Procurement & Tendering

Your tendering run properly on both sides, from the enquiry built to come back comparable to the winner chosen on a real price.

= the real cheapest price found before the order is placed, not discovered as variations after it. The enquiry makes the returns comparable, the levelling makes them true, and the recommendation stands on the file.

Hover or tap any station for what I do there and the trouble it keeps from forming. The theme covers both sides of the tender: building and levelling the enquiry when you are buying, and checking the priced tender before it goes in when you are bidding.

The tender moment on both sides: the enquiry out, the returns back, and the levelling that finds the real price.

Problems

Find the one that reads like your problem. Each page explains what is actually happening and the way out of it.

We win work at prices that lose money

The tender went in under pressure and nobody had time to price it properly.

I have this problem

Our enquiries go out inconsistent

Every ITT is assembled from the last one, and the gaps get priced against us.

I have this problem

The returned tenders can't be compared

Three prices, three different exclusions, no like-for-like.

I have this problem

We're about to submit and nobody has checked the price

The rates cover the work, but maybe not the downtime, the prelims, the waste or the risk, and we find out which after we've won it.

I have this problem

The tenders came back and we can't line them up

Different exclusions, different assumptions, and no way to compare like for like without rebuilding all three.

I have this problem

A price came back as one number with no build-up

Nobody can see what has been missed, so the trade who priced it blind either comes back for more money or cuts corners to make it work.

I have this problem

We ask for prices without telling anyone enough to price

No specification, no access detail, no working hours, no date - so what comes back is either a guess or padded to cover what we didn't say.

I have this problem

One tender came back well above the others and we discounted it

Sometimes that gap is greed. More often it is the one firm that knows something about this job the rest don't.

I have this problem

Packages get bought when they become urgent

No procurement schedule, so everything is a spot price and every early-order saving has already gone.

I have this problem

We're pricing work in conditions we don't know

A different region, a different season, a site nobody has walked - and the risk that gets missed is the one local firms price for as a matter of course.

I have this problem

The budget carries provisional sums nobody has defined

A rounded allowance from an area rate is not a price, and treating it as one guarantees the number moves.

I have this problem

We keep re-appointing the ones who let us down

There is no record of how anyone performed last time, so the next package goes to the same list and buys the same problems.

I have this problem

The subcontract order says nothing useful

Scope, programme, payment terms and attachments all assumed rather than stated.

I have this problem

Services

Buying: tendering work out

Procurement Strategy & Buying Schedule

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Main Contractors & Clients10 working days

I divide the works into packages, write each boundary so nothing falls between them, map each package to its allowance and set the date it must be let for the trade to reach site on programme.

See how it works

Buying: tendering work out

ITT Pack Assembly & Pricing Schedules

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Main Contractors10 working days

I assemble the invitation-to-tender pack for a subcontract package so the tenders come back comparable, with a pricing schedule structured to be levelled line by line and the terms included so nobody prices blind.

See how it works

Buying: tendering work out

Tender & Quote Review

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Main Contractors & Clients10 working days

I level the tenders you have received and make a written award recommendation, normalising the qualifications, checking the arithmetic and exposing the scope gaps.

See how it works

Buying: tendering work out

Post-Tender Negotiation & Award

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors, Main Contractors & Clients10 working days

I build the negotiating position, set the target and walk-away point against your stated limits, take the items in order, record every movement and confirm what is agreed in writing the same day.

See how it works

Buying: tendering work out

Materials & Supplier Buying

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Main Contractors & Clients5 working days per supply package

I define the goods to be bought, build the delivery and call-off pattern from the construction programme, compare quotes on one basis and recommend the supplier with the order terms the buy requires.

See how it works

Bidding: tendering for work

Prequalification & Framework Applications

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors5 working days

I build a question register, test your evidence and thresholds against the application, select experience against the criteria, draft commercial answers to the weighting and file the submission before the deadline.

