Bid Verification Questions

Bid verification questions are questions that come out of reviewing and analyzing the bids. Asking questions provides you with additional information and insight that will assist you in determining which bid is best. Create the list of questions by comparing the bids to the scope of work and to each other.

Use the following list of sample questions, and requests, as a primer to understand what questions to ask the contractors as part of the bid evaluation.

• Please verify that you have __________ included.
• Please verify that you have reviewed the site conditions.
• Please verify that you have accounted for ___________ in your bid.
• Please describe how you intend to protect the area.
• Please verify that debris will be disposed of according to all applicable Local, State, and Federal regulations.
• We noted that you did not expressly include __________ in your bid clearly identify it as included, or indicate why.
• We noted that you expressly excluded __________ from your bid. Please indicate why.
• Another contractor provided a unit price of __________ for this item. Would you match it?
• It seems you suggested something other than what the scope of work asks for. Please provide a cut sheet of the product and direct us to where we can evaluate it.
• We noted that you did not indicate __________, which was specifically called for in the scope of work.  Please include it in your bid or indicate why it cannot be included.

You’ll note that some of the questions ask for reasons why. Do this so you understanding the contractor’s reasoning helps you better understand issues and difficulties so you can find alternate solutions. The questions and requests above are only for illustration purposes. Since each project is unique, tailor the questions for your specific project.

Bid Verification Example

Here is an example illustrating how the Construction Conductor bid verification process works.

A homeowner wanted to replace a roughly 30-year old, 2,500 square foot, asphalt shingle roof. The roof had a solar water heater that the owner wanted the option to repair and reinstall. They used the Construction Conductor system to create the scope of work, bid the project, evaluate and select the winning bidder, and manage the construction.

They contacted ten roofers who all expressed interest in the project. The owner sent each one the prepared bid package. Eight came to the pre-bid meeting and five provided bids. There was a 30% swing between the highest and lowest bids.

At the beginning of bidding negotiation, the bids (shown in the order received) looked like this:

• Project budget: $8,000 to $10,000
• Low is 1% lower than budget low
• High is 13% higher than budget high.
• 30% Swing from High to Low

At first glance, tendency might be to go ahead and pick the lowest price, but you never know how these things are going to wash out.

TIP: Enter bid negotiations with an open mind, free of snap judgment. You may be surprised who ends up being low bidder.

Following the process as laid out in the Bidding – Bid Verification Questions section above, we systematically asked questions of each contractor designed to help us uncover the differences between bids. If they:

• specifically left an item out that should be included, we asked the others to confirm in writing that they had included it.
• included additional items that others did not, if we wanted it, we asked the others to include that specific item.
• specifically excluded items, and we wanted to consider it, we tried to get them to provide it, or we found an alternate solution and added that cost to their bid.
• failed to include an item that was supposed to be included, we asked they include a price for it.

After giving each contractor the same opportunity to provide answers and confirmation, we had the information we needed to compare each bidder on an equal basis. As it turned out the second lowest bidder originally, became the low bidder. However, the fourth highest bidder became the second lowest bidder, at only $103 above the lowest bidder.

At the end of bidding negotiation, the bid amounts and ranks looked like this:

• The swing from high to low equaled 15%
• The lowest bid went up 11.5%
• The highest bid came down 7%