How to compare construction tenders without missing scope gaps

Tender comparison starts by checking what each price buys. A lower total may exclude scaffold, use an earlier drawing revision or carry a smaller allowance. Once those differences are visible, the project team can ask better questions and compare the offers on a useful basis.

Preserve each submitted return

Keep the original price, revision, inclusions, exclusions and qualifications. Analyse them in a separate comparison worksheet. If you overwrite the original amount with your adjusted total, later readers cannot see what the tenderer actually offered.

Record the document register, tax basis, programme, validity and required breakdown. Where a tenderer used a different basis, show that before ranking prices.

Compare the required scope

• Match work packages and identify missing or duplicated items.
• Check who supplies, installs, protects and makes good at package interfaces.
• Compare PC sums and provisional amounts on the same scope and adjustment basis.
• Check access, preliminaries, programme and contractor-design responsibility.
• Record any requirement that remains unclear.

Silence is not confirmation of inclusion. Ask a clarification where the answer could materially change cost, responsibility or the decision.

Worked tender comparison

Hypothetical package example. Adjustments are illustrative and require evidence on a real tender.

The calculation removes one misleading price difference, but it does not settle C’s revision question. Equal adjusted totals do not establish equal scope or risk. Keep the outstanding clarification visible when making a recommendation.

The tender comparison worksheet includes these rows and a blank working copy. Preserve the quoted price and record each adjustment, its source and its reason separately.

Use a consistent clarification process

Send the same material scope question to every relevant tenderer. Record the response, date and effect on the comparison. If information changes, confirm whether revised returns are required and ensure the current basis is shared consistently.

A supportable adjustment may allow evaluation to continue. An unanswered design or contractual question may require a decision by the project team instead. Do not treat an arbitrary balancing figure as a substitute for that decision.

Record why the preferred tender is suitable

Explain the accepted scope, final comparison basis, relevant programme, outstanding qualifications and the reason for the selection. A clear recommendation can acknowledge an unresolved issue and assign the action needed before commitment.

This guide covers main-contract returns reviewed for a client or project team. A contractor comparing specialist package prices should use the subcontractor quotation guide, including main-contractor attendance and costs retained elsewhere.

FAQs

What is a tender comparison?

A review of competing offers against a common information and scope basis, preserving submitted prices and showing qualifications, adjustments and unresolved questions.

Should tenders be compared only by total price?

No. Compare scope, revisions, allowances, programme and commercial basis before deciding what the totals mean.