Tender · Contract administration
Tendering and contract management
The contract is written once and lived with for years. Most of the disputes we are later asked to resolve were created at tender stage, in documents nobody read closely enough.
Getting the tender right
A tender process has two jobs: to get a competitive price, and to get a price that is comparable across bidders. The second is harder. Bids priced against a vague scope cannot be compared, and the lowest number usually belongs to whoever understood the scope least — which becomes the client's problem at variation stage.
We prepare the tender documentation, define the scope precisely enough that bids are genuinely comparable, and prequalify contractors on financial standing, current workload and relevant completed work rather than on reputation alone.
Scope
- Contractor prequalification and shortlisting
- Tender documentation and scope definition
- EPC pre-bid services
- Bid opening, technical and commercial comparison
- Pre- and post-bid negotiation
- Award recommendation with supporting analysis
- Contract administration through construction
- Government empanelment support
Contract administration
Once the contract is signed, administration is what keeps it enforceable. Instructions have to be issued in the form the contract requires, variations valued before they are executed where possible, notices served within the stated periods, and records kept contemporaneously.
Contracts are lost on procedure more often than on substance. A valid claim served late is worth nothing, and a client who has been informally approving changes for eight months has usually waived positions they did not know they held.
Government tendering
Prequalification criteria, documentation formats and approval sequences on KIIFB, HITES, WAPCOS and KSITIL routed work are prescriptive. We handle the liaison and prepare submissions in the required form.
Where tenders go wrong
The lowest bid is frequently the most expensive outcome, and the reason is usually visible at bid comparison if anyone looks. A contractor who has underpriced the work does not absorb the difference; they recover it through variations, extensions of time and claims, and the client pays it anyway with an argument attached.
We compare bids on what they actually contain rather than on the headline figure: qualifications and exclusions, the rates behind provisional sums, the programme each bidder has committed to, and whether the preliminaries are adequate for the site. A bid that is ten per cent cheaper because it has excluded scope is not a cheaper bid.
Common questions
Questions we are asked about this.
Should we always accept the lowest bid?
Not without understanding why it is lowest. A bid substantially below the others usually means the contractor has misread the scope, underpriced a major element, or intends to recover margin through variations. We report on the reason for the gap before recommending award.
Can you help us get empanelled with a government agency?
Yes. We prepare prequalification submissions and supporting documentation for agencies including KIIFB, HITES, WAPCOS and KSITIL.
What is EPC pre-bid support?
On engineering, procurement and construction contracts, the bidder carries design responsibility and therefore design risk. Pre-bid support means testing the scope, quantifying that risk and pricing it properly before a lump sum is committed to.
Do you handle government tender routes?
Yes. Work routed through KIIFB, HITES, WAPCOS and KSITIL carries documentation and approval requirements that differ substantially from private tendering, and the empanelment position needs establishing before the bid rather than during it.
Can you manage the contract after award?
Yes, and it is where most of the value sits. Contract administration covers variations, extensions of time, payment certification and correspondence, and the record it produces is what protects the client if the project later goes to dispute.