Before you compare totals
A subcontract quotation is two documents: the price, and the qualifications that say what the price does not cover. Every exclusion is work you still have to buy, usually later and at a worse rate. Before you compare totals, go through each quotation against this list and price every exclusion back in. Use the highest rate among the other bidders when you want to be safe, the average when you are confident, or your own estimate. Only then is the lowest bid really the lowest.
Percentages are typical ranges, not rules. Authority names and rates were checked in September 2026; confirm them for your project.
1Site and attendance
- 1
Access and scaffolding
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Access by others", "scaffolding by main contractor"
- Ask before you award
- Who provides access for the full height and duration?
- How to level it
- Price the scaffold for this trade's duration from your estimate or another bidder's rate
- 2
Hoisting and cranage
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Hoisting by main contractor", "use of tower crane assumed"
- Ask before you award
- Is crane time available when this trade needs it, and who pays for mobile cranes?
- How to level it
- Add the crane hours or a mobile crane allowance for this trade's lifts
- 3
Temporary power, water and lighting
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Temporary services by main contractor"
- Ask before you award
- Is the supply sized for this trade, and is it already in your preliminaries?
- How to level it
- If it is not in your preliminaries, add it here
- 4
Builder's work in connection
- How it reads in a quotation
- "BWIC by others"
- Ask before you award
- Who forms the openings, fixes the sleeves and makes good after this trade?
- How to level it
- Price it from the other bids' BWIC rates or your estimate
- 5
Protection, cleaning and waste
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Protection of finished works by others", "debris to skip provided by others"
- Ask before you award
- Who protects the installed work until handover, cleans it, and takes waste to the skip?
- How to level it
- Add it at the rates the other bidders carried
2Approvals and compliance
- 6
Civil defence approvals
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Civil defence submissions and inspections by others"
- Ask before you award
- Who prepares the drawings, attends the inspections and pays for resubmissions until the certificate is issued?
- How to level it
- Add the submission and inspection effort, or make approval a condition of award
- 7
Utility NOCs and fees
- How it reads in a quotation
- "NOC by main contractor", "authority fees excluded" (DEWA, TAQA Distribution, SEWA, Saudi Energy)
- Ask before you award
- Who applies for the NOCs and who pays the fees?
- How to level it
- Carry the fees as a provisional sum so every bid includes the same allowance
- 8
In-country value and local content
- How it reads in a quotation
- "ICV certificate not included", "local content not guaranteed"
- Ask before you award
- Where your client requires it (government and semi-government work, the ADNOC supply chain, Saudi government tenders), does the bidder hold a valid certificate or meet the target?
- How to level it
- It cannot be priced back in. Some clients score it, others set a minimum and exclude bids below it. Settle it before you compare prices
- 9
Imported materials into Saudi Arabia
- How it reads in a quotation
- "SABER certificates by others"
- Ask before you award
- Who obtains the SASO certificates of conformity through SABER, and is the time in the programme?
- How to level it
- Add the certification cost and lead time, or make it the bidder's responsibility
3Scope and design
- 10
Testing and commissioning
- How it reads in a quotation
- "T&C excluded", "witness only", "third-party testing by others"
- Ask before you award
- Who carries testing, commissioning and the specialist testing the specification calls for?
- How to level it
- Price it at the highest rate among the bidders who included it
- 11
Design and shop drawings
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Design by others", "shop drawings excluded"
- Ask before you award
- Who produces shop drawings and calculations, and who pays for redesign if they are rejected?
- How to level it
- Add the design fee and a redesign allowance, or make design responsibility a condition
- 12
Samples and mock-ups
- How it reads in a quotation
- "One sample only", "mock-ups excluded"
- Ask before you award
- How many samples and mock-ups are included, and are rejected ones redone free?
- How to level it
- Add the extra mock-ups your specification requires
- 13
Handover documents
- How it reads in a quotation
- "O&M manuals, as-builts and training excluded"
- Ask before you award
- Are manuals, as-built drawings, training and spares included to the specification?
- How to level it
- Add a lump sum for the handover package
- 14
Alternatives and equals
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Or approved equal", "alternative system offered"
- Ask before you award
- Is the offer compliant with the specified product, and is any alternative priced separately?
- How to level it
- Level the compliant offer only, and evaluate the alternative on its own
- 15
Quantities and measurement
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Quantities as per our take-off", "subject to remeasurement"
- Ask before you award
- Has the bidder priced your quantities, measured on the method the BoQ states?
- How to level it
- Re-price their rates on your quantities before comparing
4Commercial terms
- 16
VAT
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Prices exclusive of VAT", or nothing said
- Ask before you award
- Is VAT included or excluded? A price that says nothing about VAT can be argued to include it
- How to level it
- Put every bid on the same basis before comparing: 5% in the UAE, 15% in Saudi Arabia
- 17
Payment terms
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Pay-when-paid not accepted", "30% advance required"
- Ask before you award
- Do the bidder's payment terms match your contract with the client?
- How to level it
- Add the cost of financing the gap between when you pay them and when you are paid
- 18
Retention, advance payment and bonds
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Retention not accepted", "performance bond excluded"
- Ask before you award
- Has the bidder accepted your retention (typically 5 to 10%), the guarantee against any advance, and an on-demand performance bond (typically 5 to 10%)?
- How to level it
- Add the cost of the missing bond and the finance cost of retention you cannot pass down
- 19
Delay damages
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Liquidated damages not accepted", "LDs capped at a lower amount"
- Ask before you award
- Does the bidder accept delay damages back to back with your contract, and at what cap?
- How to level it
- Price the exposure you cannot pass down as a risk allowance
- 20
Insurance
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Covered under the main contractor's CAR policy"
- Ask before you award
- Is the bidder relying on your Contractor's All Risks policy, and who carries the deductible on their works?
- How to level it
- Add the deductible exposure, or require their own cover
- 21
Price validity
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Valid for 30 days"
- Ask before you award
- Does the validity cover your tender validity plus the time to award?
- How to level it
- Nothing to add. Get the validity extended in writing, or exclude the bid
5Price and programme
- 22
Escalation
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Subject to steel price at order"
- Ask before you award
- Is the price fixed? If not, against which index and from which date?
- How to level it
- Add an escalation allowance on the exposed materials up to the expected order date
- 23
Currency
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Prices in EUR", "subject to exchange rate"
- Ask before you award
- Who carries the exchange-rate risk between the bid and payment?
- How to level it
- Convert at your controlled rate and add a margin for the exposure
- 24
Lead times
- How it reads in a quotation
- "16 weeks from approved shop drawings"
- Ask before you award
- Does delivery fit your programme once approval time is added?
- How to level it
- Price the acceleration, or the delay cost to your programme
- 25
Working hours
- How it reads in a quotation
- "Normal working hours only", "Ramadan hours excluded"
- Ask before you award
- Does the price allow for reduced hours in Ramadan and the summer midday break (mid-June to mid-September) where your programme runs through them?
- How to level it
- Add a productivity allowance on the labour content for the months affected
The checklist
Get the checklist as a PDF.
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.