Bid Leveling and Procurement Review

Bid Leveling and Procurement Review

Workflow purpose

Turn a set of incoming bids into a comparable, defensible award recommendation. Every award opens an approval gate. Vendor licensure and insurance freshness gate preferred status. Scope clarifications are explicit, not tucked into narrative. The workflow produces the level sheet that humans sign off against — and it refuses to recommend an award that cannot be traced to the bidder's actual scope.

Trigger conditions

• Explicit: "level bids for project X", "review bids for trade Y", "procurement review", "award recommendation".
• Implicit: bid package due date passes; estimator flags leveling-ready; capex project has bids in hand.
• Recurring: per project; per trade buyout cycle.

Inputs (required / optional)

Outputs

Required context

Asset_class, segment, form_factor, market, and loan context (for covenant sensitivity if the trade is large).

Process

Step 1. Confirm scope basis.

Before leveling, the workflow verifies that the scope statement is authoritative (latest drawings, specs, assemblies). Bidders must be bidding to the same scope. If any bidder is clearly bidding off a different scope, workflow opens a scope clarification line and suspends their normalization until resolved.

Step 2. Normalize each bid.

For each bid:

• Extract line items aligned to estimator's assembly structure.
• Map allowances, alternates, and exclusions; normalize to a comparable basis.
• Apply vendor rate card references where bid is silent on rate.
• Surface qualifications and exceptions.
• Compute a normalized total assuming same scope.

Step 3. Level sheet compile.

Produce a side-by-side level sheet:

• Columns: estimator baseline, each bidder (normalized total), each bidder (as-submitted total).
• Rows: line items by assembly.
• Variance column per bidder vs. estimator.
• trade_buyout_variance computed vs. estimator baseline.

Step 4. Vendor verification (gate).

For each bidder:

• Approved vendor list membership.
• License and insurance freshness per current overlay.
• Prior performance from workflows/vendor_dispatch_sla_review scorecard.

Any bidder with stale licensure or insurance is marked ineligible for award. The workflow never recommends award to an ineligible bidder. (Emergency dispatch exception is not available at bid stage.)

Step 5. Scope clarification list.

Enumerate open questions that must be answered before award:

• Ambiguous inclusions/exclusions per bidder.
• Alternates requiring decision (add, reject, deferred).
• Allowance adequacy vs. scope.
• Schedule assumptions.
• Payment terms vs. overlay.
• Retainage, lien-release terms.

No bid moves to award recommendation with open red-flag clarifications.

Step 6. Recommended award (decision point).

Rank eligible bidders by:

• Normalized total.
• Scope completeness.
• Schedule fit.
• Performance history (scorecard).
• Qualifications risk.

Propose a recommended award. The workflow does not "select a winner" autonomously; the recommendation is presented with the level sheet and opens approval_request row 9.

If the recommendation is not the lowest normalized bidder, the memo explicitly justifies (performance, schedule, scope risk, supplier concentration).

Step 7. Contingency and allowances re-check.

Compare the award package's embedded allowances against overlay contingency assumption. Recommend project-level contingency adjustment if buyout consumes more/less than planned.

Step 8. Approval path.

• Every bid award opens approval_request row 9. Construction_manager + asset_manager minimum; for majors, add development or executive per overlay.
• Contract signature opens row 19 (legal + asset_manager or portfolio_manager).
• Nothing is signed or committed until approvals return approved.

Step 9. Scope lock.

On approved award, the workflow writes a scope-lock record. Subsequent scope changes flow through workflows/change_order_review.

Step 10. Confidence banner.

Surface each reference's as_of_date and status. Vendor cert freshness is explicit. Estimator baseline as_of_date surfaced; if stale, the workflow flags but does not refuse (human decides whether to re-estimate).

Metrics used

trade_buyout_variance, dev_cost_per_unit, dev_cost_per_gsf, dev_cost_per_nrsf, contingency_remaining, change_orders_pct_of_contract (as downstream risk anchor).

