Inside the tender room: how your exclusions vanish from the subcontract
Builders level your quote against the others, ring the cheapest to confirm everything is included, then issue a subcontract whose scope and entire-agreement clause can erase your exclusions. Make the dated quote a contract document that ranks above the scope of works before you sign.
Chapter 11: Inside the builder's tender room: what happens to your quote after you press send
Every quote you send goes into a spreadsheet you never see. I've built that spreadsheet, sat in the meeting where it was read, and made the phone call that came out of it. The process has eight steps: the request goes to three trades, sometimes five, the quotes are levelled line by line, and the cheapest after levelling gets a friendly call asking whether you've priced for everything. Every exclusion you agree to pick up moves risk onto you at no change in price. Then the subcontract arrives on the builder's template, with a scope written before your quote existed.
That call is also the tell that you're the one they want, because nobody rings the third-cheapest. Don't drop your price at best and final; answer with clarity about what's included and excluded. The cheapest tender rarely wins because it's cheap. It wins because it feels safe, and a clear quote feels safer than a vague one that's 3 per cent lower.
The biggest leak is the exclusion that never makes it into the subcontract. Your quote excludes fixings, cranage and out-of-hours work; the scope says supply and install, and an entire-agreement clause makes your quote obsolete. On the façade contract that was worth well over $100,000. The fix is three lines: the dated quote becomes a contract document ranking above the scope, the supersession clause goes, and conflicts resolve in favour of the quote.
- 1The confirm-your-price call is where exclusions get traded away, and it's also the sign you're the preferred tenderer.
- 2In my experience, trust is worth about 3 to 5 per cent in the tender room, and no more.
- 3An entire-agreement or previous-quotations-superseded clause can erase every exclusion in your quote.
- 4Write the quote in rows: inclusions by element, exclusions as a list, assumptions stated and rates for anything that might change.
Take your last quote and the subcontract that followed. List the quote's exclusions in one column and find each one in the scope of works. Every one that's missing, or appears as supply and install, is a variation you're already doing for free. On the next job, get the quote into the contract before you sign.
Common questions
Do my quote exclusions apply once I sign the subcontract?
Not necessarily. Many subcontracts include an entire-agreement clause and a statement that earlier quotations are superseded, so the scope of works governs. If the scope says supply and install for something you excluded, you may be bound to it. Generally the fix is to make your dated quote a contract document before you sign.
Should I drop my price at best and final offer?
Usually not. If you're the preferred tenderer, a cut just gives away margin; if you're not, it may win you a job at a number you didn't want. A stronger response is a clear statement of what your price includes and excludes, and what changes if the scope moves.
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A summary of chapter 11 of Screwed Down by Mat Kennedy. Index figures are as they stood when the book was written (Sept 2026); the live numbers are on the Index. Amazon ranking as seen in September 2026. General information, not legal advice.