Comparing bids

Compare bids against the same scope, not just the number

A bid is only comparable to another bid if both contractors priced the same work. When one number comes in far below the rest, the first question is not why it is so good. It is what got left out.

Say four contractors bid a parking lot repaving job and one comes in $20,000 lower than the other three. Before the board gets excited, ask that contractor to reprice against the exact scope the other bidders used: the same permits, the same demolition, the same materials. If the low bidder assumed the association would pull its own permit, or that the old asphalt was already gone, that is not a lower price. It is a different project.

This is common board practice, not a formal method published by a standard-setting body, so treat it as a checklist the board runs itself. Anything a contractor later wants to add that was outside the original scope becomes a change order, priced and approved on its own, not folded quietly into the number you compared at bid time.

Check the license before you check the price

Before the board ranks bids by dollar amount, confirm each contractor actually holds a current license in your state. A cheap bid from an unlicensed or lapsed contractor is not a real option, whatever the number says.

"Protects consumers by regulating the construction industry through policies that promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the public in matters relating to construction, including home improvement."

Source: About Us, California Contractors State License Board

California's board runs a public tool where anyone can look up a contractor's license and see complaint disclosure before signing anything. Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation offers a comparable public lookup for its licensees. Every state licenses contractors differently, and the agency, the lookup tool, and what counts as a disqualifying complaint all vary. Check your own state's licensing board before you compare a single price.

Weigh qualifications and schedule alongside price

Once the bids share a scope and the contractors are licensed, price is one factor, not the only one. A board that ranks by lowest number alone is practicing lowest-responsible-bidder procurement without saying so. A board that also weighs experience, references, and proposed schedule is practicing what the industry calls best value procurement. No source located for this course requires either approach; a board can reasonably choose one, as long as it is consistent about which one it is using.

Florida's own HOA competitive bidding statute makes the point explicit for associations that must bid at all.

"Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require the association to accept the lowest bid."

Source: Florida Statutes, section 720.3055, The Florida Senate

Whether your state requires competitive bidding at all, and at what threshold, is not settled the same way everywhere. Florida sets different thresholds for HOAs and condominiums, and California has no statewide bidding mandate. Check your own state statute and your CC&Rs before you assume a rule applies. See Competitive bidding and Lowest bid vs best value for more.