Home / Services / Tender documents and evaluation
Tender documents and tender evaluation in Kenya
The contract you sign is decided at tender. I prepare documents contractors can price without guessing, check what comes back, and tell you in writing which tender is the best value and why.
By Edwin, quantity surveyor, registered with IQSK. 10 years in practice. Fixed fee agreed in writing.
Preparing the tender
A tender document set is the instructions to tenderers, the form of tender, the conditions of contract, the specification, the drawings and the bill of quantities. If any of these is vague, contractors either price the risk or leave it out and claim for it later. Both cost you money.
- Tender documents for private work under the standard Kenyan building contract forms
- FIDIC-based documents where the funder requires them
- Public tender documents following the standard formats required under the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015
- A pre-tender estimate, kept confidential, to judge the tenders against
Evaluating what comes back
The lowest figure is not always the lowest cost. I check each tender for arithmetic errors, items left unpriced, rates that are too low to be delivered and rates loaded onto early work so the contractor is paid ahead of progress. The evaluation report sets the tenders side by side and explains each adjustment.
I also check the things outside the price: whether the contractor is registered with the National Construction Authority in the right category, what they have built before, and whether their programme is believable.
For contractors: pricing a tender
If you are the one tendering, I price the bill for you with rate build-ups you can defend: materials at current local prices, labour outputs, plant, wastage, overheads and margin shown separately. You see what your margin is before you sign, not after.
For public bodies
Public procurement in Kenya follows the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 and its regulations. I prepare the engineer's estimate and bill of quantities for the tender document and can sit as the technical member supporting an evaluation committee, with a report that follows the criteria stated in the tender document and nothing else.
Before you sign
I prepare the contract documents for signature, with the agreed corrections written in: the contract sum, the programme, the payment terms, retention, the defects liability period and the rates that will be used to value changes.
Questions clients ask
Should I always take the lowest tender?
No. A tender priced below what the work costs usually ends in claims, delay or an abandoned site. The evaluation shows which tender is the lowest that can actually be delivered.
How many contractors should I invite?
For a private project, three to five who are registered for work of that size and have built something similar. More than that adds evaluation time without improving the price.
Can you act for a contractor on a tender you prepared?
No. I do not act for both sides on the same contract.
Get a fixed-fee quote
Send your drawings for tender documents and evaluation. You get a written scope, a fixed fee and a delivery date within two working days. No charge and no obligation for the quote.