A bare lump-sum price with no qualifications isn't a clean bid — it's a blank cheque. Every assumption you made while pricing, every gap in the documents, every risk you priced as excluded needs to be written down and submitted with your price. Get it right and your qualifications protect your margin for the life of the contract. Get it vague — or skip it entirely — and you'll be arguing about what was "obviously" included months after you've started work. Here's how to write qualifications and exclusions that actually hold up.
Contractors carry the right assumptions in their head while pricing — but never write them down. If it isn't in your qualifications, it isn't part of your contract. A verbal assumption is worth nothing once the purchase order is issued.
No tender pack or bid package is ever complete. Drawings are missing, specifications contradict each other, and quantities are estimated rather than measured. You have to price the job anyway — which means you're pricing on assumptions. Qualifications are simply those assumptions, written down and submitted as part of your offer, so that if the client accepts your price, they're accepting your assumptions along with it.
A properly qualified bid is not a weaker bid. Experienced clients and main contractors read qualifications as a sign that the contractor has actually understood the documents — a bare, unqualified lump sum on a set of gappy tender documents is usually a red flag, not a strength.
| Term | What It Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Exclusion | Scope you have deliberately not priced | "Excludes asbestos removal — to be carried out by others" |
| Qualification | A condition attached to your price | "Price assumes normal working hours, Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00" |
| Clarification / Assumption | What you priced on, where the documents were unclear | "Priced on 1no. distribution board per floor, per drawing E-101 rev A" |
Don't lump all three into one generic list. Separate them clearly — exclusions, qualifications, and pricing assumptions — so the client can see exactly what's excluded, what's conditional, and what you assumed. A clearly structured list is far more likely to be accepted without argument than a wall of undifferentiated bullet points.
Point to the specific drawing, specification clause, or schedule the qualification relates to. "Per drawing M-201 rev B" is defensible. "As per the drawings" is not.
State plainly what is or isn't included, or what condition applies. Avoid vague language like "reasonable access assumed" — define what "reasonable" means in this context.
If the assumption turns out to be wrong, what happens to your price? Stating this up front makes it far easier to agree a fair variation later.
Ask the client to confirm or reject the qualification before award. Silence is not the same as acceptance — chase a written response.
"A qualification that just says 'subject to survey' protects nobody. A qualification that says exactly what was assumed, why, and what it's worth is the difference between a variation and a dispute."
"Price excludes any unforeseen groundworks issues."
Reference: Ground investigation report, Section 4 — no data below 2m depth.
Exclusion: Price excludes remediation of contaminated ground, rock, or made ground encountered below 2m depth, as no data exists for this depth in the supplied report.
Commercial impact: If contamination or obstructions are encountered below 2m, this will be treated as a variation, priced on a schedule of rates to be agreed prior to instruction.
Action requested: Please confirm acceptance of this qualification, or provide additional ground data below 2m prior to award.
TenderScope reads your full tender pack or bid package and flags exactly where the documents are ambiguous, contradictory, or missing — giving you a ready-made starting point for your qualifications and exclusions, in 24 hours. First report free.
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