Know which bid is really the lowest before you award.
VEXORS levels every bid on the same scope, flags what does not add up, and gives you a recommendation with the reasons written out. The decision stays with you.
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What is bid levelling?
Bid levelling puts every bid on the same scope before the totals are compared, so the lowest price is not simply the bid that left the most out. Each item a bidder left unpriced is priced back in, and the levelled totals are compared side by side with the prices as bid.
One package, five bids. The lowest was 41% under the estimate.
| Bidder | As bid | Items unpriced | Priced back in | Levelled total | Rank as bid, then levelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3.12m | 2 | 0.04m | 3.16m | 4th, then 1st |
| B | 3.05m | 9 | 0.21m | 3.26m | 3rd, then 2nd |
| D | 3.28m | 0 | 0 | 3.28m | 5th, then 3rd |
| C | 2.88m | 14 | 0.52m | 3.40m | 2nd, then 4th |
| E | 2.01m | 38 | 1.62m | 3.63m | 1st, then 5th |
Bidder E left 38 items unpriced and carries six rates far below the other bids. Priced back in, its total rises by AED 1.62m and it falls from first to last. Bidder A, fourth on paper, comes out first. Every missing item was priced at your estimate rate or at the median of the other bids, and the levelled total is shown as an estimate beside the as-bid figure.
See the bid that is really lowest
A bid that leaves items unpriced looks cheapest until those items are priced back in. VEXORS levels every bid on your BoQ before ranking it, so the total you compare is the total you would actually pay.
Every exception in view before you award
Rates far from the other bids, terms accepted with exceptions, answers that contradict the price submitted: VEXORS raises all of it automatically the moment the tender closes, so nothing is caught after the contract is signed.
A recommendation you can defend
AI scores every bid against the criteria and weights you set and writes the reasoning beside each score. You decide, your approvers sign off by name, and the reasoning stays with the tender.
The method, stated plainly.
What is bid evaluation software?
Bid evaluation software compares the bids on a tender and helps you choose one you can defend. It puts every bid on the same scope, scores each against your technical and commercial criteria, flags what needs a question before award, and keeps the record of why the winner won.
- Every item a bidder left unpriced is priced back in at your estimate rate. Without an estimate, it is priced at the median rate of the other bids.
- A section priced as a declared lump sum counts as priced. Only silent gaps are added.
- The levelled total is an estimate. It sits beside the as-bid total and never replaces it.
- The comparison sheet exports to Excel with coverage, rate flags and levelled totals, for your own review.
How VEXORS checks a bid before you award.
Every item accounted for, nothing quietly left out
Before any total is compared, VEXORS reads what each bidder actually priced against your BoQ: every item, which ones were left blank, and which sections were covered by a declared lump sum rather than an itemized rate. A lump sum counted as priced is not a gap; a blank item is. Bids priced against an old revision of your drawings or specifications are flagged the moment a newer one goes out, so a subcontractor still working from last month's scope does not slip into the comparison unnoticed.
- Every BoQ item read against what was actually priced
- A declared lump sum counted as priced, not as a gap
- Bids on an old revision flagged the moment a new one is issued
Rates checked against each other, not just against the total
A low total can hide a rate that makes no sense on its own: an item priced at a fraction of what every other bidder charged, usually a sign of front-loading, moving money onto an early item, or a straightforward pricing mistake. VEXORS checks every item that has three prices or more against the median of the others and flags the ones that sit far outside it, with the ratio shown beside the flag, so you can ask the bidder for a breakdown before the number ever reaches your total.
- Checked on every item with three prices or more
- Flagged with its ratio against the median, not just a colour
- Catches front-loading before it reaches your interim payments
Exceptions to your terms, costed, not just listed
Every bidder answers the same commercial terms you set. VEXORS records who accepted them as issued, who accepted with exceptions, and what those exceptions are, then costs the ones that carry money. A bidder asking for a 25% advance payment against your 10% is not just a line in a letter: it is a cost against your money at your own cost of capital, added beside the bid so it is weighed before the award, not discovered after it.
- Accepted, accepted with exceptions, or silent: every bidder classified
- Exceptions that carry money costed against your terms
- Nothing left to a letter nobody reads until the contract stage
Every answer scored, with the reason written beside it
A questionnaire only helps you if every answer is read the same way for every bidder. VEXORS scores each answer against your published criteria out of 100 and writes the reasoning next to the score, so a strong method statement is not lost beside a lowest price, and a thin answer cannot hide behind a good one submitted alongside it. The weighting between your commercial and technical criteria is yours to set, published with the tender so bidders price and answer against the same yardstick.
- Every answer scored out of 100 against your own criteria
- The reason for the score written in plain language
- Commercial and technical weights set and published by you
Delivery promises checked against the dates you asked for
A bidder's price means little if the programme behind it cannot meet your dates. VEXORS reads each bidder's stated delivery and section completion dates against what you asked for in the tender and flags where a bidder's own programme runs past your required date, section by section. A fast price on a programme that misses your handover is a risk you see before award, set beside the rest of the evaluation rather than buried in a separate document.
