Find what each quote leaves out, before it costs you.
The cheapest quote is often the one with the most missing. QuantDoc tracks every scope component across every quote: priced, included, excluded, to be advised or not mentioned. It labels the comparison incomplete while gaps remain and shows the break-even cost of each one.
Supply-only vs supplied and installed
Incomplete- Supplier AAs quoted $12,000.00Full scope priced
- Supplier BAs quoted $10,000.00delivery, installation unknown
- Supplier CAs quoted $11,500.00delivery, installation unknown
As quoted, ex GST.
INCOMPLETE — Supplier A is the lowest fully-priced quote, but Supplier B, Supplier C have unknown costs. No overall winner can be declared yet.
Gaps hide in three places
Exclusions lists. The clearest gaps are written down, usually at the end of the quote under “Exclusions” or “Clarifications”: installation by others, traffic control excluded, site access charges not included. They are easy to find but easy to forget when you are looking at totals.
Unpriced lines. “Freight TBA”, “Pump POA”, “Disposal at cost”. The quote acknowledges the item but doesn’t commit to a price. Counting those lines as zero is the most common way a comparison goes wrong.
Silence. The hardest gaps are the ones nobody wrote down. If you need delivery and installation and a quote mentions neither, you don’t know whether they are included, excluded or simply forgotten. QuantDoc records that as “not mentioned”, which is different from “excluded”, and drafts a question to settle it.
Five statuses for every scope component
For each quote, QuantDoc assigns one of these statuses to each part of the work: supply, delivery, installation, equipment, mobilisation and disposal.
- Priced
- The quote has a line with an amount for this component.
- Included
- The quote states the component is included in another price, such as “supply and install” or “delivery included”.
- Excluded
- The quote explicitly leaves it out: “excluded”, “by others”, “by builder”, “not included”.
- To be advised
- The component is listed but unpriced, such as “freight TBA” or “POA”.
- Not mentioned
- The quote is silent. That is a gap too, and it is recorded separately from an exclusion.
Worked example: supply-only vs supply-and-install
Three flooring quotes for 200 m² supplied and installed. Only Supplier A covers installation and delivery. Supplier B excludes both; Supplier C mentions delivery in its description but says nothing about installation. Calculated by the QuantDoc engine:
Example data · calculated by the QuantDoc engine
Supplied-and-installed vs supply-only vs unclear scope
What was quoted
- Supplier A: 200 m² vinyl, supplied, delivered and installed: $12,000 ex GST.
- Supplier B: 200 m² vinyl, supply only: $10,000 ex GST. "Installation and delivery excluded."
- Supplier C: 200 m² vinyl, delivered: $11,500 ex GST. Installation not mentioned.
INCOMPLETE — Supplier A is the lowest fully-priced quote, but Supplier B, Supplier C have unknown costs. No overall winner can be declared yet.
Line-by-line matching (1 item)
| Item | Supplier | Match | Normalised rate (ex GST) | Amount (ex GST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supply and install vinyl flooring incl. delivery | Supplier A | Exact equivalent | $60.00 / m² | $12,000.00 |
| Supplier B | Conditional match | $50.00 / m² | $10,000.00 | |
| Supplier C | Conditional match | $57.50 / m² | $11,500.00 |
| Supplier | As quoted (ex GST) | Like-for-like | Complete scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier A | $12,000.00 | — | $12,000.00 |
| Supplier B | $10,000.00 | — | Incomplete (delivery, installation unknown) |
| Supplier C | $11,500.00 | — | Incomplete (delivery, installation unknown) |
6 flags raised · 12 clarification questions drafted
- Supplier B: delivery excluded
- Supplier B: installation excluded
- Supplier C: delivery not mentioned
- Supplier C: installation not mentioned
- Supplier B: match needs confirmation
- Supplier C: match needs confirmation
Supplier B’s $10,000 looks $2,000 cheaper, but it buys less. QuantDoc doesn’t declare a winner; it marks the comparison incomplete, identifies Supplier A as the only fully-priced quote, and raises critical flags for each missing component. The arithmetic you need to decide whether to chase the cheaper quotes is straightforward:
Supplier A complete scope = $12,000.00 ex GST Supplier B gap (installation + delivery) < $12,000.00 − $10,000.00 = $2,000.00 Supplier C gap (installation) < $12,000.00 − $11,500.00 = $500.00
Worked example: an exclusion with a calculated break-even
Two electrical subcontract quotes. Subcontractor B excludes the main switchboard. Here the engine calculates the break-even threshold directly:
Example data · calculated by the QuantDoc engine
Two electrical subcontract quotes, one excluding the switchboard
What was quoted
- Subcontractor A: Rough-in $18,400, fit-off $9,600, main switchboard supply and install $4,200 (ex GST).