See how it works

Bidding: tendering for work

Bid Risk & ITT Review

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors10 working days

I read everything the bid is bound by, identify departures from your normal position, split the risks into what must be priced, qualified or cannot be carried at any price, and make a bid or no-bid recommendation.

See how it works

Bidding: tendering for work

Estimating & Tender Pricing

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors10 working days

I price your tender from first principles: net cost built from your real costs, preliminaries and terms priced for what they will actually cost, and margin applied only on your written instruction.

See how it works

Bidding: tendering for work

Tender Pricing Review

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors10 working days

I review your priced tender before it goes in: build-ups, preliminaries, qualifications, exclusions and risk items checked line by line against the enquiry documents, so the number you submit is one you can stand behind.

See how it works

Bidding: tendering for work

Post-Tender Negotiation & Award

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors, Main Contractors & Clients10 working days

I build the negotiating position, set the target and walk-away point against your stated limits, take the items in order, record every movement and confirm what is agreed in writing the same day.

See how it works

Either side

Measurement & Bills of Quantities

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors10 working days per package

I take off quantities from your drawings and build the bill or pricing document your estimator prices, with every quantity traceable to a drawing and every assumption stated.

See how it works

Products

Tender Pricing & Levelling

For Main Contractors & Clients

Two sheets for one job: a pricing schedule issued with the enquiry so every tenderer prices the same items in the same shape, and a levelling sheet that normalises the returns to the same scope before anything is compared.

See the template

Tips

Assembling enquiries that come back comparable

Tenders that cannot be compared were lost at the enquiry, not the analysis.

Structure the pricing schedule before you send it

Read the tip

Assembling enquiries that come back comparable

Tenders that cannot be compared were lost at the enquiry, not the analysis.

State the attendances, do not leave them to be assumed

Read the tip

Assembling enquiries that come back comparable

Tenders that cannot be compared were lost at the enquiry, not the analysis.

Put the contract terms in the pack

Read the tip

Assembling enquiries that come back comparable

Tenders that cannot be compared were lost at the enquiry, not the analysis.

Write the scope to close the assumption gaps

Read the tip

Levelling and choosing between tenders

The lowest tender and the cheapest job are rarely the same number.

Read the qualifications before the totals

Read the tip

Levelling and choosing between tenders

The lowest tender and the cheapest job are rarely the same number.

Price the exclusions back in before you compare

Read the tip

Levelling and choosing between tenders

The lowest tender and the cheapest job are rarely the same number.

Check the arithmetic, because their error becomes your problem

Read the tip

Levelling and choosing between tenders

The lowest tender and the cheapest job are rarely the same number.

Turn the thin spots into questions before you commit

Read the tip

Frequently asked questions

Building and levelling enquiries

What should an invitation to tender pack contain?

Enough for every tenderer to price the same job on the same basis: a clear scope, a pricing schedule structured to be levelled, stated preliminaries and attendances, the programme, and the contract terms.

Read the answer

Building and levelling enquiries

How should I structure a pricing schedule for tenders?

Break the works into the lines you will want to level against, keep preliminaries and attendances as their own lines, and require rates as well as totals so an error or an omission shows.

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Building and levelling enquiries

How do I level tenders that are not like for like?

Read the qualifications before the totals, add every exclusion back at a fair value so each tender covers the same scope, check the arithmetic, and only then compare the adjusted numbers.

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Building and levelling enquiries

How many subcontractors should I invite to tender?

Enough for genuine competition but few enough that each takes it seriously, usually three or four capable tenderers who have confirmed they will actually price it.

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Building and levelling enquiries

Can someone check our tender price before we submit it?

Yes, and the useful check is less about the total than about what the total silently owns: whether everything the enquiry asks for is priced or deliberately excluded, whether the build-ups and preliminaries hold together, and whether the qualifications actually protect the price. The quantities stay yours throughout; a review of this kind tests the pricing you have built rather than measuring the job again.

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