# Tender check: review the BoQ and contract before you price

> Tender check for bidders: AI checks every bill of quantities position against the measurement and specification rules and the contract terms against NEC, JCT or AIA conditions, with claims, risks and questions.

Public clients have to put their tenders out under fixed rules, and most use standard contract conditions and measurement rules. In practice, many bills of quantities have gaps, and every gap is money: a claim after the award, or a risk that belongs in the price. Streckenheld checks the bill of quantities and the contract terms against those rules in minutes and tells you, as the bidder, what to do.

## Why a tender review before pricing takes so long

A bill of quantities often has hundreds of positions, plus dozens of pages of preliminaries and contract terms. Reading all of it carefully against the rules takes days, and those days are rarely there before a submission deadline. What typically slips through:

- **Missing work** you will certainly have to do, such as trench excavation that falls between two sections.
- **Missing information** on ground conditions, groundwater or the site that the measurement rules require.
- **Open wording** like "as required" or "approx.", which turns pricing into guesswork.
- **Unusual risks** such as "all difficulties are to be included in the price".
- **Deviating contract terms**: damages without justification, high retentions, a longer defects period than standard, clauses that rule out claims.

## How Streckenheld checks a tender

### Every position against the measurement and specification rules

The AI assigns every position to the rules that govern it, from earthworks to concrete to drainage, and checks it against them: units of measurement, items included in the price, missing information, brands without "or equivalent", provisional sums and alternatives. Each section is also looked at as a whole, so work that no position covers stands out.

### Preliminaries and contract terms against the standard conditions

Preliminaries, the specification and separate documents such as the contract data or particular conditions are read against the standard conditions they amend, such as NEC4 or JCT in the UK or AIA A201 in the US: completion dates, delay damages, bonds and retentions, completion and takeover, payment, defects, compensation events or variations, liability. For public clients, also against the procurement rules on contract terms.

### Evidence, double-checked

Every finding quotes the tender word for word and names the exact clause. A second, independent AI check confirms that the clause backs the finding. You get a short list of points you can rely on, not a flood of guesses.

### What to do

| Recommendation | What it means |
|---|---|
| Claim later | Work that's missing or wrongly described and will be paid after the award as a compensation event, variation or change order, with the clause and what keeps the claim alive, such as notifying it in time |
| Price it in | Risks that stay with you: unusual site risks, high delay damages, long defects periods |
| Ask before bidding | Errors so obvious that a tender query protects your later claim |

### Your rules, applied every time

Tell the check once what matters to your company, for example trades you carry out yourselves, and add instructions for a single tender when you need them. The check suggests from the client's name whether it's a public body bound by procurement rules.

## How the tender check works with Streckenheld

1. **Upload the bill of quantities** as a PDF; the AI reads positions, sections and preliminaries. More in the guide [BoQ analysis](https://www.streckenheld.com/guides/boq-analysis.md).
2. **Add the contract documents** if the contract data or particular conditions come separately.
3. **Start the check**: it runs in the background.
4. **Review the findings** right on the affected positions, sorted by impact, with the full wording of each clause.
5. **Price the tender**: build in the risks, send your tender queries, keep the claims for later and continue with the [budget estimate](https://www.streckenheld.com/guides/budget-estimate.md).

## Who the tender check is for

- **Estimators and bid managers** who price public tenders and can't afford to miss an expensive detail under time pressure.
- **Commercial managers** who want to know the risks before submitting and pursue claims after the award, prepared.
- **Managing directors** who want to win with competitive prices without giving away margin.

The tender check supports your team with clear references to the rules; it doesn't replace legal advice.

## Frequently asked questions

### What exactly does the tender check review?

Every position and section of the bill of quantities against the measurement and specification rules that apply to it, such as CESMM4, NRM2 or the Method of Measurement for Highway Works in the UK, or the state DOT standard specifications in the US: required information, items included in the price, units of measurement. It also reads the preliminaries and contract terms against the standard conditions, such as NEC4 or JCT in the UK or AIA A201 in the US: damages, bonds, completion, payment and defects.

### Which documents can Streckenheld read?

Bills of quantities and specifications as PDFs, including the preliminaries, plus separate contract documents such as the contract data, particular conditions or a draft contract that you add to the check.

### How do I know a finding is right?

Every finding quotes the tender word for word and names the exact clause it rests on. A second, independent AI check confirms that the clause really supports the finding; anything that can't be backed up is dropped. You can verify each point in seconds.

### Does the tender check replace a legal review?

No. It takes the time-consuming reading off your team and gives you findings with clear references to the rules. It doesn't replace your judgement on the individual case or legal advice.

## Read next

- [BoQ from a specification: standard positions drafted by AI](https://www.streckenheld.com/boq-from-building-description.md): Create a bill of quantities from a tender specification: AI reads functional road and bridge tenders and writes each piece of work as a standard position, such as MMHW items or state DOT pay items, with its source.
- [GAEB: formats, exchange phases and practice in construction](https://www.streckenheld.com/knowledge/gaeb.md): GAEB explained: GAEB 90, GAEB 2000 and GAEB DA XML, the exchange phases X81 to X86, and how bills of quantities flow between planner, contractor and supplier.
- [Bill of Quantities (BOQ) Analysis with AI](https://www.streckenheld.com/guides/boq-analysis.md): Upload a bill of quantities and let AI extract every position, summarize each section, and flag gaps, risks, and change-order traps before you send it out. Turn a BOQ into a ready-to-send request for quotation in one step.
- [AI Budget Estimate from a Bill of Quantities](https://www.streckenheld.com/guides/budget-estimate.md): Turn a bill of quantities into a priced budget in minutes. AI prices every position from your own contracts and past offers, falls back to regional market prices, and shows its assumptions — then export it as CSV, XLSX, or GAEB.
- [Bid comparison (Preisspiegel) for building materials](https://www.streckenheld.com/knowledge/bid-comparison.md): What a bid comparison (Preisspiegel) is, how to build one for material tenders, normalise units, rate alternative bids and award on total cost, with an example.

---

Source: https://www.streckenheld.com/tender-check
Other languages: [Deutsch](https://www.streckenheld.com/vob-pruefung.md) · [Italiano](https://www.streckenheld.com/verifica-gara.md) · [Français](https://www.streckenheld.com/controle-dce.md) · [Español](https://www.streckenheld.com/revision-pliegos.md)
Streckenheld: https://www.streckenheld.com/llms.txt · Contact: https://www.streckenheld.com/contact · hello@streckenheld.com