How to read a tender package faster

Nobody can read a thousand pages in a week. But you can read them in the right order.

A tender package is rarely written to be read from start to finish. It is a set of documents that complement each other, and the detail that decides whether you bid at all may sit on page four or in an appendix. Here is an order that puts the important things first.

1. Get the overview before you read

List every document: the instructions to tenderers, the administrative provisions (AF), the technical specifications, the drawings and any bill of quantities. Note versions and dates. Check which document takes precedence if they contradict each other. The Swedish standard contracts have a rule for this, but the administrative provisions often set their own order.

2. Read what decides whether you can take part

Start with the qualification criteria and mandatory requirements: reference projects, financial standing, certifications and certificates. In a public tender, a bid that fails a mandatory requirement can be rejected however good the price. Better to know on the first day than on the last.

3. Then what affects the price

Go to the administrative provisions: programme, liquidated damages, warranties, insurance, security, payment and how variations are paid. This is where a good estimate becomes a good deal or a bad one.

4. Write your questions as you read

The deadline for questions is often well before the bid deadline. Keep a list of anything unclear from the first hour, with document and page, so it goes in on time. In a public tender, every bidder gets the same answers.

5. Split by trade early

Subcontractors need time to price. Pick out what concerns each trade and send enquiries while you carry on reading.

Where AI helps

An AI tool that reads the whole package can give you the requirements, deadlines and risks at once, with page references. It does not replace your judgement. But you spend your time judging instead of searching.