| 9. Clarifications | Anything left that both sides need to read the same way | Patching after other trades is by the trade that cut the board; this package patches at agreed rates on request |
| 10. Closeout | Attic stock, warranty, record documents, punch | Attic stock and warranty per the spec section; marked-up partition layout for the record set |
Read it back against the drawings before it goes out
Before the package goes to subs, take the partition schedule and walk it against your inclusions, type by type. Then take each interface and find it in the other package it touches. Then check the addenda list against the addenda actually issued.
Send the scope letter with the invitation to bid, not after the quotes come in. Subs who price against your headings hand you quotes you can level. Subs who price against their own form hand you a reading exercise the night before bid day.
"Per plans and specs" as the whole scope
It points at everything and settles nothing. Two subs will read it two ways and both will be able to defend their reading. Name the types, the sheets and the sections.
Missing interfaces
Blocking, patching, firestopping and frame installation are each one sentence. Leave them out and they land in nobody’s package, and the GC pays for them as a change order.
No addenda list
Without the addenda named in the scope, a sub can price an earlier set and still say they priced "the documents". List every addendum by number and ask for it to be acknowledged on the quote.
Sheets without dates or revisions
A-501 has probably been issued more than once. Name the date or revision you mean, or you will level a quote against a drawing the sub never saw.
Exclusions with no destination
Every "by others" should say which others. If you cannot name the package, the work is unpriced.
Copying the last job’s letter
Lines that applied on the last project, like a shaft wall system or a finish level, travel into a job where they mean nothing, and lines this job needs are not there to copy.
Sending the scope after the quotes
Quotes that came in against the sub’s own form have to be translated before they can be compared. Send the scope with the invitation so every quote answers the same headings.
Questions people ask
Is "per plans and specs" enough in a subcontractor scope?
It is fine as a catch-all at the end, and not enough on its own. It binds the sub to the documents in general, but it does not settle interfaces between trades, which addenda were priced, or which package carries work that two sections both mention. Those are the things that turn into disputes, so write them out.
Should a scope of work list quantities?
Usually not as a commitment. Quantities belong in your own takeoff, and a sub should price from the documents rather than from your numbers. Naming the types, areas and sheets is enough to make the scope clear. If you do share quantities to help subs price, say they are for reference only.
Who should provide blocking in metal stud walls?
Either the framing sub or the trade whose item hangs on it, as long as both scopes say the same thing. A common split is that the framing sub installs blocking at locations shown on the interior elevations, and the accessory, casework or equipment trade furnishes layout for anything not shown. Decide it per job and write it in both packages.
Does the scope of work become part of the subcontract?
Normally yes, as an exhibit to the subcontract agreement, which is why it is worth writing carefully at bid time. Check how your own subcontract form attaches it and which document governs if the scope and the agreement disagree.
What is the difference between a scope of work and a bid form?
The scope says what work the sub is pricing. The bid form says how you want the price back: base bid, each alternate, unit prices, and any breakouts you need for your own estimate. Send both together so the price you get back is split the way you need to carry it.
Caliente Vision
Caliente Vision checks the scope against the documents
Caliente Vision reads the spec sections, the drawings, the addenda and the sub quotes your team already has, and flags the seams between trades that no package carries, with the section and sheet behind each one. When quotes come back, it checks them against the scope you sent and drafts the follow-up to the sub. Your estimator approves it before anything is sent. Caliente Vision finds, connects and checks. Estimators decide.
Why we built it: Introducing Caliente Vision.