If you call late, you are one of five quotes. If you call early enough, you help write the assumptions that become spec.
Weeks 0–2 after issuance: GC is staffing subs. Security is not locked. This is the window.
Weeks 3–6: major trades get named. If you have not talked to someone with authority, you are chasing someone else’s plan.
Weeks 7–12: rough-in decisions stack up. You can still win, but you are fighting installed reality and someone else’s schedule.
After award: you are either the incumbent vendor or you are hoping for change orders.
The constraint is not motivation—it is visibility. If you only hear about jobs when they are posted, you are structurally late.