Look beyond the erection price
We would not assess a scaffold tender on erection alone. The job may need progressive lifts, several adaptations and sectional dismantling over a long hire period. Those attendances have to be priced somewhere.
Compare the cost of the access you expect to need over the programme, on the same basis across the returns.
Compare the hire allowance
Check the included period and extended-hire rate together. A shorter allowance can make the first price attractive without changing how long the scaffold is likely to stay.
Ask what happens to hire when part is struck and how release is recorded. We want those terms understood while the order is agreed.
What does the price allow us to change?
“Alterations included” needs more detail. Does it mean planned inside-board changes, a stated number of visits or any request the site makes? Those are different allowances.
Go through the expected stages with the scaffold contractor. Separate those from genuinely additional requirements.
Check the design basis
If the price assumes a standard arrangement, check it against the actual support and tie restrictions. A beam or support arrangement identified after award can change the package.
We prefer to flag designed elements at tender stage and agree the information needed to develop them.
Can the resources meet the dates?
Ask how the contractor intends to deliver against your handover dates. The answer needs to cover supervision and materials movement as well as gang numbers.
Our Project Admiral work covered four towers. On that scale, a rate per square metre tells you little about the resources available for each building or the return visits.
Keep the account clear as you go
A marked-up instruction and current variation record save time later. We need to identify what was requested, which area it concerned and when it was carried out.
Leaving those details until the final account makes a straightforward change harder to agree.
Get the lift positions right early
Ask the trades what access they need before fixing the layout. Moving platforms afterwards can mean another attendance and lost time for the trade waiting to use them.
That does not mean adding scaffold everywhere. We want to price the access the job needs.
Put the returns on the same basis
Check qualifications against the scope and programme. Price missing items before deciding which return is best value. Pay particular attention to hire, design, adaptations and attendance the site must provide.
A clear quotation
Our quotation should tell you what we have included, where we have made an assumption and how additional work will be charged. That gives both teams a workable basis for the job.
Further reading
Related access: Independent access scaffolding.