What is a bid comparison in construction?
A bid comparison sets the offers for one tender side by side on the same basis, so the choice can be explained later. The process as a whole is the tender: several suppliers are asked to bid for the same work, and one is chosen. Each offer is a bid, with a price, a duration and the conditions attached to them. The term used in the trade is bid comparison.
The basis is the important part. Two bids are only comparable when they price the same scope, in the same currency, for the same period, on the same terms. A comparison that ignores those differences is not a comparison. It is a list of numbers.
Which criteria should you compare?
Some criteria can be put in a table and checked against a budget line. Others depend on the documents and need a reader's judgement. The table below shows both, and says where a shared tool helps and where it does not.
| Criterion | What it tells you | How Reperline shows it |
|---|---|---|
| Total price in the project currency | What the work costs in the currency the budget uses | Each bid converted at the stored rate and ranked from lowest to highest |
| Gap to the lowest bid | How far each bid sits above the cheapest, in money and in percent | The amount and the percent above the lowest bid, for every bid |
| Duration in days | How long the work takes, which affects cash flow and the handover date | Recorded for each bid and shown beside its price |
| Planned amount of the budget line | Whether a bid fits what the budget planned for this item | Shown next to the bids, so the gap to plan is visible before the decision |
| Scope and exclusions | What the price really includes, and what the buyer will have to add later | Not held as a field; compare it in the tender documents before the bid is entered |
| Payment terms, retention and validity | When money leaves, what is held back, and how long the price stands | Not held as a field; judge them outside the system and note the outcome |
Why rank by price first, and why not use a weighted score?
Price is the first view because it is the one number every bid gives in the same form. Ranking bids from the lowest price up gives a clear starting point, and the gap to the lowest bid shows how much a higher offer is asking for on top of it.
A weighted score, where price earns 40 points, duration 30 and experience 30, looks more rigorous, but it hides the compromise inside the weights. The weights decide the winner, and they can be set to produce the result somebody already wanted. Reperline does not use weighted scoring. It shows the ranked prices, the gap, the duration and the budget line, and the person responsible chooses one winner on purpose. The reasons for the choice are then written down in plain words, so the decision can be explained later.
How do you read the gap to the lowest bid?
Take a tender for a budget line planned at 1,000,000, with three bids. Bid A is 1,050,000 for 120 days. Bid B is 980,000 for 150 days. Bid C is 1,010,000 for 110 days. The numbers are hypothetical. B is the lowest, so it is the reference point. A is 70,000 above it, about 7% more, and C is 30,000 above it, about 3% more. Against the budget line, B is 20,000 below plan, C is 10,000 above and A is 50,000 above.
Read the three together. B is cheapest and fits the budget, but it takes 30 days longer than A. C is the fastest and the closest to the lowest price, but it still exceeds the budget line. A is the most expensive and sits in the middle on time. None of the three is wrong. The gap tells you what each extra day or each extra unit of money is buying, and that is the conversation the decision should be about.
What should you check before a bid is accepted?
- Scope match: the bid covers the package in the tender documents, and any exclusion is written down rather than assumed away.
- Qualifications and conditions: the assumptions, the exclusions and any requirement the bidder added to its price.
- Start and duration: whether the time starts at award or at site access, and whether the duration includes the expected delays.
- Validity: how long the price stands, and whether it still holds when the decision is taken.
- Terms of payment and retention: when money leaves the project and what is held back until the work is finished.
- Capacity: whether the bidder has the people and equipment for the work in the period the schedule needs.
How do you keep the decision explainable later?
A tender has one winner. Choosing another bid replaces the previous choice, and the choice can be cleared. Selecting a winner does not change the budget. The commitment is entered as its own step, when the order is agreed, so the plan never moves without someone deciding it. The commitment then counts in the forecast of its budget item from the day it is agreed.
Write the reasons down in plain words in the tender file. Reperline keeps the winner, every change to the bids and every action in the activity log, with the person and the time. Bids are entered by your team, not by the contractors themselves, so the tender is your internal record of the comparison and of the decision.
How does Reperline handle this?
The tenders module puts every tender on a card with its status, its deadline, its budget item, the number of bids, the best price and the winner. Inside a tender, the bids sit side by side: price in the project currency, duration, the gap to the lowest bid in money and in percent, and the planned amount of the budget line. Bids in other currencies are converted at the stored rate, so they compare like for like.
An open tender whose deadline is three days away or less raises a signal, and the priority is high when one day is left or the deadline has passed. Owners, finance, legal and site managers can read tenders, and the owner, finance and legal can create and change them. Reperline does not use weighted scoring, does not hold scope or payment terms as fields, and does not let contractors submit bids. Keep those judgements in the tender documents and in the reasons you write down. The tenders module has the detail, and the budget module shows the budget line each bid is measured against. A bid comparison template is available on the templates page. For how the spend is then tracked, read the cost control guide. The plans are on the pricing page.