How to Identify Missing Scope in Tenders

Where missing scope hides

• Exclusions and qualifications. Usually at the end of the tender or in a covering letter: “excludes switchboard”, “traffic management by others”, “rock not allowed for”.
• Silence. The tender simply doesn’t mention something the job needs. Silence is the hardest gap to see, because there is nothing to read.
• Unpriced lines. “TBA”, “POA”, “to be confirmed”, or a line with no amount.
• Provisional sums and allowances. Priced, but as an estimate that may be adjusted, so the final cost is open.
• Quantity shortfalls. The item is there, but for less than the drawings or BOQ require.
• Lump sums that hide components. A single figure for “electrical works” may or may not include the switchboard, testing or temporary power.

Gaps that come up again and again

Some items fall between trades so often that they’re worth checking in every package: crane or hoist time, scaffolding, temporary power and water, traffic management, waste removal and tipping fees, after-hours work, testing and commissioning, as-built documentation, and making good after other trades. None of these is unusual. They’re simply easy for each tenderer to assume someone else is covering. If two tenderers both assume that, nobody has priced it.

A practical method

1. Start from your scope, not from the tenders. List the components the package needs, such as supply, delivery, installation, equipment, mobilisation and disposal, and any trade-specific items. A bill of quantities is ideal if you have one.
2. Map every tender against that list. For each component mark it priced, included, excluded, TBA or not mentioned.
3. Read every word of the exclusions and notes, then come back and update the map.
4. Price or quantify the gaps, using a separate quote, a labelled estimate or a break-even threshold. Never zero.
5. Send clarification questions to each tenderer about their specific gaps, in writing, before award.

Worked arithmetic: pricing the gap

Electrical package (ex GST)
  A: rough-in $18,400 + fit-off $9,600 + switchboard $4,200 = $32,200
  B: rough-in $17,900 + fit-off $9,100                      = $27,000
     “Main switchboard excluded (by builder)”
  B is cheaper only if the switchboard costs < $32,200 − $27,000 = $5,200

Flooring, 200 m² supplied and installed (ex GST)
  A: supply, deliver and install                      = $12,000 (complete)
  B: supply only, install and delivery excluded       = $10,000
     B cheaper only if install + delivery < $12,000 − $10,000 = $2,000
  C: “delivered”, installation not mentioned          = $11,500
     C cheaper only if its missing scope < $12,000 − $11,500 = $500

For the flooring, installing 200 m² for less than $2,000 means under $10 per m². That’s worth testing against what installation actually costs you before treating B as the cheapest. For C, a $500 margin leaves almost no room, so C’s installation would have to be close to free.