ENSURE INFORMATION IS ACCURATE AND SPECIFIC
The best way to improve the chances of issuing a competitive bid is ensuring all the information provided to the project lead is accurate. Statements such as “fix or replace blinds” are ambiguous and are difficult to price. The fixing cost and the replacement may be significantly different. Either is possible but let your project lead know which course of action you want to take, so all bidders are pricing “apples”, not some apples and others “oranges”.
Another example is “provide new ceiling tiles where necessary”. This statement can lead to a wide array of interpretations. For example, one person may interpret that as 10% of the ceiling tiles need to be replaced, another may think 50%, and you, the client, may think 90% of tiles need to be replaced.
One impact of uncertain statements or missing information is that multiple bidders with different interpretations of the drawings can affect the competitive process. Pricing may be submitted with a wide variance between contractors, which sometimes lead to the question did the low bidder miss a component in their tender or did the high bidder see something no else did. Providing accurate information to your prime consultant will allow the drawings to be specific as possible.
