So you've found a project you want to work on for a Builder who has a solid pipeline of projects. Now how do you make sure you standout?

Tendering is a competitive and time consuming process for Builders and trades alike. If your quote takes the Estimator a long time to read and understand, your work will be put in the too hard basket and your chances of working with them will decrease significantly.

This guide will help you tailor your quotes to increase your chances of winning new projects.

Getting started

To get an Estimator’s attention, your quote needs to include three main things -

• A cover page with your total price
• A scope of works/bill of quantities, including any exclusions
• A methodology statement

Your total price should be front and center. An Estimator needs to know your final figure before checking the rest of your quote. This needs to take pride of place.

If your quote is simple and contains no descriptions or the scope of works, it is more likely to be overlooked or ignored. To get the Estimator’s attention, you should include a description of the work you are quoting or a bill of quantities.

An example of how this can play out -

• John's Timber Floors priced the supply and install of engineered floorboards for four townhouses. John's quote is the most expensive of the four the Builder received
• However, his quote includes the brand of floorboards and install allowance as two separate line items. Unknown to John, the other subbies have priced an alternative non-conforming timber
• Once the Builder swaps John's supply with their own, you're now the most competitive. John's Timber Floors has now caught the Estimators attention

Within the scope of works you'll generally provide a list of clarifications and exclusions. In most cases, this will be enough to cover you. However, for structural trades such as concrete, steel, scaffolding, and craneage, including a brief methodology shows the Builder that you understand the project and are in line with their expectations.

We’ll cover this off in a bit more detail below.

Once you have detailed your scope of works, you’ll need to list any items you haven’t made an allowance for.

The exclusions section you will also want to keep simple, there’s no need to go into lots of details for items you’re not pricing. It should be a short list of any variations to the documents provided. The clarification allows the Estimator to see what costs they will need to add to the quote.

Below are some examples of good and bad clarifications:

Spending the extra 10 minutes to clarify what you have or have not allowed could save an hour of emails and calls trying to investigate it.

But what if the architectural drawings say one thing, and the specifications say another?

In general, it’s safe to assume that the specs are a copy-paste, and the drawings are completed later and take precedence. It is always wise to leave a clarification to that effect. Eg; "Assume architectural drawings take precedence over specifications" or vice versa.

In most cases, your clarifications and exclusions will be enough to cover you. For structural trades such as concrete, steel, scaffolding, and craneage, including a brief methodology shows the Builder that you understand the project and are in line with their expectations.

An example of how this can play out -

• Tate is preparing his methodology for his tender submission. Some trades have not received the scope of works documents, and the quotes are now rolling in.
• In Tate's methodology, he has assumed that the concreter will construct the capping beam and shotcrete retaining walls. He has instructed his piling contractors to only price the piles, not a full basement package.
• All of his concreters have included a scope of works/methodology that specifically excludes capping and shotcrete walls since he had never informed them of it!
• But since Tate is informed of this in advance, he can either ask the concreters to price it or get the piling companies to provide a full basement price.
• Without these methodologies, he could have assumed the concreters included it which would have caused a headache for everyone involved if he was successful in the tender!