AI tendering for fire protection contractors

Price a fire stopping tender per penetration, by type and by the tested product system that seals it, then add access, survey, photo records and certification as separate lines. Agree a rate per extra penetration, because services trades always add more. On higher-risk buildings in England, every product change may need regulator approval, so price the specified systems exactly.

What makes fire protection tenders hard to price?

The scope is rarely complete at tender. A passive fire protection package might give you a compartmentation drawing and a spec, and leave the number and type of penetrations to be found on site.

The problems that come up on most fire stopping packages:

• Scope ambiguity. "Fire stopping to all service penetrations" with no schedule, so the count is your risk.
• Penetrations by others. Electricians, plumbers and ventilation fitters add services after your survey and after you've sealed.
• Tested systems. Each seal must match a tested detail for that wall or floor, that service and that size.
• Fire dampers and ductwork. Often specified in the ventilation package; confirm whose scope they are.
• Evidence. Photo records, labels and certificates for every seal, increasingly expected for the building's records.
• Certification and pre-qualification. Third-party certification and health and safety schemes cost money every year.

One fire protection and general construction firm on the Kent coast, 14 workers, told us it paid SafeContractor £1,600 a year plus £140 a month, which comes to £3,280 a year before any certification for the fire work itself. That's an overhead every tender has to carry. See which pre-qualification scheme you need before paying for more than one.

How do you price 180 fire stopping penetrations?

Count by type, price each type from its tested detail, then add access and records. Show the cost of uncounted penetrations so you can see why a rate per item matters.

If other trades add a quarter more penetrations after your survey and there's no rate per item, those 45 extras cost £2,612 that nobody agreed to pay. Put a schedule of rates in the tender and refer to it when the extras turn up.

Is this a higher-risk building?

If it's in England, at least 18 m high or at least 7 storeys, and has two or more residential units or is a hospital or care home, yes. That changes how the work is approved and how changes are handled.

So "or equivalent" fire stopping products on a higher-risk building aren't a quick saving. A substitute may be a change to the agreed documents. Price what's specified, and if you want to offer an alternative, flag it as an option that needs approval and may affect the programme. Where the fire strategy is unclear or a detail has no tested solution, get the fire engineer's or principal designer's answer in writing before you price; don't design fire stopping yourself.

Do you need third-party certification?

More and more tenders ask for it, and it's the accepted way to show competence. BM TRADA describes third-party certification as "the accepted means of demonstrating competency" under the Building Regulations and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, and says more projects now specify it.

Its Q-Mark fire stopping installation scheme, for example, certifies the person who leads a team and takes responsibility for the training and work of the operatives. Check which schemes the spec accepts before you bid, and count the yearly cost as an overhead, not a cost of one job.

What should a fire stopping tender qualify?

The count, the services added by others, the tested systems, access and certification. Those are where fire stopping packages lose money.

Tender: project, passive fire protection package
Our price: £amount excluding VAT, dated date

Basis of price
1. Priced from compartmentation drawings numbers, revisions and fire strategy reference. Penetration count from our survey on date: number items, schedule attached.
2. Each seal priced to a tested detail from manufacturer for the wall or floor type shown. Where no tested detail exists, a solution will be agreed with the fire engineer and valued as a variation.

Penetrations by others
3. Additional penetrations, or penetrations altered after sealing, charged at the attached schedule of rates per item.
4. Services to be installed, supported and complete before we seal. Return visits charged at £rate per visit.

Certification and records
5. Installation by scheme third-party certificated operatives. Photo record, label and certificate provided for each seal.
6. Fire dampers, ductwork fire protection and fire doors excluded unless listed.

Access
7. MEWP included for number days. Scaffolding, ceiling removal and reinstatement by others.
8. Ceiling voids and risers to be open, lit and clear of debris when we attend.

Conditions
9. Asbestos survey to be provided before we start. Work in areas with asbestos excluded.
10. On a higher-risk building, product changes requested by others go through the client's change control. Delays while changes are approved are not at our cost.

For general lines on payment and price validity, use the tender qualifications and exclusions template.

What can AI do on a fire protection tender, and what can't it?

AI is useful for the counting and cross-checking that take a fire stopping estimator days. It can't see into a ceiling void.

What AI does well:

• Counts penetrations from services drawings crossing compartment lines, sorted by service type and size. See can AI do a take-off from drawings.
• Matches each type to a tested detail from the manufacturer's literature, and flags ones with no match.
• Reads the whole pack for fire strategy references, damper scope, certification requirements and higher-risk building status.
• Drafts the schedule of rates and qualifications with drawing references filled in.

What still needs the fire protection contractor:

• The survey. What's already above the ceiling, what's been sealed badly, what's hidden.
• Buildability. Whether a collar fits, whether a batt can be installed with the space and access there is.
• Risk pricing. How many extras to expect on this job with these trades.
• Sign-off. The certificate has your name on it.

What does each won tender cost you?

More than the hours on the one you win, because you pay for the ones you lose. Divide the cost of pricing one by your win rate.

The same Kent firm said its public tenders are scored about 70% on quality and 30% on price. On that split, a well-evidenced method statement, certification and photo records can win where a lower price doesn't. See how quality and price scoring works, and use the 10-minute read to drop the packs you can't win.

Common questions