Build the specification, then let the bidders answer it
Stop comparing three proposals written by three sellers. Issue one specification and make them answer the same questions. Four steps, a PDF you send out under your own name, and nothing leaves this browser.
Why bids are so hard to compare
Three quotes for the same tank can differ by a factor of several and all be honest. They are pricing different amounts of work, and the proposal format hides exactly where. Floor scan coverage is the clearest case: it is a percentage, it dominates both the price and the value of the result, and it is very often absent from the document you are asked to sign.
A buyer cannot fix this by reading harder. The fix is to issue the questions first, in writing, so that every bidder answers them in the same order. That is all this form does, and on a single internal inspection it is usually worth more than any discount you could negotiate.
1. Who is asking
The ten declarations, and what each one prevents
Every item below is in the form because leaving it unstated is a known way for two proposals to look comparable and not be. You can untick any of them; it is worth knowing what you are giving up.
1. State floor scan coverage as a percentage of the total floor area, and state what is excluded and why.
This is the number that separates two proposals more than any other, and it is the one most often left out.
2. Name the individual who will certify the report, with their certification number, and confirm it is current.
Certification is held by people, not firms, and it expires. The name belongs in the purchase order.
3. Confirm that ultrasonic reading locations will be permanently marked and recorded so the next inspection can be compared to this one.
Unmarked locations mean the next inspection starts from zero. It is the cheapest thing to specify and the most expensive to omit.
4. Confirm that raw readings and scan data are delivered to the owner in a usable format, not only as a summary in a report.
The data outlives the vendor relationship, and a summary cannot be re-analysed later.
5. List everything excluded from the price: cleaning, waste disposal, scaffolding and access, permits, standby time, out-of-hours work.
On an internal inspection these routinely exceed the inspection itself. An exclusion found later is a change order.
6. Declare whether your firm also sells coatings, repairs, cleaning or tank construction, and whether any commission arises.
An inspector who sells the repair has a reason to find one, and a contractor who inspects has a reason not to. Neither disqualifies anyone; both should be known.
7. State mobilization lead time, days on site, and the date the report will be issued.
The report date, not the site date, is what governs the decisions waiting on it.
8. State what happens if a finding requires immediate action: who is notified, how fast, and whether work stops.
Deciding this in advance is a procedure. Deciding it during the outage is an argument.
9. Provide certificates of insurance and the safety record for confined space work where entry is in scope.
Entry is among the more hazardous routine jobs on a terminal, and the buyer carries part of that exposure.
10. Give two references for tanks of comparable diameter, construction and service.
Comparable means the same kind of tank, not the same industry.
How to use the responses
Put the answers side by side rather than reading the proposals end to end. Coverage first, then exclusions, then the report date. Most of the apparent price gap resolves in those three lines, and what remains is a real difference in what you are buying.
Then check the one thing that decides whether the document is worth anything: that the individual named in the response is currently certified, which takes about two minutes on the issuer’s own directory. What moves the total is on inspection cost, and what an examination without entry can actually reach is on external tank inspection.