Reference files used

• reference/normalized/capex_line_items__{scope}.csv
• reference/normalized/labor_rates__{market}.csv
• reference/normalized/material_costs__{region}_residential.csv
• reference/normalized/approved_vendor_list__{market}.csv
• reference/normalized/vendor_rate_cards__{market}.csv
• reference/derived/contingency_assumptions__{org}.csv
• reference/normalized/approval_threshold_defaults.csv

Escalation points

• Bid award: approval_request row 9.
• Major bid award: row 9 with added approver (development / executive per overlay).
• Contract signature: row 19.
• Scope ambiguity: estimator -> construction_manager.
• Licensure or insurance freshness failure: bidder disqualified; workflow notifies.
• Trade buyout variance above overlay threshold: construction_manager + asset_manager review before award.

Required approvals

• Bid award (row 9) always.
• Contract signature (row 19).
• Any overlay-added approver for major projects.

Failure modes

1. Awarding on as-submitted total without normalization. Fix: normalized total is the comparison basis.
2. Recommending a bidder with stale certs. Fix: licensure/insurance gate is automatic.
3. Carrying open clarifications into award. Fix: clarifications must close before award recommendation.
4. Not recomputing contingency post-buyout. Fix: step is mandatory.
5. Lowest-bid selection without risk memo when not recommended. Fix: non-lowest recommendation requires explicit justification.
6. Silent scope change post-award. Fix: scope-lock record handed to change-order review.
7. Sample reference data treated as authoritative. Fix: confidence banner surfaces status.

Edge cases

• Single-bid situation: workflow allows the level sheet but flags single-source risk; overlay may require justification or additional bid solicitation.
• Bidder conflicts (commonly-owned entities): flagged; disclosure check; overlay governs.
• Design-assist scope (pricing with incomplete design): level sheet separated into committed and allowance; proposed post-design re-level.
• Unit pricing contracts (vs. lump sum): unit pricing preserved; assumptions documented.
• Package with self-perform portion: self-perform portion treated as estimate, not bid; disclosure in memo.
• International / unusual-currency bid (unlikely for U.S. residential but conservative): currency normalization with cited rate and date.

Example invocations

1. "Level the three bids received for the Ashford Park roof replacement and recommend award."
2. "Review the bids for unit renovation cohort 2 at Willow Creek; 4 bidders."
3. "Buyout review for the amenity refresh at Riverbend."

Example outputs

Output — Bid leveling recommendation (abridged, roof replacement Ashford Park)

Scope confirmation. Basis document version 2.3, dated 2026-03-15, referenced by all bidders.

Level sheet. Columns for estimator baseline and three bidders (as-submitted + normalized); variances computed; trade_buyout_variance per bidder.

Vendor verification. Bidder A: insurance and license current, SLA performance above band. Bidder B: license expiring within overlay window (flagged). Bidder C: insurance lapsed (ineligible; disqualified for award).

Scope clarification list. Two open items for Bidder A; one for Bidder B.

Recommended award. Bidder A, pending clarification closure. Rationale: normalized total competitive, performance band, schedule fit. Bidder B is lower on normalized total but license expiry flag; if refreshed pre-award, reconsideration.

Contingency re-check. Buyout consumes less than overlay contingency; project-level contingency adjustment not recommended.

Approvals. approval_request row 9 opened for Bidder A pending clarification closure. Row 19 queued for contract signature.

Confidence banner. capex_line_items__roofing@2026-03-31, status=starter. labor_rates__charlotte@2026-03-31, status=sample. approved_vendor_list__charlotte@2026-04-01, status=starter. Per-bidder cert freshness surfaced.

Output — Bid leveling short-form (abridged, single trade)

Scope basis. Confirmed.

Bidders. Three; all eligible.

Level. Normalized totals tight; variance within overlay band.

Clarifications. None material.

Recommendation. Lowest normalized bidder; rationale anchored to scope completeness and schedule fit.

Approvals. Row 9 opened.

Confidence banner. References surfaced.