What you will be able to do after this lesson
You will assemble a request package that lets proposals from different factories be compared line by line.
Why it matters
A request for proposal is the spec plus the rules for responding. The supplier is asked to reply in the same structure: inclusions, exclusions, deviations from the spec, the price of the product separately from delivery, installation, design and external utilities, proposal validity period, delivery time, warranty, acceptance criteria.
The deviation table matters more than the bottom line. If one factory excluded ventilation while another included the crane and installation, the lowest price says nothing about the cost of the building. First align the scope, then compare the money.
For large volumes, decide in advance whether several manufacturers may cooperate under a single compatibility standard. This changes both the schedule and the structure of the request: it then includes common requirements for geometry, connection details and acceptance.
| Item | Question to each supplier |
|---|---|
| Series and frame | Steel thickness and protection, number of floors, demountability |
| Building envelope | Panel type, insulation material and thickness separately for walls, floor and roof |
| Engineering systems | What is installed at the factory, what is connected on site |
| Scope of supply | Foundation, delivery, crane, installation, external utilities, commissioning |
| Documents | Product passport, drawings, quality certificates, as-built documentation |
| Lead times and warranty | Production lead time, price validity period, warranty and its scope |
How to apply this on a project
- Step 1. Attach a single baseline specification and a list of drawings.
- Step 2. Ask the supplier to list inclusions, exclusions and deviations from the spec separately.
- Step 3. Separate the price of the product, delivery, installation, design and external utilities.
- Step 4. Fix the proposal validity period, delivery time, warranty and acceptance criteria.
Typical mistake
Choosing the lowest total price without checking whether one supplier excluded engineering systems or installation.
Check before the next step
- Single spec
- Responsibility matrix
- List of attachments
- Deviation table
- Lead times
- Acceptance
- Warranty
Related materials and tools
Apply the lesson to your project
Gather the input data and record the unknown parameters as questions for approval. We prepare a calculation based on the questionnaire within 1 working day.