How do you check who did what on a Qardho build?

Attribution gaps in Qardho start when a bidder lists finished buildings without saying what its own crew did on them. A firm can show a school, a villa and a warehouse and still have only supplied labour to one of them. If nobody asks which tasks it ran, with its own plant and its own supervisor, the list proves nothing about the work you are about to buy.

What does portfolio attribution mean on a Qardho bid?

Attribution separates the project from the firm's part in it. A bidder may submit a folder of photographs and a list of completed jobs, and the folder does not say who poured the slab, who set the rebar laps or who ran the site day to day. A firm that was one of three subcontractors can present the same photographs as a firm that held the main contract. Check the bid against a simple task list: earthworks, foundation concrete, blockwork, roof structure, roof covering, water and drainage, electrical containment. Ask the bidder to name, in writing, which of those it executed with its own crew, which it sublet, and which the main contractor or the client's other trades did. If the firm cannot put a name and a role against each task, treat the claim as unverified until you check it.

Why do unclear past roles hide capability gaps?

Unclear roles let a weak crew ride on someone else's work. The mechanism is simple. On some shared sites supervision sits with the main contractor, so check who held it. A subcontractor's crew learns only the part it was given. A firm that only mixed and placed concrete may never have set out a building, checked rebar laps before a pour, or handled roof sheets in coastal wind. When that firm prices your project as the main contractor, it has to run tasks it has never run. The gaps show up later as rework: a foundation set out to the wrong line, a pour with no cube test record, or a roof that leaks after the first wet season. None of this means the firm is dishonest. It means the evidence collected so far describes a different job. Ask for the scope of the firm's own work on each listed project, the name of the client, the name of the previous supervisor, and the period the crew was on site.

How do you verify attribution before you award?

Move from documents to people and records. Ask the bidder for two or three references with a named contact for each project, then call those contacts and ask one question: what did this firm actually build? Ask the same question of the previous supervisor or engineer where a contact exists. Walk a recent site if the client allows it, and look at the details the firm claims to have executed: lift joints, block coursing, roof sheet laps, drainage falls, earthing connections. Check any test records, including concrete cube results, compaction records, and pressure test records for pipework, and ask which laboratory or engineer produced them. Where a record is missing, ask the bidder's project manager to describe the method used and the inspection points, then compare that with the project specification. For ground and setting out, ask the municipal engineer's office whether it holds any record of the site, and confirm all technical limits, including cover, lap lengths and test frequencies, against your own specification and engineer.

What to do next

Pick the bidder you are closest to appointing and issue one short form before award. It should ask for three past projects, the firm's own scope on each, the client contact, the previous supervisor, and the dates. Set a deadline of seven days. When the replies arrive, call two contacts and walk one recent site. Score the bid on what you can verify.