A client sends a drawing to three contractors and asks for prices. The returns differ by a wide margin and they choose the lowest.
The returns were not comparable. One included items the others excluded, one assumed a shorter programme and one had priced a different specification for several elements.
During construction the lowest tender generates a series of variations. The final cost exceeds the middle quotation and the client concludes that contractors are dishonest, when the tender documents were the problem.
The first decision: what are you actually asking them to price
A drawing is not a tender document. Without a specification, a preliminaries section and a defined scope, contractors price their own interpretation and the returns cannot be compared.
Decide how much definition to provide
More definition produces comparable prices and costs more to prepare. Less definition is cheaper upfront and produces a comparison exercise that is nearly worthless.
Decide who is on the list
Three to five contractors of similar capability and appetite. A list mixing a large firm and a small one produces a spread that reflects overhead rather than value.
Check whether they actually want the work
A contractor pricing to stay on a list produces a high figure that wastes everybody's time. Asking first is normal and it improves the quality of every return.
Decide the form of contract early
It affects price, risk and how variations are handled. Contractors price risk, and an unusual or unstated contract form is priced accordingly.
Decide how long they get
Too short and they price defensively. A realistic tender period produces better prices and fewer qualifications.
Insist on a common basis for exclusions
A schedule contractors complete identically, so that exclusions and assumptions are visible. This is what makes returns comparable at all.
Review the qualifications as carefully as the prices
The qualifications are where the difference between two figures usually lives, and they are routinely skimmed while the totals are compared.
Interview before deciding
Who would run the job, what their programme is and what they think the risks are. This conversation tells you more than the figure does.
Consider the likely final cost, not the tender figure
Provisional sums, likely variations and the contractor's approach to them. A modest premium for a contractor who does not chase variations is usually good value.
Check the practical things
Capacity, current workload, financial position and recent comparable work. A low price from a stretched contractor is the most expensive outcome available.
Be clear on who does what
Design responsibility, procurement, programme and who instructs variations, which is the ground in choosing a contractor and what an architect does.
Scope the support itself properly
Tender support is defined work with a defined fee, which is the ground in fee proposals and scope questions for engineering firms and the capability questions in discipline and capability questions clients ask.
Answer the process question before the drawings go out
An assistant that explains what a tender document needs to contain, why returns come back incomparable and what tender support involves reaches a client before they send a drawing to three contractors. The same discipline about answering commercial questions directly appears in how to handle discount and coupon questions with a. See pricing, run the numbers on the chatbot ROI calculator, and the sector view sits under b2b.