In brief
- A low tender can be low because site overheads were left out, not because the work will cost less.
- Compare each bid's list of site overheads against the same scope sheet before you rank the totals.
Contents
A Garowe bid can come in low because site overheads were left out of the tender, not because the work costs less. Site overheads are the things a contractor must pay for to keep a site running: supervision, security, water for works, power, storage, temporary access and the people who manage them. If those lines are missing from the priced bill, the total is smaller and the risk sits with the client.
How do site overheads get left out of a Garowe bid?
They appear when estimators price the visible work and leave the running of the site unpriced. A bill may list concrete, blockwork and roofing while supervision, a store, water carting or a night watch have no line at all. The bid then looks cheaper than a rival bid that carries those items openly.
Check the mechanism on the documents. Ask for the priced bill and a separate schedule of site overheads, then set both against the same scope sheet. Where a bid has no supervision line, ask who is on site each day and who signs for deliveries. Where it has no water line, ask where water for mixing and curing will come from and who pays for the trip. A bid that cannot answer these questions has either omitted the cost or plans to recover it later through variations. Both outcomes change the real price, so the comparison must be made on the same scope, not on the bottom line alone.
What does an underfunded site operation look like?
An underfunded site shows in the daily decisions, not in the paperwork. The first signs are thin supervision, borrowed tools and materials stored in the open.
Walk a recent job by the same bidder and look for:
- one person covering supervision and buying at the same time
- no locked store, or cement stacked where rain and dust reach it
- no record of who received each delivery
- curing water carried by hand when the pour needs a steady supply
Ask the site foreman who signs the delivery notes and who checks the concrete before placing. Ask the municipal engineer's office which permits and site obligations apply to the plot, and request the test records for any concrete already placed. A bidder who cannot show a supervision name, a store and a water plan is likely to run the site on cash flow from the next payment, which is where delay and poor work start. Treat these as checks to run, not as proof about any one firm.
How do you compare bids without hiding the gap?
Put every bid on one scope sheet before you rank totals. List the work items and the site overheads separately, then ask each bidder to price the same lines.
General practice is to keep supervision, temporary water, power, security, storage and access as their own lines, and to confirm the exact list against the project specification and the engineer's direction. Ask each bidder for a written method statement covering daily supervision, water supply and material storage. Then compare the overhead lines side by side and note where a bid is silent. A silent line is not a saving; it is a question. Ask the bidder to confirm in writing that the price includes that item, and keep the answer with the tender file. If the answer is no, the client can decide whether to accept the risk or ask for a revised price before award.
What to do next
Take your two lowest bids and place them on one scope sheet that separates work items from site overheads. Send both bidders the same written list and ask them to confirm which lines their price covers. Keep the replies with the tender file and use them at the award meeting, not after the first payment.
Frequently asked questions
Can a contractor simply add site overheads later as a variation?
Only if the contract allows it. Check what the tender and contract say about items the bill omitted, and ask the engineer before award rather than after work starts.
How many bids should I compare on the same scope sheet?
Compare every bid you intend to consider. Two or three priced on the same lines will show which overheads each bidder left out.
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Garowe and Puntland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.