AI tendering for flooring contractors

Price a flooring tender per m² of each finish, with waste worked out from the room layouts and roll or tile sizes, then price subfloor preparation, coving, trims and phasing as separate lines. Never assume the subfloor is dry. If the pack has no moisture readings, carry a surface damp-proof membrane as a provisional sum or exclude it.

What makes flooring tenders hard to price?

The finishes schedule tells you what goes down; the subfloor decides what it costs and whether it stays down. A refurbishment package might carry sheet vinyl in clinical rooms, carpet tiles in offices and LVT in reception, each over a different base.

The problems that come up on most flooring packages:

• Waste from layouts. Sheet vinyl comes in fixed roll widths, so narrow rooms and corridors waste far more than open floors.
• Subfloor preparation. Priming, smoothing, levelling and repairs vary with every base, and the pack rarely says what's there.
• Moisture. New screeds take time to dry, and laying on a wet base causes most flooring failures. The adhesive maker Instarmac cites figures from FITA that 85% of complaints result from moisture.
• Specified products and substitutions. A named product may be discontinued, on long lead time, or chosen for a slip or fire rating.
• Phasing in occupied buildings. Schools, surgeries and offices that stay open mean several visits, out-of-hours work and furniture moves.

How do you price a 480 m² flooring package?

Work out the order quantity per finish from the layout, price each finish per m², then add preparation, coving and phasing. Carry the moisture risk as its own line.

The provisional sum is the point of this example. The surface DPM is worth 24% of the tender price. Price it in and you're dearer than the bidder who left it out; leave it out and find a wet screed, and the job loses money. Carrying it as a provisional sum, triggered by a test, keeps you competitive and protected.

For the per-m² rate itself, start from your fitters' day cost and output.

A two-fitter team costing £420 a day, laying 40 m² of LVT with £22 a m² of materials and 7% waste, needs about £41.51 a m² at an 18% margin. See converting a day rate to a price per m² for the method.

Who is responsible for the subfloor?

Whoever the tender says, and if it says nothing, assume it will be argued to be you. Settle it before you price, because preparation and moisture control can add a quarter to the package.

Manufacturers' own specifications go further. One resin flooring specification sets 75% RH maximum before laying, tested to BS 8203 Annex A with drying aids removed at least four days before the test, and readings at corners, edges and across the area. It also names surface regularity classes from BS 8204 and a minimum surface strength. If your tender says "subfloor by others", ask for those results at handover.

Can you substitute the specified floor?

Only with written approval, and only with a product that matches every rating the spec relies on. Floors are often chosen for slip resistance, fire performance or wear, and the substitute has to match all of them.

Slip resistance matters most in wet areas. HSE says a workplace floor "must be suitable for the type of work activity taking place on it", and that people should be able to walk on floors likely to be contaminated without the risk of slipping. If a clinical room or kitchen is specified with a safety floor, an alternative with a lower slip rating can leave you holding the risk. Put any substitute in your tender as a priced alternative, with its data sheet, beside the specified product.

What should a flooring tender qualify?

Moisture, preparation, protection and phasing, because the main contractor controls all four and each one moves your cost.

Tender: project, floor finishes package
Our price: £amount excluding VAT, dated date

Basis of price
1. Priced from finishes schedule reference, revision and drawings numbers, revisions. Areas measured net; waste allowed for roll widths and layouts.
2. Products priced as specified: products. Alternatives offered separately with data sheets.

Subfloor and moisture
3. Subfloor to be handed over clean, sound, dry and to surface regularity class by others. We will test on handover in line with BS 8203 and the product data sheet.
4. Surface DPM carried as a provisional sum of £amount, to be instructed if readings exceed 75% RH.
5. Levelling beyond 3 mm smoothing compound, screed repairs, and removal of existing adhesives or coverings are excluded unless listed.

Protection and phasing
6. Protection of finished floors after handover of each area is by others.
7. Price based on number phases and number visits during normal hours. Additional phases, out-of-hours work or return visits charged at £rate per visit.
8. Rooms to be clear of furniture, equipment and other trades before we start. Furniture moves excluded unless listed.

Conditions
9. Areas heated to the product's installation temperature for 48 hours before, during and after laying, by others.
10. Price valid for 30 days. Products subject to supplier price changes after that date.

The general lines on design, attendances and payment are in the tender qualifications and exclusions template.

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

AI handles the measuring and reading well. It can't tell you what's under the existing carpet.

What AI does well:

• Room areas and order quantities from plans, room by room, with roll-width cut plans and waste worked out per room rather than one flat figure. See can AI do a take-off from drawings.
• Reads the finishes schedule against the spec and flags a discontinued product, a missing slip rating or a finish that doesn't suit the base.
• Finds the subfloor and phasing clauses buried in the prelims and the subcontract order.
• Drafts qualifications from your standard list with this tender's references.

What still needs the flooring contractor:

• The base. Whether the existing screed is sound, how much levelling it needs, and what's left of old adhesive.
• Readings. Only a meter on site tells you the moisture.
• Output. How fast your fitters lay in a surgery that stays open.
• The decision on what to qualify, what to allow and whether to bid.

How do you win more flooring tenders?

Make your price clean, specific and easy to compare, with the risk carried openly rather than hidden.

• Show your waste. A take-off with roll widths and cut plans looks like work done properly.
• Use provisional sums for moisture instead of pricing the worst case.
• Offer alternatives separately, never as the main price.
• Drop packs you can't win after a 10-minute read.

Fit-out firms can see how this works for their trade on the fit-out trade page.

Common questions