A ship-repair tender is rarely comparable on its headline total alone. Two yards may quote the same docking period and repair list yet allocate labour, access, material, class attendance and risk in entirely different ways. The lowest stated price can therefore be the least economical option once variation orders, waiting time and exclusions are added.
For a technical superintendent or fleet manager evaluating three to five bids, the objective is not to force every quotation into the same commercial model. It is to create a transparent basis for comparison: the same defined scope, the same units, and a visible treatment of uncertainty. That is the core of effective ship repair quotation analysis.
Start with the repair specification, not the total price
Issue one controlled repair specification to every yard. It should identify the vessel, docking window, work-item number, location, quantity, material grade, workmanship and test requirements, coating system, drawings, and class or flag implications. Separate owner maintenance from survey-driven repairs.
BIMCO’s REPAIRCON 2018 is relevant even when a yard uses its own bid form. Its structure separates the project-specific commercial terms from the contractual conditions and envisages a detailed repair/conversion specification as an annex. It also provides for tariff-based work and formal work variations. In tender analysis, that distinction matters: a number is meaningful only when it can be tied to a specification item, an agreed tariff, or an explicitly described assumption.
Create a master work-item register before opening prices. Give each item a unique reference and mark it as fixed scope, measured work, owner option, class-dependent work or contingency. Ask each bidder to return that reference unaltered and state “included,” “excluded,” “provisional,” or “not applicable” beside it. This prevents a broad phrase such as “renew wasted steel as necessary” from appearing as a firm commitment in one quote and a future claim in another.
Normalize the lines that produce false comparisons
Strip every bid into consistent cost buckets. Labour should show trade, normal- and overtime-hour rates, estimated hours, call-out terms and whether supervision, tools, staging and consumables are included. A low welding rate is not comparable with one excluding fitters, fire watch, grinding, access and NDT support.
Materials need the same treatment. Separate steel, pipe, valves, cable, coatings, consumables and subcontracted services. For steelwork, compare quoted weight, grade, profile cutting, prefabrication, blasting, primer, fitting and waste allowance. For coatings, reconcile square metres, surface-preparation standard, paint system, dry-film thickness, stripe coats, climatic controls and who supplies paint. Unit rates may be more useful than a lump sum when final quantities will be measured.
Drydocking or slipway charges deserve their own block. Record dock entry and exit, berth or dock daily rate, dock occupancy assumptions, tugs, ballast support, shore power, water, compressed air, gangway, security and any lay-day charge after the agreed redelivery date. A bid that includes seven dock days should not be ranked against one priced for ten without calculating the incremental day exposure.
Normalize access and equipment: staging, manlifts, cranes, forklifts, compressors, generators and washing equipment. Mobilization can be material for specialist riding squads, machining, diving or NDT. Show waste collection, sludge, grit, paint debris and hazardous-waste disposal separately, including testing or manifest charges.
Treat provisional sums as risk, not as prices
A provisional sum is an allowance for work whose scope, quantity or condition cannot yet be defined. It is not a fixed-price commitment. In a comparison matrix, show each provisional amount in a separate “risk-adjusted” column rather than burying it in the tender total.
For each allowance, request the trigger, measurement basis, applicable labour and equipment rates, material mark-up, approval route and maximum notice before work starts. A steel-renewal allowance should state whether the quoted tonnage includes removal, templates, inserts, welding, testing, coating reinstatement and class attendance. An “as found” machinery item should state diagnostic hours and the rate card that applies after inspection.
The contractual discipline should mirror the tender discipline. REPAIRCON includes a Work Variation Form concept for additions and reductions to the agreed work. Whatever contract form is used, require written authorization that identifies the specification reference, technical reason, cost, time effect and rate basis before a deviation item proceeds, except for a genuinely urgent safety action. This is the practical defence against an artificially low base quote that turns into uncontrolled variation orders.
Put class and survey costs on the same footing
Class involvement is not a generic yard overhead. Repairs to classed structure, machinery or systems can require approval, attendance at defined stages, witnessed tests and documentary close-out under applicable rules. Requirements depend on the repair and the vessel’s survey status.
Ask what is included: class liaison, survey access, thickness-measurement support, NDT, test arrangements and reports. The society’s attendance, travel and disbursement fees may be owner-direct, recharged or excluded. They vary by society, location, survey type, travel need and time on site; obtain a current class-office estimate and apply it consistently.
Adjust for geography without mistaking it for a saving
Turkey, China, the UAE, Singapore and Eastern Europe can offer different repair economics, but country is not a unit rate. Productivity, supply chains, dock congestion, subcontractor depth, port costs, customs, exchange-rate exposure, weather, class availability and voyage deviation affect delivered cost.
A lower local labour tariff may be outweighed by additional sailing days, bunkers, port charges, agency, crew logistics or a longer dock queue. Conversely, a higher-cost hub may reduce schedule risk when specialist OEM support, spares, class attendance and heavy-lift capability are immediately available. Compare each bid in the same currency and state the exchange-rate date, tax treatment, price-validity period and escalation clause. Add a separate voyage-and-time-cost line rather than allowing geography to disappear inside the yard total.
Use a decision matrix that exposes assumptions
Build one side-by-side sheet with work items on rows and yards on columns. Capture amount, unit, quantity, inclusion status, exclusions, provisional/fixed status and source clause. Summarize dock, labour, materials, equipment, class, waste, taxes, owner costs and contingency. Show a comparable tender total beside an open-risk total.
The final decision should combine this commercial view with technical capability and schedule confidence. Check the yard’s proposed critical path, dock availability, key subcontractors, quality-control plan, safety arrangements, class interface and references for comparable vessel type and scope. A tender that is not the cheapest may still be the strongest award when it provides a credible completion date, clear inclusions and limited variation exposure.
A disciplined matrix prices and controls uncertainty. Tender-comparison tools can preserve the audit trail; award against a defined specification and a transparent change path.