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EPC Tender Response

Tender response software that walks each reference from the invitation into annexes and standards, and shows the estimator what the price does not yet carry.

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Follow one reference from the gauge to the estimate ↓
The problem

The tender points to a standard, and the costly sentence is inside it

An invitation to tender for a gas train runs to thousands of pages, and much of the scope is not written there at all. The annexes cite client standards and public codes, and those cite more. The proposal manager builds the compliance matrix from what the team has time to open, mostly the invitation and the first layer of annexes.

So a sentence like all piping shall be examined to the company standard gets answered comply, while a clause inside that standard changes how many welds are radiographed. The estimate never hears about it. After award it is a claim nobody can win, because the tender said so all along.

Built forProposal managersBid directorsLead estimatorsDiscipline leadsBid auditors

The Problem Today

A tender's real scope hides in standards it only points to, and few read them before the price is set.

$2.28M
of radiography from one sentence, three levels down our estimate

Read by hand today

  • Invitation
  • Annexes
  • Standards
  • Matrix
  • Scope three levels downAn annex points to a standard that changes the work
  • Weeks, not monthsThe team reads what the deadline leaves time for

The Solution

  1. Read the whole packageEach page split into numbered requirements, invitation to annexes
  2. Follow each referenceTraced to its clause, or flagged when the standard cannot be read
  3. Find what is not pricedEach requirement matched to the estimate, with gaps and indicative sums
  4. People price and signThe estimator prices; the bid director opens the source and signs

Built-in controls

  • Agents show indicative sums; only a person sets a price
  • A second person signs each line and batch
  • A missing standard stops the agent: it asks

What You Get

Scope buried in standards reaches the estimate before the price is frozen, with the clause behind each line.

  • A matrix with its trailEach answer shows the clause it rests on, page by page
  • Unpriced work in viewWhere it sits, how deep, and what it might cost
  • Gaps turned into questionsMissing standards become drafts for the bid director
One reference, one morning

Annex 7, one sentence, three levels down, and 3,800 welds missing from the bid

Twenty-three days before a gas train tender closes, the bid desk opens the depth gauge. Overnight the package was read and its references followed; by mid-morning one of them has a price.

demoSample data only: bidder, client, tender, people and numbers.

  1. 0108:02

    86% of the unpriced work sits in the standards, below the annexes

    Proposal manager

    The depth gauge draws the tender as it is built: the invitation on top, 38 annexes under it, 212 referenced standards under those. 3,348 of 6,214 requirements are priced. At the third level, 2,479 requirements are not yet tied to the estimate, which is where the gauge glows. Her next step is already named: route one line to the lead estimator.

  2. 0208:05

    Annex 7 points to 34 standards holding 498 more requirements

    Proposal manager

    Opening the piping annex shows why it glows. On its own pages sit 196 requirements, 148 priced. The standards it names hold 498 more, 339 unpriced, and 7 of them could not be followed. The most unpriced is the client's piping fabrication, examination and testing standard, with 39 requirements nobody has tied to a line.

  3. 0308:07

    Inside the piping standard: 61 requirements, 22 priced

    Proposal manager

    One dot opens the standard itself, reached through Annex 7. Among its 61 requirements she sees test packs witnessed by the company, film kept and handed over as digital copies, and the one that matters most: radiography on class D2S butt welds, where random selection does not apply. Each line in the panel opens its row in the matrix.

  4. 0410:14

    The count is confirmed: 3,800 welds the estimate does not carry

    Piping discipline lead

    The trail reads in four steps: Annex 7 clause 4.3, the standard's section 8.4, clause 8.4.2 on page 37, and Table 8-1. Against the line list, only D2S is used on this train. Of 4,222 butt welds, 422 are priced at 10% already, so 3,800 are missing. The piping lead confirms the count before anyone puts a number on it.

  5. 0510:20

    The estimator types his own rate, and the line is priced at $2,280,000

    Lead estimator

    Until now the figure was indicative, from the rate sheet, with no person behind it. The lead estimator enters his rate per weld and sets the price, and the answer for the compliance form goes in as comply. So far the bid itself is unchanged. Next in line is the bid director, who must open the source before she can sign.

  6. 0610:26

    The bid director reads clause 8.4.2 on its page before she signs

    Bid director

    Sign stays locked until the source is opened. The clause appears as the client wrote it: butt welds in the listed line classes receive full radiographic examination, and random selection does not apply. She reads it in context with the page reference beside it. Her signature then means she saw the sentence the money rests on.

  7. 0710:29

    Nine requirements move to priced, and the count goes to 3,357

    Bid director

    She signs as written. Into the estimate goes the line, nine requirements change to priced with the answer comply, and the counter at the top climbs from 3,348 to 3,357 of 6,214. The note under her name says who priced it and who signed it. The proposal manager sees the new count without asking anyone.

