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Estimating-to-delivery handover: carrying the tender assumptions into construction
Keep the tender basis, effective quotes, exclusions, budget allowances and open decisions with the project delivery team.
This guide uses Australian builder roles and an invented Australian-dollar example. Confirm responsibilities and approval authority for your own project.
When a job moves from estimating to delivery, the project team needs the basis of the tender: what was priced, the assumptions and qualifications, known risks and opportunities, and commitments made before award.
The receiving team may include a project manager, contract administrator and relevant commercial and site roles. Agree who owns each open item and who has authority to approve a budget, supplier scope or order for this job. Role titles and responsibilities vary by builder and project.
A useful handover answers three questions: which offer supports the budget, what still needs buying, and which decisions remain open?
Follow one package from price to purchase
For J-04 joinery, the effective supplier offer is A$118,000. The builder has a separate A$7,000 allowance for appliance connections, giving a package budget of A$125,000. All names, amounts and document references in this example are invented.
The full A$125,000 is available in the package budget. It does not establish that the joinery supplier has accepted the connection work. Keep that distinction visible when the budget passes to procurement.
Carry the wider tender assumptions with the job
The joinery example is one part of the handover. Retain the estimate basis, scope inclusions and exclusions, tender qualifications and commitments, known risks and opportunities, and any schedule or site assumptions used in the price. Assign the relevant delivery-team owners to resolve open matters under the project’s approval process.
Bryant’s role descriptions describe a structured estimator handover to the project delivery team. Hutchinson’s Brisbane team illustrates the range of estimating, project, commercial and site roles a builder may use. Confirm the actual receiving roles for your project.
Keep the offer and the budget connected
Record the supplier, quote identifier, revision and any clarification supporting the estimate. A later document may replace an offer, add one item or answer a single question. Establish that relationship before changing the total, and retain the earlier record.
For J-04, Q-017 Rev B is the replacement offer and C-04 confirms it. Counting Rev A again would double-count the offer. A filename alone leaves the delivery team guessing which amount applies.
When an offer contains an unsupported bundled amount, keep the split unresolved until there is a defensible allocation. The quote-levelling guide explains how to retain original offers, comparison allowances and agreed scope.
Give each open item a buying decision
“Allow for connections” leaves the trade, the allowance basis and the decision date unclear. Carry the specific question into the handover:
- Open item: appliance connections excluded from Q-017 Rev B, exclusion E-03; RFI-12 remains open.
- Budget treatment: A$7,000 builder allowance, separate from the supplier’s A$118,000 offer.
- Decision: confirm the service interface, agreed scope and price, assigned delivery-team owner, approval authority and required date.
Set the decision date against the actual procurement requirement. An unanswered query can affect the order even when an amount is already allowed for.
Check what the receiving team can see
A receiving copy may contain the scope while pricing columns, exclusions or working assumptions remain elsewhere. Open that copy and check it against the source decision.
For J-04, confirm that the people reviewing the package and arranging the work can find the effective offer and C-04, the A$118,000/A$7,000 budget split, the excluded connection work and RFI-12.
Keep the tender basis, effective quote, scope inclusions and exclusions, allowance basis and open decisions with the handover. Retain the original drawings and quote documents so the receiving team can trace the budget.
Use links or precise references the recipient can open. Agree where the controlled handover record will live and who updates it when a revised offer or answer arrives. Confirm which information is included in the export your team uses.
How CIM Build supports the handover
The problem: the A$118,000 offer excludes the connections. A separate A$7,000 builder allowance brings the budget to A$125,000, while trade responsibility and the agreed price remain open.
Navigation and toolbar are static context. Builder notes are illustrative manual entries. No automatic handover, approval, export or issued RFI is demonstrated.
Read the example as text
Required work: final appliance connections, referenced to A-401 Rev C. Supplier evidence: exclusion E-03 on Q-017 Rev B, page 2. C-04 confirms Rev B replaces Rev A.
Keep the A$7,000 allowance separate from the supplier offer. RFI-12 asks who will complete the connections, on which agreed scope and price. Assign the delivery-team owner, approval authority and decision date for this job.
CIM Build brings source-linked scope and quote information into the review environment with the project documents. At handover, inspect the requirement behind a scope line and the offer behind a pricing decision, then retain the unresolved question with that evidence.
Use the scope-of-works workflow alongside the team’s reviewed budget and approval record. Keep source documents and the working handover record available in the project workspace.
The screen uses synthetic documents and illustrative manual notes. Final budget approval, supplier agreement and authority to place an order stay with the responsible people. The example makes no assumption about automatic transfer, export formats or external-system integration.
Finish with a receiving check
Ask the receiving project team to trace one package from the budget to the effective quote and its exclusions. Record the remaining questions, assigned owners and required decision dates so estimating and delivery can establish what has been handed over.
For drawing-set changes before agreement, use the tender-to-contract guide. Keep the agreed pricing basis and unresolved buying decisions together.
See how CIM Build connects scope and quote evidence for a package review.
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