Firstly, for Project Bid Analysis, the bidding prices are to be compared with the company’s estimate. Analysts who perform these calculations are trained and well skilled, hence they can easily identify irregular bids and abnormal patterns. There are certain guidelines for identifying the unusual activities which help the analysts to do their tasks effectively and efficiently.
These guidelines include plotting of the contractor’s bids geographically and this is done for possible arrangements in the territory. Apart from this, the bidding patterns indicate possible alternating of the contracts (if any).
Identifying the Bidding Patterns
Division of Work :
When a group of contractors bid the same contracts with a different low bidder for each of them.
Territorial Arrangement :
A group of contractors who bid the same contracts within a given area but with different low bidder for each.
Alternating Arrangement :
Group of contractors who bid the same contracts but these bids are irregular yet can be identified. The order of bidders is decided on the basis of one or two elements like same price per unit with one or two exceptions (if any). Once these tenders are submitted, they are evaluated to arrive at the preferred bidder.
Bids are evaluated firstly on a number of criteria before the selection of final bidder. The criteria for evaluation is not fully technical, but an estimation is made if the technical solution provided by the bidder is feasible and reliable, and as per the cost structure of the project. Further, the proposed project management is also taken into consideration i.e. the bidding consortium must look as a cohesive entity.
A major issue for the Project Bid Analysis (of alternative bids) is that sometimes only one bidder may submit a tender in spite of the authority having issued an invitation to tender to the several candidates who are shortlisted. If such situation arises, proceed case by case. If the bidder interest seems low, may be because of deficiencies in the tender documents, like specifications (but there are possibilities to resolve the issue), then the best possible solution would be the one to repeat the tender procedure.
On the other hand, if it is found that the bid was made as per the expectation of high level of competition, then in such a case a possible solution would be to continue with procedure as it is and consider that particular (sole) bidder as the winner. But make sure that the tender fulfils all the criteria specified for the deal. Sometimes, rejected bidders are confident that they had a high possibility to win the bid, and then in this situation, there is a minimum “standstill period” which is usually of 10 days. This allows the rejected bidders to conduct their own review and conclude if they wish to challenge the winner. Thus, in this way a Project Bid Analysis can be done to arrive at the final bidder.
Tips for Project Bid Analysis
There are certain tips and guidelines to be considered for Project Bid Analysis. These would be comparison of the bids against the company’s estimate, number of bids in the competition, range of bids which are received, identity of the bidders along with their geographical presence, savings capacity in case if the project is to be re-advertised, bid prices for the project, and comparison with others. Apart from these, other factors would be urgency of the project for which the bid is taking place, current economy of the country and market conditions and variations in the bids from the estimate, and reason behind this. All these factors when considered in combination of one another would prove effective rather than just choosing few of them independently
Comparison of Bid Prices for Project Bid Analysis
A comparison of bid prices has to be made to determine whether the contractors are bidding consistent prices for various projects. Usually, there is adequate number of projects for each letting the reason being comparison among the bidders (large projects are exceptions). Sometimes, it may happen that the bids compared are from different geographical locations then the reviewers must be aware of geographic price differences, which usually remain constant even if the overall conditions of the market change.