How do you check contractor evidence in Hargeisa?

A photo proves a crew attended a site, not that it built well. Contractor evidence gaps in Hargeisa appear when a bid pack carries pictures of finished walls but no dated records, no test results and no named supervisor a client can call before signing. Check the documents under the pictures first.

Why do project photos fail as proof of competence?

A photograph records that people and materials were present, not how the work was set out, compacted or cured. A slab can look flat in a photograph and still sit on fill that was never watered and rolled layer by layer, which is general practice for engineered fill. A block wall can look straight in a photograph and still have mortar joints that were not tooled before the mix dried.

Photos also travel. A crew can photograph a site it visited for one day, or borrow images from another contract. The picture carries no date, no location stamp and no link to the person who supervised the pour.

To test the claim behind the photo, ask for the document that sits underneath it: the setting-out record, the concrete delivery docket, the cube test result the laboratory issued, the inspection sheet the site supervisor signed on the day. If the bidder cannot produce any of these for a recent job, treat the photo as decoration.

What does a Hargeisa bid pack often leave out?

Bids can arrive as a lump sum with a schedule and a folder of images, and nothing that ties the price to a method. The missing items are the ones that decide quality: who will supervise, what plant the crew owns or hires, how concrete will be placed and cured in hot, dry conditions, and how the work will be protected through the wet season. Ask the municipal engineer's office which local records exist for the plot, and confirm rain patterns against your own project dates.

Ask each bidder for the same short list, so you compare like with like:

• The name and role of the site supervisor, and the projects that person ran.
• Two recent clients, with a phone number for each.
• The method statement for the first four weeks of work.
• The test and inspection records the bidder expects to produce, and who will witness them.
• A written list of what the bidder will subcontract, and to whom.

None of this proves competence on its own. It gives you a set of claims you can check by walking a recent site and asking the client what went wrong.

How do you close the gap before you sign?

Put the checks into the contract instead of leaving them to trust. Name the supervisor in the document and say that a change of supervisor needs your written agreement. Require the contractor to submit test results and inspection records at stated stages, and state what happens if a stage is covered before you inspect it.

Ask who will supervise the work on your side. On many projects this is the design engineer, an independent site supervisor or a clerk of works. Confirm in writing which inspections that person will attend and which records they will sign.

For anything touching ground, drainage or public space, ask the relevant municipal office what records it holds for the plot, and whether any permit or inspection is required before you start. Check what your contract allows before you hold back any payment.

What to do next

Take the two client contacts each bidder gave you and call both. Ask what the contractor did well, what was late, and whether the client would hire the same supervisor again. Then visit one of those completed sites with the bidder's method statement in hand and compare what you see against what the document promised.