Bid comparison sheet that levels the bids for you
Paste the BoQ once and enter each bidder's rates. The sheet prices unpriced items back in, flags rates far from the others and ranks the levelled totals. English and Arabic.
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Get the bid comparison sheet
The Excel file in English and Arabic, with the formulas in place and a sheet on how to use it.
What is a bid comparison sheet?
A bid comparison sheet puts every bidder's price against the same bill of quantities: one row per item, one column per bidder, with the totals and the gaps between them at the foot. Because a bidder who leaves items unpriced looks cheaper than the work will actually cost, a working sheet prices those items back in, at your own estimate rate or the median of the other bids, before ranking the totals. Rates far from the median are flagged for a question before award. The result is a levelled total you can defend, not just the lowest number on the page.
Every bid on the same scope
Paste the buyer's own bill of quantities once, and every bidder prices the same items, so you compare bids on identical scope instead of five different formats.
Unpriced items priced back in
A blank cell where a bidder left an item unpriced turns amber and is costed automatically, at your estimate rate or the median of the other bids, so a thin bid never passes as a cheap one.
Rates and terms that need a second look
A rate far below or above the median turns red, and rows for exclusions and payment terms keep the adjusted total honest before you take a number to award.
What is in the file
Five bidders side by side on one BoQ, in two sections you can extend
A levelled amount per item that prices every unpriced item back in, at your estimate rate or the median of the other bids
Amber for unpriced items, red for rates outside 0.4x to 2.5x of the median
Rows for exclusions and terms, an adjusted total, and rankings as bid and adjusted
A how-to sheet, and the same layout in Arabic, right to left
- 1Two sections, ten items each, ready to extend
- 2A rate and a levelled amount per bidder
- 3A median rate column for every item
- 4A totals block with both rankings
- 5A how-to sheet in the same file
How a comparison sheet should work
Why totals alone mislead
A comparison sheet that only lines up the totals rewards the bidder who left the most out. Unpriced items, lump sums that hide scope and exclusions in a cover letter all make a bid look cheaper than the work it will cost you. Levelling puts every bid on the same scope before the totals are compared. The as-bid total stays on the sheet, so you always see both numbers and the difference between them.
- The lowest bid as submitted is not the lowest bid once its gaps are priced back in
- The as-bid total stays on the sheet beside the levelled total, so the difference is visible
- A declared lump sum counts as priced; only a silent gap gets added back
- Ranking on the levelled total, not the as-bid total, is what a comparison sheet is for
Pricing back what was left out
Where you have an estimate rate for an item, a bidder who left it unpriced is charged at that rate. Where you do not, the sheet uses the median of the other bids for that item, which is harder to game than the lowest or the highest. Provisional sums and prime cost sums are the same for every bidder, so leave them out of the comparison and compare what is genuinely competitive.
- Your estimate rate is used first; the median of the other bids stands in where you have none
- The priced-back amount is shown separately, so the as-bid total is never lost
- Provisional and PC sums are identical for every bidder and stay out of the comparison
- A bidder with many unpriced items usually has the biggest gap between as-bid and levelled
Rates to question, exclusions and terms
A rate far below or far above the other bids is a question to ask before award, not a saving. High rates on early items with low ones later can be front-loading, which improves the bidder's cash flow at your risk. Exclusions and terms need a number too. Price every exclusion back in using the Bid Levelling Checklist, and cost advance payment, payment days and retention that differ from yours at your cost of money. Only then is the lowest adjusted total really the lowest.
