Comparing Proposals

Once proposals start arriving, the RFP tab is where you compare them. Each invited vendor has a card showing where they stand and, once submitted, their price estimate, their notes, and their uploaded documents.

Compare the scope, not only the number

The price estimate is the easiest thing to compare and the easiest way to choose badly. Before you rank on price, open each proposal document and check:

• What is included. Two quotes that differ by thirty percent are usually two different jobs.
• What is explicitly excluded. Disposal, permits, making good, after hours labour, and access equipment are the usual omissions.
• Timing. A cheaper quote that cannot start for four months may not be cheaper in any sense that matters.
• Insurance and licensing. Whatever your property requires, check it now rather than after the award.

Note what you found

Write your observations on the ticket while you have the documents open. If this goes to a board vote, the board is choosing from what you tell them, and "vendor B excludes disposal, which is about the difference in price" is the sentence that produces a good decision. A bare list of three numbers produces a decision based on the smallest one.

Watch the expiry dates

Check whether any proposal is close to expiring before you start a vote. A proposal that expires mid vote cannot be voted on, which wastes everyone's time and often means going back to the vendor for a fresh price.

If a vendor never responds

Chase them directly. An invitation sitting unanswered is not a decline, and the difference matters if anyone later asks whether you sought competitive quotes. If they will not engage, note that on the ticket so the record explains itself.

Next step

Where the decision is yours to make, go straight to awarding the work. Where the board decides, see Putting an RFP to a Board Vote.