How do you check test records before a low bid in Qardho?

In Qardho, a low testing line in a bid often means the records that prove the result were left out. A tenderer prices the concrete cube test or the compaction check, then leaves out the sampling, the storage, the transport and the record that ties the result to the work. The bid is low because the evidence is missing, not because the work is cheaper. Those missing steps are where test record control is underbid, and the gap surfaces later.

What does a test record actually control?

It links a result to a place, a date, a mix or a layer, and a person who signed for it.

The test itself is a small part of the cost. Someone samples at the right point, labels the sample, keeps it at the right temperature, carries it to a laboratory, files the certificate against a pour reference or a chainage, and answers queries later. Take those steps out and a certificate proves nothing about the wall or the road. The money saved sits in the labour and the administration, and it is invisible in a priced bill.

Ask how the contractor will identify each sample. A record needs a location, a date, a material or mix reference and the name of the person who took the sample. General practice is one sample reference per batch, pour or layer, but confirm the schedule and the acceptance criteria in the project specification or with the engineer. Without that link, a passing result can belong to any pour on the site.

How does the gap show up in a low bid?

It hides in a single round sum, or it does not appear at all.

Look at the priced schedule you receive. A bidder may write "testing" as a lump sum with no breakdown, or leave the line blank and say tests will be done as required. Neither tells you who pays for repeat tests, standby time, laboratory turnaround or the records clerk. Unrealistic tender allowances and omitted costs sit in exactly this place. Ask each bidder to break out sampling, transport, laboratory charges, repeat tests and record submission, and to name the laboratory it will use. Then ask that laboratory, in writing, what it needs from the site to issue a certificate that names the pour.

Ask each bidder where its laboratory is and how samples will travel there. Ask about the route, the holding time and the sample container, and confirm the maximum travel and storage time in the specification. A result from a sample that sat too long proves nothing.

How do you check the records before you award?

Require a sample record and a submission routine with the bid, not after the first pour.

Ask for a one-page record format, a register that lists every test against its location, and the name of the person who keeps it. The project specification or the engineer should say who holds the register; ask before you award if the contract documents do not settle it. State in the tender that test records form part of the handover documents, and check what your contract allows you to do if a record is missing or late. Walk a recent site with the bidder and ask to see its register. If it cannot show one, the bid price and the record control are not aligned.

For local requirements, ask the relevant authority what it expects for inspections and completion, and ask the laboratory what it needs to issue a certificate that names the pour or the layer. Confirm all testing limits against the project specification or the engineer.

What to do next

Before you award, send every bidder the same written request: a broken-out testing price, the record format, the laboratory name and the submission routine. Compare the replies line by line, not the totals. If a bidder cannot produce a record format and a named laboratory, price the missing control yourself before you sign.