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Level subcontractor bids against the scope, by specialist brief

For: Commercial manager, quantity surveyor or estimator comparing trade package bids

Pattern: Specialist panelRuns todayDesigned for 4 to 80 agents
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The pain today

Bids for the same package arrive in different formats with different exclusions, qualifications and programme assumptions. The lowest price often hides scope gaps that come back as variations.

The ask

“I attached the scope of works and tender instructions for this package and the bids we received. For each bid, tell me what it excludes or qualifies against the scope, what programme and access it assumes, what it says on safety and quality, and how its commercial terms differ from ours. Quote the bid.”

Plain words, as you would say it to a colleague. Edit it to fit your case before you send it.

What you attach or connect

  • Scope of works and tender instructions
  • Bids with qualifications and exclusions as text
  • Proposed subcontract terms

The unit of work

One worker task per one bid under one specialist brief.

Why a swarm fits

Four briefs read each bid against the same scope. Bids are independent and each brief needs only its part of the scope, so the work splits cleanly even in a small run.

Not for

Pricing the gaps, checking rates against the market or recommending an award. Two simple bids are quicker to read directly.

The decision tree

6 typed decisions, each with an action for every answer

At fixed moments in a run, the engine puts one narrow question to a decision model. The decision model never writes text: it answers yes or no with a probability, picks from listed options, or gives a score, about a small slice of the material. The engine then does exactly what this tree says, which is what makes the run auditable. The thresholds are the template's design values, not measured results.

  1. Planner, while planning

    Scope checkYes or no, with a probability

    Before work starts on a unit

    Does the bid's cover letter or form of tender name this trade package and the current tender issue?

    Sees only: The bid's cover page and the tender instruction's package title

    Why: Keeps bids for other packages or earlier issues out of the comparison.

    • Yes: 0.60 or higherthenAccept
    • Unsure: 0.30 up to 0.60thenEscalate to a strong model
    • No: below 0.30thenSkip this unit

  2. Before workers, before a task runs

    Small worker or strong modelA choice among options

    Before a task runs

    Which brief does this bid passage belong to?

    Sees only: One bid passage with its heading

    Why: Each specialist reads only its own passages, which is what makes a small run workable.

    • Scope, exclusions and qualificationsthenAccept
    • Programme and accessthenAccept
    • Safety and qualitythenAccept
    • Commercial termsthenAccept
    • UnclearthenEscalate to a strong model

  3. After workers, the judge checks

    Evidence checkA choice among options

    After a worker answers

    Does the bid text include, exclude or qualify the scope item named in this checklist line?

    Sees only: One scope item and the bid passages that mention it

    Why: Silence is reported as silence and becomes a clarification question, never an assumed inclusion.

    • Included without qualificationthenAccept
    • ExcludedthenMark unresolved
    • Included with a qualificationthenMark unresolved
    • Bid is silent on itthenMark unresolved

  4. Evidence checkYes or no, with a probability

    After a worker answers

    Does the figure in the comparison match the figure and currency in the quoted bid passage, character for character?

    Sees only: One comparison cell and the quoted bid passage

    Why: Guarantees prices are only restated, never adjusted or estimated.

    • Yes: 0.85 or higherthenAccept
    • Unsure: 0.50 up to 0.85thenEscalate to a strong model
    • No: below 0.50thenReject and retry

  5. Reconciler, while merging

    Conflict checkA choice among options

    While reconciling

    Do the passages from two bids address the same scope item?

    Sees only: One passage from each of two bids and the scope item

    Why: Builds a like-for-like view and keeps differences between bidders visible.

    • Same item, both includethenAccept
    • Same item, treated differentlythenMark unresolved
    • Different itemsthenContinue

  6. Accountable person, before anything is settled

    Person decidesYes or no, with a probability

    Before anything is reported as settled

    Does the finding lead to a clarification question to a bidder, or affect how bids compare on scope?

    Sees only: One comparison row with quotes

    Why: The commercial manager owns all bidder contact and the recommendation; the swarm recommends no award.

    Accountable: The commercial manager owns the award recommendation and all contact with bidders; the project director owns the award.

    • Yes: 0.40 or higherthenAsk a person
    • Unsure: 0.15 up to 0.40thenAsk a person
    • No: below 0.15thenAccept

The fleet: who does what

Model tiers by role, not brands: you choose the models. Strong reasoning models plan and reconcile, small fast models do the wide work, and the judge is a decision model from a different family, so it does not share the workers' blind spots.

  1. Planner

    A strong reasoning model breaks the scope into checkable items and gives each brief the items it owns.

    Decisions here:1. Scope check

  2. Workers

    Small fast workers hold one brief each: scope and exclusions, programme and access, safety and quality, commercial terms.

    Designed for 4 to 80 agents, one worker task per one bid under one specialist brief. Each worker receives only its own unit.

    Decisions here:2. Small worker or strong model

  3. Judge, from a different model family

    A decision model from a different family checks each claimed exclusion or deviation against the quoted bid text.

    Decisions here:3. Evidence check4. Evidence check

  4. Reconciler

    A strong reasoning model builds a like-for-like comparison and keeps items where a bid is silent or unclear.

    Decisions here:5. Conflict check

  5. Accountable person

    The commercial manager owns the award recommendation and all contact with bidders; the project director owns the award.

    Decisions here:6. Person decides

Checked before anything is accepted

  • Each exclusion or qualification quotes the bid passage and the scope item
  • Silence on a scope item is reported as silence, not as inclusion
  • Prices are only restated from the bids, never adjusted or estimated

What comes back

  • Like-for-like comparison of bids against scope items
  • Exclusions and qualifications per bid with quotes
  • Clarification questions per bidder
  • Deviations from proposed subcontract terms

What to measure

  • Scope gaps confirmed by the quantity surveyor
  • Variations later traced to a missed exclusion
  • Time to issue clarification questions
  • Cost per bid

Names of measures only. No result is claimed for this template.

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