FREE QLD TEMPLATE
Bid / no-bid template (Excel)
A free Excel bid / no-bid decision sheet for subcontractors. Score nine weighted criteria, flag hard stops, and get a suggested decision before you spend a week pricing the wrong tender.
Items marked verify refer to legislation, standards or regulator guidance that changes over time. Check the linked official source and your contract before relying on them.
Why a bid / no-bid decision is worth 20 minutes
Pricing a subcontract package properly can take days of estimator time. Many subcontractors still decide whether to bid on gut feel, and then discover on the last night that the terms, the program or the payment chain were never workable. A short, consistent bid / no-bid check makes that decision visible, gets the right people in the room early, and gives you a record of why you passed on a job.
What the template scores
The sheet has nine criteria, each with a default weight that you can change (weights should total 100):
- Scope fit (15): is this your core trade, at your scale?
- Capacity (12): crews and supervisors free for the program.
- Client / head contractor (12): payment history and how they run jobs.
- Contract terms (15): liquidated damages, liability caps, time bars and security.
- Payment terms and cash flow (10): payment period, retentions and the cash needed to fund the work.
- Margin potential (12): realistic margin after risk allowance.
- Competition (8): number of bidders and your position.
- Program and site risk (8): access, outages, long-lead items and latent conditions.
- Strategic value (8): a client, sector or region you want.
Each is scored from 1 (poor) to 5 (strong). The sheet calculates a weighted score out of 100.
Hard stops override the score
Some problems shouldn't be averaged away. The template asks four yes/no questions: uncapped liability or damages that won't move, no licence class for the scope, insurance limits above your cover, and crews you don't have. Any "Y" sets the suggested decision to NO-BID (hard stop), whatever the score. Licensing is a real gate in Queensland: check the QBCC licence classes verify and, for electrical work, the Electrical Safety Office verify.
How the decision works
- Enter the tender name, closing date and reviewer.
- Adjust weights if your business values things differently. The sheet checks that they total 100.
- Score each criterion and note why in the Notes column.
- Answer the hard-stop questions.
- Read the suggested decision: BID at or above the bid threshold (default 65), REVIEW / QUALIFY between the review band (default 50) and the threshold, otherwise NO-BID.
"Review / qualify" usually means the job could work if a few terms move. That's where a clear qualifications list in your offer earns its keep.
Going deeper on contract terms
The "contract terms" line is usually the one that deserves more than a single score. Our pre-bid red-flag checklist walks through the clauses to read first. If you want it structured, the paid Risk Scorer on Gumroad runs 41 red-flag checks, scores likelihood and consequence, and drafts a qualifications list for your offer. It's a decision aid, not legal advice.
Tips for a useful bid / no-bid habit
- Do it within a day of receiving the invitation, before estimating starts.
- Have the estimator and the person who signs the bid score it together.
- Keep every completed sheet. After a year, compare scores with the jobs you won and how they went, and recalibrate the weights.
- Read the payment clause against the BIF Act verify and QBCC Act limits before scoring payment terms.
Frequently asked questions
What is a bid / no-bid decision?
What is a weighted scoring matrix?
What is a hard stop in tendering?
Does the template need macros?
General information only, not legal, contractual or tendering advice. The template doesn't make a notice or document valid or effective; your contract and current law decide that. Check each item marked verify against the current official source.