Traceability
Each price line should connect to an opening or clearly defined group.
Field guide 01
A practical checklist for comparing impact-window and door proposals.
The lowest total on the last page is rarely enough to show whether two proposals cover the same result. A useful comparison aligns every opening, assumption, product choice, responsibility, and commercial condition.
01
1. Normalize the opening schedule
Confirm that each proposal is based on the same count, opening identifier, approximate size, operation, location, and drawing revision. Ask bidders to identify field-verification assumptions and any openings they excluded or combined.
Existing conditions
Note unknown substrates, concealed damage, access, removals, protection, and restoration assumptions.
Scope boundaries
Clarify who handles demolition, disposal, waterproofing interfaces, stucco, drywall, paint, trim, alarms, electrical, and finish repairs.
02
2. Compare the proposed systems
Align manufacturer, product series, frame material, operation, configuration, glass make-up, tint or coating, finish, hardware, screens, mullions, thresholds, and accessory items. A change in any one of these can affect appearance, documentation, lead time, installation details, and price.
03
3. Reconcile documentation
Ask which current product-approval documents, NOA references, design-pressure inputs, shop drawings, anchoring information, and engineering items are included, who prepares them, and what information is still required. General checklists cannot determine a project’s required approvals or pressures; the responsible design and permitting parties must verify those items for the specific work.
Technical references require current manufacturer and authority-source review before project use.
04
4. Make installation assumptions visible
Compare measurement responsibility, substrate assumptions, perimeter preparation, sealants, anchors, water-management interfaces, protection, floor or landscape access, working hours, lifts or scaffolds, temporary security, cleaning, punch, and owner orientation. The proposal should state what happens if field conditions differ.
05
5. Compare commercial terms and timing
Align deposit and progress-payment structure, taxes, bonds if relevant, allowances, alternates, unit prices, price-validity period, release requirements, expected lead times, delivery, storage, schedule assumptions, warranty sources, and change-order treatment. Treat all lead times as current planning information rather than guarantees.
06
Use a decision log
Close the comparison with one list of unresolved choices, responsible parties, due dates, and proposal impacts. That turns a quote-leveling exercise into a project-control tool.
A clearer next step
Bring the project into focus.
Share the scope, timeline, and decisions in front of you. F&T will help identify the most useful next conversation.