Low bid isn’t low until it’s levelled. This playbook puts the bids for one package side by side, like for like, and ranks them on what the scope will actually cost.
What you get
- Bidders side by side – A status, amount and notes column for each bidder, ordered by levelled total, lowest first.
- Base bid – Each bidder’s breakout against the bid form’s breakdown lines.
- Levelling rows – One row per item any bidder excluded, qualified or left out, with a plugged-in cost and its source – another bidder’s breakout, the budget, a quote or rate × quantity.
- Tender form prices and bid conditions – Cash allowances, itemized, separate, alternate, unit and labour rates, plus addenda, forms, bonding and validity.
- Summary – Levelled total, variance to budget, cost per unit and rank.
How it works
- The agent finds the tender package, the bids and the budget for the package in the estimate.
- It confirms the bids to level, the budget lines, the unit basis and any bids to set aside.
- It reads every bid in full – bid form, breakdown, covering letter and every qualification.
- It builds the levelling without touching a bidder’s tendered numbers. Where there’s no defensible figure, the item is marked TBC with the question.
- It reports tendered and levelled totals, the ranking, variance to budget and the questions for post-tender interviews, and updates the rows once bidders clarify.
Try asking
- Level the three mechanical bids against the budget. Set aside the late one.
- Level the roofing bids per square foot of roof area. Who’s carrying the flashings?
- Apex confirmed they carry the firestopping, update the levelling.
