How to Level Construction Quotations

1. Build the baseline

The baseline is the scope every quotation should price: your BOQ, trade breakdown or scope schedule, with descriptions, quantities and units. If you don’t have a formal BOQ, list the components the package needs (for example supply, delivery, installation, waste removal) and the quantity you measured. Without a baseline you can only compare quotes with each other, and you won’t see scope that every tenderer left out.

2. Map each quotation to the baseline

For every baseline line, record what each tenderer did with it:

• Covered — priced as specified.
• Partially covered — part of the line priced (supply but not install, for example).
• Different quantity — priced, but on a different measure.
• Alternative — a substitute product or method, needing an equivalence check.
• Excluded — explicitly left out.
• Missing — not mentioned at all, so unknown.

3. Put everything on one basis

Convert all prices to ex GST (inc-GST price ÷ 1.1), convert units exactly where you can (kg ÷ 1,000 = t), and state any assumption you need for other conversions. Then apply each tenderer’s rate to your baseline quantity:

Tenderer measured 180 m², baseline is 200 m², rate $57.50/m²
Levelled amount = 200 m² × $57.50 = $11,500.00 ex GST
Quoted amount   = 180 m² × $57.50 = $10,350.00 (not comparable)

4. Level the gaps

Take the worked example below: 200 m² of vinyl flooring, supplied and installed.

A: 200 m² × $60.00 = $12,000.00 ex GST — supply, delivery and installation
B: 200 m² × $50.00 = $10,000.00 ex GST — installation and delivery excluded
C: 200 m² × $57.50 = $11,500.00 ex GST — delivered, installation not mentioned

Break-even, B: $12,000.00 − $10,000.00 = $2,000.00 for installation + delivery
Break-even, C: $12,000.00 − $11,500.00 = $500.00 for installation

Hypothetical: install $2,500.00 + delivery $300.00 for B
Levelled B = $10,000.00 + $2,500.00 + $300.00 = $12,800.00 → $800.00 above A

Before levelling, B looked $2,000 cheaper than A. After adding a plausible installation and delivery cost, it is $800 dearer. If installation for 200 m² seems unlikely to cost $2,000 or less including delivery, B is very unlikely to be the cheapest complete option, and C is only cheaper if installation costs less than $500.

5. Record and clarify

A good levelling sheet shows, for every adjustment, what was adjusted, by how much, why, and the source. Send each tenderer specific questions for the gaps (“Please confirm whether installation of 200 m² is included; if not, please price it”) and update the sheet as answers arrive. Qualifications that may affect contractual risk should be listed as issues for professional review.

Doing it in QuantDoc

QuantDoc compares the quotes you upload, normalises units and GST, marks each scope component as priced, included, excluded, to be advised or not mentioned, keeps unknown costs out of totals, and shows break-even thresholds. Hypothetical adjustments are entered as what-if scenarios and always labelled as such. On the Professional plan you can import a scope or BOQ (CSV or Excel) as the baseline and see coverage per line, grouped by trade. The example below is real engine output.