A facade tender usually returns several offers that look similar on the cover page and differ a great deal inside. Each bidder has read the drawings, the specification and the site conditions in its own way, then written its assumptions into the small print. The total at the bottom only means something once you know what sits above it. This article is about reading those offers as technical documents, not as price lists, so that the comparison is fair to every bidder and useful to the client.
If you are still preparing the enquiry, what to send a facade manufacturer covers the information that gives bidders a common starting point. Here the offers have arrived and the task is to understand them.
Start with one comparison sheet
Before reading any offer in detail, set up a single sheet with the same rows for every bidder. Each row is a question the offers must answer: which system, which glass, which finish, which tests, which interfaces, which programme. Each column is a bidder. As you read, fill each cell with what the offer actually says, not what you expect it to say. Empty cells are as informative as filled ones.
Keep the sheet neutral. Use the wording from each offer, note the page or clause it came from, and avoid shorthand that hides differences. When the project has a facade consultant, agree the rows with them first, because they will know which specification items carry the most risk on this particular building.
- Scope: elevations, systems and areas included, and anything shown on drawings but not priced.
- Specification: system series, glass build-up, finish type, gaskets, sealants and hardware.
- Design: who carries engineering responsibility, and what calculations and drawings are produced.
- Testing: which laboratory or site tests and which mock-ups are included.
- Interfaces: where the facade package starts and stops against other trades.
- Programme: dates for design, approvals, fabrication and installation.
Read the qualifications before anything else
Most offers carry a list of qualifications, sometimes called clarifications, assumptions or notes. This list is where the bidder tells you the conditions under which its offer holds. A qualification such as "based on tender drawings only" or "subject to final design loads" is not unusual, but it shifts risk back to the client if the design develops.
Read these lists side by side. One bidder may assume a single drawing revision, another may assume continuous hoist access, a third may assume that anchors are cast in by others. Each assumption is reasonable on its own. Together they mean the offers are describing different jobs. Mark every qualification in the sheet and decide which ones the project can accept.
Find the deviations from the specification
A deviation is any place where the offered product differs from what was specified. Some bidders state them clearly in a separate schedule. Others hide them inside a product description or an "or equivalent" phrase. A different system series, a changed glass build-up, a substituted coating type or an alternative cladding material can each alter performance, appearance and maintenance.
Ask every bidder to confirm compliance with the specification clause by clause, or to list deviations explicitly. Treat a deviation as a proposal, not a defect: some are genuine improvements or practical alternatives. The facade consultant and the architect then decide whether each one is acceptable, and the decision is recorded so the eventual contract reflects it.
Check who is doing the design
Facade contracts often leave detailed design to the specialist. The offer should say who prepares structural calculations, who produces shop drawings, how many review cycles are included and whether the bidder accepts design responsibility for the system. A low offer that assumes the client's team will finish the engineering has moved cost elsewhere, not removed it.
Look also at the design assumptions the bidder has used. Wind load basis, movement allowances, glass sizes and anchor positions all affect what was priced. If one offer is based on a lighter set of assumptions than the others, the difference may reappear as a variation once the design is checked. Our guide to reading facade shop drawings explains what those later drawings should show.
Compare testing and mock-ups line by line
Testing is easy to leave vague. One offer may include a full performance test, another only a site water check, and a third may exclude testing entirely. A visual mock-up and a performance mock-up are different things, and the offer should say which is included, at what size and where it will be built.
Ask what each included test measures and who arranges the laboratory, witnessing and retesting if a specimen needs adjustment. The testing page describes the common facade tests and what each one looks at. A clear testing scope in the offer avoids an argument later about who pays for a repeat.
Map the interfaces with other trades
Facades meet slabs, columns, roofs, balconies, internal finishes and building services. Each meeting point needs an owner. Offers commonly differ on fire stopping at slab edges, perimeter sealing to masonry, brackets cast into concrete, flashings at roof level and internal trims. If no offer includes an item, it still has to be built by someone.
Draw a simple interface list for the project and ask each bidder to mark what it includes. Gaps should be closed in the facade package or assigned clearly to another contractor. Overlaps, where two packages price the same item, should be removed. Both are common and both are cheaper to resolve before award than on site.
Read the programme and the logistics
A programme that shows design, approvals, fabrication, delivery and installation as separate stages tells you the bidder has thought through the sequence. A single bar labelled "facade works" tells you very little. Check that the programme fits the main contract dates and allows for review of shop drawings and the mock-up.
Logistics are part of the same picture. Offers may assume access equipment, storage space, crane time or working hours that the site cannot provide. For a curtain wall, hoisting and storage of glazed units can drive the whole sequence. Ask each bidder what it needs from the main contractor and record it.
Do not forget the end of the job. Offers vary on protection of finished work, final cleaning, as-built drawings, maintenance guidance and the warranty that follows completion. These items rarely change the headline figure much, but they decide how easy the facade is to own. Ask each bidder to state what it will hand over and what warranty terms it proposes, then compare them in the same sheet. Facade warranty and defect liability explains what that wording should cover.
Run a clarification round in writing
Once the sheet is filled, send each bidder a written list of questions about its own gaps, qualifications and deviations. Ask the same core questions of everyone so the replies are comparable. Set a response date and request answers in writing, referenced to the original offer.
A short technical meeting with each shortlisted bidder can help. Ask them to walk through the system, the testing plan and the installation sequence. The way a team explains its own offer says a good deal about how it will handle design development. Record the meeting and fold any confirmed changes into a revised offer.
- List every qualification and deviation per bidder.
- Ask each bidder to accept, withdraw or explain each item.
- Confirm design responsibility, testing scope and interfaces in writing.
- Request a revised offer that reflects the agreed position.
- Only then compare the revised totals and programmes.
Decide on the whole offer
After clarification, the offers should describe the same facade under the same conditions. At that point price, programme, technical quality and the bidder's capability can be weighed together. A brief scoring method agreed in advance keeps the decision transparent for the client and fair to the bidders. For a wider view of selection, see how to choose a facade contractor.
Carry the clarified position into the contract. The agreed specification, deviations, interfaces and testing scope should be attached or referenced, so that the document used on site matches the offer that was chosen. Most later disputes over scope come from details that were clear in a meeting but never written into the contract.
General guidance for orientation, not a specification. Applicable standards, values and details are confirmed per project with the facade consultant.
