1. Why change begins with the client
Three reasons, and they run through the whole guide. A company does not change the form of its tender without a reason, because the present form works for it. No single tenderer can impose a common form alone, since it is not theirs to decide. And the client sets the conditions of the procurement, which is why only the client can prescribe the form.
According to professional sources, the client's awareness and requirement is the lever that should move matters towards a common tender form. This is therefore not a Quostra position but a conclusion already formulated in Estonian professional literature: the standard exists, companies calculate in detail, and what is missing in between is only the requirement.
2. What can and cannot be required
The boundary is simple and worth remembering word for word. A selling price is negotiable, a purchase price is not.
| Can be required | Not worth requiring |
|---|---|
| A common structure in which prices are presented | showing costs and margin separately |
| Quantities, provided by the client or presented in a common form | subcontractors' purchase prices |
| Unit prices, which are selling prices | the company's internal accounts |
The three on the left are covered in more detail by the article on three things to ask for, and none of them reveals the company's costs or margin. All three already exist within the company, so the requirement creates no new work for it but changes how the result is presented.
A client is entitled to know what is inside the price. It does not need to know how much the tenderer earns. Crossing that boundary does not produce a better price and may lead the strongest tenderer to withdraw.
3. When to require it
One moment that cannot be replaced later, and this is the most practical conclusion in the whole guide. It is the drafting of the procurement conditions.
The requirement must be made before tenders are invited. Once tenders have been received the structure can no longer be changed, since that would mean a new procurement, and once the contract is signed unit prices can no longer be agreed, since competition has ended.
The three requirements cost little in preparation, and their absence cannot afterwards be repaired at any price. Pricing variations without unit prices is meanwhile a cost that runs for the whole construction period, as covered by the article on variations.
4. What happens if nothing is required
Four consequences, all of them arising from one decision that was not taken. The decision concerns the form of the tender.
| Consequence | When it appears |
|---|---|
| Tenders are not comparable | at evaluation |
| A missing item of work does not show | during construction |
| Variations are priced without competition | throughout construction |
| Costs cannot be tracked at line level | throughout construction |
The last two run for the whole of construction, as covered by the article on tracking costs. The decision that would have prevented all four would have taken one page in preparation.
5. Who counts as a client in this guide
Three roles, to which it applies equally, though the volumes differ. The lever is the same for all three.
A private individual building or reconstructing. An apartment association commissioning work. And a company or institution commissioning construction. A public contracting authority has separate rules in addition, which are covered in a separate guide.
All three have the same lever: the client sets the conditions of the procurement, and the form of the tender follows them. The form cannot be changed afterwards.
Summary and four practical rules
Change begins with the client, because a company does not change the form without a reason and no single tenderer can impose a common form alone, which is why professional sources name the client's requirement as the lever. What can be required is a common structure, quantities and unit prices, all of which already exist within the company and none of which reveals a margin, whereas showing costs and margin separately is not worth requiring. The requirement must be made before tenders are invited, since after they are received changing the structure would mean a new procurement, and after the contract competition has ended.
Four rules: put the structure in the procurement conditions, not in later correspondence. Hold the boundary: what is inside the price, not how much anyone earns. Agree unit prices while competition still lasts. Bear in mind that four consequences follow from one decision left untaken.
This article offers professional orientation as at the date of verification. It replaces neither a quotation nor the assessment of a competent specialist.