How to Compare Scaffolding Material Quotations

Most misleading comparisons are not dishonest; they compare quotations built on different assumptions. Before looking at any price, lay the quotations side by side and check that each covers the same materials, the same specification, the same quantities and the same scope.

The easiest way to get comparable quotations is to send every supplier the same request — the guide to preparing a materials request for quotation covers what to include. The checks below catch the differences that remain.

Match each line to your material list. Look for components quoted in a different way — tube as a total length rather than by length, coupler types merged, boards or toe boards missing — and for quantities that differ from your list without explanation.

Where a supplier has taken off its own quantities from drawings, compare its totals with the others. A much lower quantity may mean a missed area, not a more efficient design; ask how it was worked out.

Read the description on every line. Tube should be described by material, finish, outside diameter, wall thickness and length; a quotation that says only "scaffold tube" leaves the specification open. The same applies to fittings and boards.

If your project requires documents with the material, check that each quotation includes them, or ask. A quotation that is cheaper because it leaves out required paperwork is not cheaper.

Read the small print as carefully as the prices. Common exclusions and assumptions include:

• Delivery, collection or unloading excluded, or limited to certain areas or times.
• Cutting to length charged separately.
• Documentation not included.
• For hire: minimum periods, how extra time is charged, and how damage and losses are assessed.
• Items assumed to be supplied by the buyer.
• Prices valid only for a short period or subject to availability.

Two quotations for the same material can differ greatly in what happens after the order. Check when each supplier can deliver, whether deliveries can be phased, what notice is needed to change a date, and how additional material or returns are priced.

On a job that will change as it progresses, the cost of changes may matter more than the initial price.

A low total can come from a lighter specification, a missing item, an excluded service or a short hire period that will be extended at a higher rate. None of those is visible in the total; all of them become costs later.

Once the quotations are on the same basis, the comparison often narrows sharply — and the choice can be made on what is left: availability, delivery, the supplier's answers to your questions and how it handles changes.

Hire quotations carry costs that a purchase quotation does not, and they are easy to miss because they arise after delivery. Compare these as carefully as the weekly or monthly rate:

• The hire period quoted, any minimum period, and how time beyond it is charged.
• When hire starts and stops — on delivery and collection, or on other dates.
• How the condition of material is recorded on delivery and on return.
• How damaged and lost items are assessed and charged.
• Whether part of the material can be returned early as zones are struck.

Once the quotations are side by side, list every difference you cannot explain and send each supplier its own questions. Keep the questions and answers in writing, and if an answer changes the basis of comparison — a missed item, a different specification — give every supplier the chance to requote on the same basis.

The way a supplier handles clarification is itself useful evidence: clear, prompt answers before award are a fair indication of how changes will be handled during the job.

• Every quotation answers the same request.
• Each line matches the material list: same components, same specification, same quantities.
• Descriptions state material, finish and dimensions.
• Required documentation is included.
• Exclusions and assumptions listed and costed.
• Delivery, phasing and change terms compared.
• Hire terms — period, extensions, damage and losses — compared where relevant.
• Substitutes shown separately and checked by the person responsible for the design.
• Totals compared only after all of the above.

GH Scaffolds quotes from a material list — for purchase, hire or both — worked out from your drawings, a site inspection or the list you send. If you are comparing quotations, send the same request you sent the other suppliers through the contact page, and ask for any line you need clarified.