- Subcontractor B: Rough-in $17,900, fit-off $9,100 (ex GST). Exclusion: "Main switchboard excluded (by builder)".
INCOMPLETE — Subcontractor A is the lowest fully-priced quote, but Subcontractor B has unknown costs. No overall winner can be declared yet.
Line-by-line matching (3 items)
| Item | Supplier | Match | Normalised rate (ex GST) | Amount (ex GST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical rough-in | Subcontractor A | Exact equivalent | $18,400.00 / lump sum | $18,400.00 |
| Subcontractor B | Exact equivalent | $17,900.00 / lump sum | $17,900.00 | |
| Electrical fit-off | Subcontractor A | Exact equivalent | $9,600.00 / lump sum | $9,600.00 |
| Subcontractor B | Exact equivalent | $9,100.00 / lump sum | $9,100.00 | |
| Main switchboard supply and install | Subcontractor A | Exact equivalent | $4,200.00 / each | $4,200.00 |
| Subcontractor B | Missing item | — | Unknown |
| Supplier | As quoted (ex GST) | Like-for-like | Complete scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subcontractor A | $32,200.00 | $28,000.00 | $32,200.00 |
| Subcontractor B | $27,000.00 | $27,000.00 | Incomplete (supply unknown) |
2 flags raised · 6 clarification questions drafted
- Subcontractor B: supply not mentioned
- Subcontractor B: no matching item for "Main switchboard supply and install"
From gaps to questions
Every gap becomes a specific clarification question: confirm whether installation is included, price the freight, state whether disposal is part of the quote. Questions are grouped into a draft email per supplier, ready for you to edit and send; nothing is sent automatically. When the answers come back as revised quotes, upload them and the gaps close.
You can also model a gap with your own estimate in a what-if scenario. Scenario results are labelled hypothetical and never overwrite the figures taken from the documents, so the record of what each supplier actually committed to stays intact.
Scope components are tracked on every comparison: the free preview summarises the exclusions and missing items found, and paid plans unlock the full analysis. Supported documents are PDFs with a text layer, Excel and CSV; scanned PDFs have limited support. QuantDoc does not check prices against the market or interpret contracts; it makes sure nothing you need is quietly priced at zero.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a scope gap?
Any part of the work you need that a quote doesn’t price or clearly include: explicit exclusions, items listed as TBA or POA, and components the quote simply doesn’t mention. QuantDoc tracks supply, delivery, installation, equipment, mobilisation and disposal for every quote.
Why not just add my own estimate for the gap?
You can, in a labelled what-if scenario. QuantDoc doesn’t insert estimates itself because it doesn’t consult external pricing sources, and a guessed figure would make the comparison look more certain than it is. The break-even threshold tells you how much the gap can cost before the ranking changes.
Is a quote that doesn’t mention something worse than one that excludes it?
Not necessarily, but it is less clear. An exclusion tells you to price the item elsewhere. Silence leaves it open whether it is included, so QuantDoc drafts a question asking the supplier to confirm.
Does QuantDoc decide who is responsible for an excluded item under the contract?
No. Exclusions and qualifications are listed as issues for professional review. Contractual responsibility depends on the contract documents and is a matter for you and your advisers.
When is the comparison marked complete?
Only when every required component is priced or explicitly included in every quote being ranked. Until then the result is labelled INCOMPLETE and the lowest fully-priced quote is identified separately from the lowest known price.
Related
- Identifying missing scope in tendersA practical checklist with worked examples.
- Detecting missing itemsWhy missing isn’t free, and how to price the gap.
- Subcontractor quote comparisonExclusions and qualifications in trade quotes.
- Tender levellingLevel every tender against your own scope.
- Live exampleSee scope gaps flagged on three real-format quotes.
- How it worksUpload, review, compare, decide.
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