  8. 0810:32

    Where the client standard is not in the package, the agent stops

    Reference follower

    A metering clause in Annex 13 points to a client standard that the package does not contain. The agent opens the clause, finds the standard missing, and stops there. It will not guess what the standard says. It writes the requirement to the matrix with its trail and drafts a question for the client, which waits for the bid director to release it.

  9. 0910:40

    $11,471,590 of base scope found on 11 lines, $2,280,000 signed

    Lead estimator

    The estimate view adds it up for the desk: base scope found on 11 valued lines, how much a person has priced, how much is still indicative, what is signed into the estimate, and one priced option kept outside the base. Each line names its requirements, its quantity and rate, its discipline and where it stands, so the estimator knows what still needs him.

Four things a tender hides that the read brings up

Each one was found on a page someone would normally skip.

A clause that changes the inspection scope

Full radiography on one line class, three levels below the invitation

A record due with the bid

Sour service welding procedure records named in a quality standard, listed nowhere else

Standards the package does not hold

9 client standards missing and 17 public codes not in the library; the agent asks

Pages that cannot be read

14 scanned pages held, and no requirement inferred from them

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the bid

The compliance matrix, deviations and questions behind one tender response

Where the proposal team, the bid director and the auditor work on the same package.

Compliance matrixRequirement rows with their trail, owner, answer and state, filtered by level, state or discipline. Confidence figures are sample data, not a measured result.
Who owns whatEach discipline lead with requirements, priced and unpriced counts, rows past the one-day routing clock and a due date. The piping lead holds 920, with 38 past the clock.
The tender packageEach file with its pages, requirements, priced count and standards named. 14 pages of scanned drawings are held, and a clean copy is asked for.
Exceptions and deviations list14 proposed, each with what the tender says, what is proposed, the effect and the risk of rejection. Only those the bid director approves go on the form.
Tender clarification questions96 on this tender, 12 of them shown here. Agents draft and merge repeats; nothing reaches the client until the bid director releases it.
Audit trail, people onlyWho routed, confirmed, priced, opened and signed, minute by minute, for the evidence pack.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The agents

Package reader to addendum comparer: what each may not decide

They read, follow, match and draft. Answers and prices belong to people.

Package reader

Splits every page of the package into numbered requirements.

  • Never skips an illegible page silently
Reference follower

Follows each reference to its clause, level by level.

  • Never guesses at text it cannot see
  • Never copies licensed text out of your library
Requirement writer

Writes matrix rows with their trail and confidence.

  • Never chooses comply or deviate
Mandatory item watcher

Finds what could make the bid non-responsive.

  • Never marks an item ready
Scope matcher

Ties requirements to estimate lines and shows an indicative figure.

  • Never sets a price
Clarification drafter

Writes the client questions and merges repeats.

  • Sends nothing to the client
  • Never reveals price or method
Addendum comparer

Compares each addendum with the answers already given.

  • Never changes an answer

What only the bid team decides on this tender

Agents trace and draft. A named person on the bid team makes each of these calls.

The price of a lineThe scope matcher shows an indicative figure. The lead estimator sets the price, and the bid director countersigns.
Comply or deviateThe requirement owner answers each row; a deviation goes on the form only once the bid director approves it.
What a missing standard saysThe reference follower stops and drafts a question. Nobody fills the gap with a guess.
What the client is askedQuestions wait until the bid director releases them, and carry no price or method.

What it reads for each tender

Connections are read only: the tender portal, the library and the estimate.

Tender portal and document controlInvitation, annexes and addenda, with pages
Standards libraryClient standards in the package and your licensed codes
Estimating systemEstimate lines and the rate sheet
Line list and take-offsLine classes and weld counts from the piping take-off

What proposal managers and estimators ask about tender response

What is tender response software?

Tender response software helps a bid team answer an invitation to tender requirement by requirement. This one reads the whole package, follows each reference into annexes and standards, writes the compliance matrix with a trail for every row, and shows the estimator what the price does not yet carry.

How is this different from a compliance matrix in a spreadsheet?

Each row carries its trail, from the sentence in the invitation down to the clause and page in the standard, and its state against the estimate. A spreadsheet matrix stops where the team stopped reading.

What happens when a referenced standard is not in the tender package?

The reference follower stops, says so, and drafts a clarification question. It never guesses at the text. Codes you hold under license are read from your own library and never copied out of it.

Who sets the price of a line the agents find?

The lead estimator, from his own rates. The agents show an indicative figure so the line can be ranked, and the bid director reads the source clause before she signs.

Can the agents contact the client?

No. Questions are drafted and merged by the agents, and released by the bid director. Deviations go on the deviation form only once she approves them.

Can it handle addenda issued during the tender?

Yes. The addendum comparer sets each addendum against the answers already given and lists what it touches, so the proposal manager can reopen those rows.

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Bring a tender you priced
and the standards it named.

Bring the package; we trace its references together and look at what sat below the annexes.

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