Industrial bid packages for scrap, condensed to one terms sheet for the person pricing your bid.

A scrap request seldom puts its terms in one place. Grades and estimated quantities sit on the price form, the formula in the scope, container and pickup rules a few pages later, scale and ticket rules near the back, and insurance and safety in the general conditions, with addenda changing any of them. Your bid desk reads all of it, writes a summary, sends questions before the cutoff, and only then prices the work.

For the test, AI reads copies of each package and drafts the terms sheet: every grade or item with its quantity and unit, the price basis and the index it names, containers, pickup frequency and on-call times, weighing, payment timing, insurance and safety conditions, each with the page it came from, plus a list of anything missing or contradictory. It writes no price and submits nothing. Your reviewer compares each sheet with the package and with the notes your team kept while pricing it.

The price is a formula with its own units and rounding. Loudoun County, Virginia's invitation for bid on scrap metal collection, issued January 13, 2025, paid the county a fixed reimbursement percentage of American Metal Market's No. 2 bundles price for Philadelphia, a series now published by Fastmarkets, times 0.8928 to turn gross tons into short tons, times the month's net tons. Each step ran to five decimal places and was rounded to four, the percentage was written as a decimal to four places, and the highest percentage was to win. The scope priced a month from the first business day of the month before service; the bid form said only the first business day of the month. The sheet shows both readings as a question for your pricer, one that county wanted in writing at least ten working days before bid opening.

The index keeps its own calendar. Fastmarkets' North America ferrous scrap methodology, dated March 2025, says many U.S. buyers and sellers trade on negotiated monthly contracts that usually settle in the first ten days and hold for the calendar month. Consumer buying prices appear monthly per gross ton, typically before the 10th; a thin month can bring a preliminary figure marked (p), and some grades and cities are priced at standard discounts from others. Figures can change after release: in September 2022 its Philadelphia No. 2 bundles price was corrected three days after publication, after an input error. The sheet copies the index's name, market, unit and date as the request words them, and notes whether the request says which figure counts if one is preliminary or corrected.

Lines are separate bids. Owensboro Municipal Utilities in Kentucky opened bids on January 15, 2026 for nine scrap items listed by the pound, from covered and bare copper conductor to junk electric and water meters and cobra head street lights. It wanted a price per item, no lump sums, let bidders skip items, sold everything as is and where is, and held the winner to buying any added quantity at the price bid. Washington's statewide scrap metal contract, IFB 00515, asked for a percentage by service area and metal type, insulated aluminum conductor (ACSR) and red brass among them, extra points for scrap a customer drops at the contractor's yard, and a minimum pickup weight for single-use, construction-site and will-call service. The sheet keeps every line apart with its quantity, unit and pickup terms.

Containers, scales, payment, insurance and safety are terms too. Loudoun wanted at least five open-top 40-yard roll-offs that fit the county's cable hoist trucks, one loaded box out and one empty in each Tuesday-to-Friday service day, and on-call pickups within two business days. Loads crossed scales certified by Virginia's agriculture department, tickets showed net tons of 2,000 pounds, the driver signed each one, and ownership passed at weigh-out. Payment was net 30 by check, no later than the fifth of the next month, with the contractor emailing the index page used. Insurers needed a Best's rating of at least A:VII, the county had to be additional insured on a primary basis, claims-made cover needed two more years of certificates after final payment or an extended reporting endorsement, and the work had to follow OSHA.

What your reviewer will check. Did the sheet catch every line and unit, the exact index and its date, each container and service rule, the scale and ticket terms, the payment clock, and every insurance and safety condition, each with its page? ReMA's Guidelines for Metals Transactions ask for payment spelled out, such as net 30 days after shipment rather than a bare net 30, along with the documents payment depends on, such as a weight certificate, so the sheet marks any request that leaves either unstated. Whether to bid, the price and any exceptions stay with your team.

Once your reviewer approves, new bid packages get the same terms sheet for roughly 30 days.

Your pricer reads every sheet before a number is written, and every bid still leaves your office the way it does now.

Live packages keep being compared. Another job would be your decision, priced separately.