In brief
- A low bid is usually a bid with an omission, and omissions surface at the final account as extra valuations.
- Reconcile the tender allowance, the measured quantity and the paid quantity for every rate before more work is valued.
- Ask for the tender baseline and a measured reconciliation, and check what the contract says about omitted work.
Contents
A low bid wins on the tender figure, and the shortfall appears later in the final account records. Omitted costs rarely vanish. They move into variations, re-measures and claims that no one priced at tender stage. In Qardho, where transport and materials arrive from outside the town, an allowance that looks thin at tender continues to look thin through to the final account records underbidding risks Qardho clients carry.
What causes the gap in a Qardho tender?
The gap opens when an estimate leaves out a cost that the work still requires. A bidder may omit haulage over long dry-season roads, plant that has to be moved in from another region, or the labour needed to keep curing water on site. It may price a rate for easy ground and never revisit it when the digging tells a different story. It may also carry a rate that was current in a supplier quote some months before submission, without asking for a written refresh.
Check this at tender stage rather than at the end. Ask each bidder for the build-up behind the three or four largest rates and look for the items that are missing from the build-up entirely. Ask a civil engineer or quantity surveyor to compare the priced bill against the drawings and specification line by line. Then ask the municipal engineer's office whether it holds records of recent works nearby, and walk one of those sites to see what access and cartage really involve.
How do omitted costs show up at the final account?
Omitted costs come back as variations, re-measured quantities, dayworks and extension-of-time claims. The site keeps working, the supervisor issues instructions to keep it moving, and each instruction adds to a valuation that was never in the contract sum. By the final account the totalled figure sits well above the accepted bid, and no one can trace which line created the difference.
Detect it early with a simple reconciliation. For every significant rate, place the tender allowance, the measured quantity from the site records and the quantity valued in the interim payment side by side. Where the measured quantity keeps exceeding the bill, stop and ask why. Request the site instruction register, the daily labour and plant returns, and any test records for fills or concrete. Confirm the answer against the measured drawings and the contract's valuation method before a dispute reaches the final account.
How do you close the gap before it reaches the final account?
Close the gap by holding the record together from award onward. Keep one running schedule that shows each rate, its allowance, the measured quantity to date and the amount certified. Update it at every payment cycle, not once at handover. Where a rate is out of step, bring it to the engineer before the next valuation so the instruction and the valuation match.
Confirm the local points as you go. Ask the supplier for a written quotation and note its date, so a stale price is visible before it becomes an extra. Check what the contract allows on variations, valuation of omissions and notice periods, and follow those clauses. Use this as general practice rather than a local rule, and confirm the method against the project specification or the engineer.
What to do next
Pick the three largest rates in the contract and build a reconciliation sheet for each: tender allowance, measured quantity, amount certified. Send it to the engineer with a request for the site instruction register and the current measured drawings. Book the review before the next payment cycle, not at the final account.
Frequently asked questions
What should a client ask for when a bid looks low in Qardho?
Ask for the build-up behind the largest rates and a line-by-line comparison against the drawings and specification. Ask the municipal engineer's office whether it holds records from recent works nearby, and walk one of those sites.
When should the final account be reviewed?
Reconcile tender allowances, measured quantities and certified amounts at each payment cycle. Wait until handover and the trail of instructions and valuations is harder to unpick.
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Qardho and Puntland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.