Why do mobilization prices look too low in Borama bids?

A mobilization price that looks too low in a Borama bid usually means the estimator priced the tender day, not the first real week on site. Mobilization covers everything that must be paid for before permanent work starts: moving plant, hiring or buying tools, setting up water and power, fencing, a store, a site office and security. When that line is thin, the money to start the job is missing, and the first weeks stall. Review the mobilization pricing underbidding risks Borama bidders carry before you compare totals.

What does mobilization actually pay for?

Mobilization is the cost of moving resources to the site and keeping them there until the work can run. A building site in Somaliland needs transport for plant and materials, a secure store for cement and tools, a water source, power or fuel for a generator, a site office, a latrine, boundary marking and a watchman. The estimator must also allow for the supervision team's own travel and lodging while the first works are set up. Ask the bidder to list each item with the quantity behind it: litres of water per day, number of trips, days of plant hire, weeks of guarding. If the list stops at a gate and a signboard, the rest of the setup has been left out of the price. Confirm what the project specification requires for site establishment by asking the engineer who prepared the tender documents.

Why does the price come out below the real setup cost?

A low mobilization figure comes from pricing a short opening period and assuming the later works will repay it. The estimator sees a tender period of a few days and prices only the visible items: transport, a store, maybe a watchman. The costs that bite later, extra water carting during dry spells, extra guarding, fuel for a pump, repairs to the access track, go into general overheads and never get funded. If the contract pays mobilization as a lump sum on day one, or as a percentage tied to early work, the shortfall lands on the contractor after the money is spent. Watch how the bid handles the gap between arrival on site and the first certified valuation. A bid that cannot describe that gap in weeks has not priced it.

How do you check a thin mobilization line before award?

Compare the start-up allowance against a written list of what the site needs. Walk the plot with the bidder and the engineer and count the items: access route, water point, power source, storage, security, temporary works. Ask for the plant list with ownership or hire arrangements, the labour plan for the first month, and the water supply plan. Ask when the bidder expects the first interim payment and how the work is funded until then. Check the contract for what mobilization covers, whether payment is a lump sum or measured against milestone items, and what evidence the engineer must certify before release. Request records from a recent site the bidder has started, or visit one, to see whether the setup on the ground matches the tender list. Ask the municipal engineer's office what site establishment the location requires before you settle the scope.

What to do next

Write a start-up schedule for the plot: access, water, power, store, security and plant, with the weeks each is needed. Send it to every bidder and ask for a priced response line by line. Before award, compare those responses against the contract's payment terms, and agree with the engineer which milestones release the money. Keep the schedule on site for the first month and tick it off as each item arrives.