- A rate outside 0.4x to 2.5x of the median is flagged for a question, not assumed to be wrong
- Front-loading early rates improves a bidder's cash flow at your risk, not a discount
- A 25% advance payment against your 10% has a real cost; price it at your cost of money
- The adjusted total, not the levelled total alone, is the number to defend at award
What the sheet shows: one package, five bids
An illustrative plumbing and drainage package of 186 items, with an estimate of AED 3.40m.
| Bidder | As bid | Items unpriced (priced back in) | Levelled total, rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | AED 3.12m | 2 (+AED 0.04m) | AED 3.16m, 1st |
| B | AED 3.05m | 9 (+AED 0.21m) | AED 3.26m, 2nd |
| D | AED 3.28m | 0 | AED 3.28m, 3rd |
| C | AED 2.88m | 14 (+AED 0.52m) | AED 3.40m, 4th |
| E | AED 2.01m | 38 (+AED 1.62m) | AED 3.63m, 5th |
Bidder A
- As bid
- AED 3.12m
- Items unpriced (priced back in)
- 2 (+AED 0.04m)
- Levelled total, rank
- AED 3.16m, 1st
Bidder B
- As bid
- AED 3.05m
- Items unpriced (priced back in)
- 9 (+AED 0.21m)
- Levelled total, rank
- AED 3.26m, 2nd
Bidder D
- As bid
- AED 3.28m
- Items unpriced (priced back in)
- 0
- Levelled total, rank
- AED 3.28m, 3rd
Bidder C
- As bid
- AED 2.88m
- Items unpriced (priced back in)
- 14 (+AED 0.52m)
- Levelled total, rank
- AED 3.40m, 4th
Bidder E
- As bid
- AED 2.01m
- Items unpriced (priced back in)
- 38 (+AED 1.62m)
- Levelled total, rank
- AED 3.63m, 5th
Bidder E was the lowest as bid, 41% under the estimate, and ends last once its unpriced items are priced back in. Bidder A, fourth on paper, comes out first.
What happens once you send the file
Version control
- The file, sent by email
- Each bidder emails back a different version of the same file
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Every bidder prices the same structure online; there is no file to merge back together
A late revision
- The file, sent by email
- You resend the file and hope every bidder opens the new one
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- The revision reaches every bidder at once; a bid priced on the old one is flagged
A bidder's question
- The file, sent by email
- Comes by phone or a separate email thread other bidders never see
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Is answered once and the answer is published to every bidder, without naming who asked
Filling in the master sheet
- The file, sent by email
- You re-type every bidder's numbers from their own file into yours
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Bids land in the sheet's own structure automatically as each bidder submits
An item left unpriced
- The file, sent by email
- Easy to miss a blank cell in a wide, five-bidder sheet
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Counted and priced back in as soon as the bid is submitted
A rate to question
- The file, sent by email
- Found by eye, if anyone scans for it
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Flagged automatically with its ratio to the median
Exclusions and payment terms
- The file, sent by email
- Buried in a cover letter or an email thread
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Listed against your terms and costed where they carry money
The record
- The file, sent by email
- Scattered across file versions and email threads
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Scores, reasons, revisions, questions and the award kept with the tender
Who reaches for this sheet
The main contractor levelling subcontract bids
Tendering a trade package, plumbing, drainage or MEP, and levelling five subcontractor bids on the same BoQ before recommending an award.
The commercial or procurement manager
Running several packages at once and needing a comparison every reviewer can read the same way, with the as-bid and adjusted totals both on the page.
The consultant or PM preparing a recommendation
Building the working paper behind an award recommendation: every bid on the same scope, exclusions priced, rates that need a question flagged.
How to use it
Paste the BoQ once
Description, unit and quantity as issued, with your estimate rate where you have one. Every bidder is compared on these items.
Enter every bidder's rates
Leave a cell empty where a bidder left an item unpriced. The sheet counts it and prices it back in.
Level, then compare
Price the exclusions and the terms that differ from yours, then compare the adjusted totals with the as-bid totals beside them.
Send it as a tender when you outgrow it
Import the same bill of quantities into VEXORS, invite your bidders, and the comparison you just built by hand happens automatically as each bid arrives.
Questions about the sheet
Read next
- The Bid Levelling Checklist25 exclusions that move a package price, and how to price each one back in.
- How to level construction bidsThe method step by step, with a worked example of five bids.
- BoQ template (Excel)The BoQ every bidder prices, with sections, rates and automatic totals.
- Excel comparison sheet vs VEXORSWhere a spreadsheet still works, and the five places it breaks down as bidders and packages grow.