- Delivery dates read against your required dates, section by section
- A programme that runs late is flagged beside the price
- Read alongside scope and price, not filed on its own
Answers checked against the price and the terms behind them
A bidder's technical answers, its priced BoQ and its commercial terms should tell the same story. VEXORS checks them against each other: an answer that promises a delivery method the price does not support, or terms that assume a schedule the programme contradicts. Where they do not agree, the contradiction is written into the evaluation in the bidder's own words, so you ask the question before you award rather than discover the gap once the subcontractor is already on site.
- Answers, prices and terms checked against each other, never read alone
- Contradictions written into the evaluation in plain language
- Raised before the award, while there is still time to ask
The technical and commercial evaluation, on every bid, before you award.
- Scope. Which items each bidder priced, which they left blank, and which sections they covered with a declared lump sum. Bids priced on an old revision of the documents are flagged.
- Rates. Rates far above or below the other bids on the same item, the usual sign of front-loading or a pricing mistake. Checked on every item with at least three prices.
- Commercial terms. Who accepted your terms, who accepted them with exceptions, and what the exceptions are.
- Technical answers. Every answer to your questionnaire scored out of 100, with the reason written beside the score.
- Programme. Each bidder's delivery set against the dates you asked for.
- Consistency. Where a bidder's answers contradict each other or the prices they submitted.
What changes when the comparison is not a spreadsheet.
Unpriced items
- Manual comparison sheet
- Left out of the total, or missed by whoever checks the sheet by eye
- VEXORS
- Priced back in at your estimate rate, or the median of the other bids
Abnormal rates
- Manual comparison sheet
- Visible only if someone happens to check every item
- VEXORS
- Every item with three or more prices checked, flagged with its ratio
Commercial terms
- Manual comparison sheet
- Exception letters read one at a time, the cost rarely worked out
- VEXORS
- Every exception listed and costed against your own terms
Technical answers
- Manual comparison sheet
- Scored by whoever reads them, whenever they get to it
- VEXORS
- Every answer scored out of 100, with the reason written down
Programme
- Manual comparison sheet
- Compared against the tender dates from memory
- VEXORS
- Each bidder's dates checked against yours automatically, section by section
Consistency
- Manual comparison sheet
- Contradictions surface only if someone cross-checks by hand
- VEXORS
- Answers, prices and terms checked against each other automatically
After a query or a revision
- Manual comparison sheet
- The sheet is rebuilt and recalculated by hand
- VEXORS
- Every bid re-levelled instantly, bids on the old revision flagged
The record of the award
- Manual comparison sheet
- Spread across emails, a spreadsheet and someone's memory
- VEXORS
- Scores, reasons and named approvals kept with the tender
Your criteria, your weights, reasons you can read.
You set the technical and commercial criteria and how much each one counts. AI scores every bid against them, writes down its strengths and risks, and recommends one, with the reasoning in plain language. The award stays your decision, with named approvals.
On the record
The evaluation stays with the tender: the scores, the reasons, who approved the award and when. When the client, an auditor or your own management asks why a bid won, the answer is already written.
For contractors and developers.
Main contractors
Levelling subcontract and supply quotations before carrying a price into their tender.
Developers and project managers
Evaluating contractor and package bids before they award.
Subcontractors pricing their own sub-tenders
On Scale, a subcontractor tenders the lines it buys in as a sub-tender and evaluates those bids the same way before pricing its own tender.
Approvers signing off the award
Reviewing the scores, the reasons and the recommendation before adding their name to the record.
From criteria to a defensible award, in four steps.
Set your criteria and weights
Decide what counts before the bids arrive: your commercial and technical criteria, and how much each one counts toward the total score.
Bids arrive on your BoQ
Bidders price the same scope and answer the same questionnaire, so every bid comes back structured against the request you sent, not a format of its own.
Everything is checked the moment the deadline closes
Unpriced items are priced back in, rates are checked against the median, terms and answers are read for contradictions, and every bid is scored against your criteria.
Decide, with the reasons already written
Read the recommendation and its reasoning, ask your questions, and award. The scores, the reasons and your approval stay with the tender.
The construction workflow, BoQ packages, levelling and this evaluation, runs on Scale. Bidders always respond free, on every plan.
Questions about levelling and evaluation
The checklist
Get the Bid Levelling Checklist.
25 exclusions and qualifications that move a package price in the Middle East, the question to ask for each, and how to price it back in.
Read next
- The Bid Levelling Checklist25 exclusions that move a package price, what to ask before award, and how to price each one back in.
- Building a scoring matrix that survives scrutinyCriteria, weights and the evidence behind each score, set before the bids arrive.
- How AI bid scoring actually worksWhat the AI reads in a bid, what it writes out, and what it will not decide for you.
- Plans and pricesThe full construction workflow runs on Scale. Bidders respond free.