As a sub-contractor, tendering can be tough and it is not always straight forward to get it right. Imagine you’ve been recently issued a tender for a project that is ideal, but the scope of works and design are not clear. You’ll want to ensure your tender is competitive, but you don’t want to be contractually exposed, or worse….make a loss. You’re then caught in a dilemma and a few options come to mind:

1. You could price exactly what has been asked for. You know that the price does not reflect the required end product and expect variations to occur. There is little doubt arguments will occur when the client realises the real cost.
2. Perhaps you should price for everything that you believe is needed. In this case, you certainly take the moral high ground. The problem is your competitors will probably only price for what the client has specifically asked for. This makes your price too expensive and you might not win the project.
3. Or maybe you should price what you think the client means from the tender documents. You could then qualify the bid accordingly – a “best value” approach if you will. Some clients may be put off with this approach, preferring to use a bid with fewer qualifications. They often see these options as “less risk” even though in reality they are not.

In our experience, the best way to clarify a bid is to mark up a set of drawings. You should highlight the works you are undertaking and state it is assumed all other works are by others. This makes your interpretation of the works clear, without writing pages of qualifications. It also shows you know the project well and will subtly point out potential flaws in the Employer’s scope. This will give you the best chance of success without unnecessary risk taking.