How to Brief a Retail Contractor: What to Prepare Before You Go to Tender

The quality of the quotes you receive from a retail contractor is almost entirely determined by the quality of the brief you provide. A vague brief produces unreliable numbers, programs built on assumptions, and a tender comparison that tells you very little about which contractor will actually perform.

Most of the cost and program surprises that emerge during retail construction projects were predictable at the brief stage. The information existed. It was not gathered and shared before the tender.

This post covers what to prepare before you approach a contractor, and why each element matters.

Start With a Clear Scope of Works

The scope of works describes what you want built. It sounds obvious but it is the element most often left vague in early contractor conversations.

A scope of works for a retail fit out or new build should cover:

1. What type of project it is: new build, fit out from shell and core, refurbishment of an existing fit out, or a phased programme across multiple stores.
2. The gross internal area of the unit or building.
3. What the unit will be used for, including any food preparation, refrigeration, or specialist extraction requirements.
4. What the start condition is, meaning what exists now and what will remain after any strip out.
5. What the finished condition needs to be, including any brand specification documents if the retailer has them.
6. Whether the store will trade during the works, and if so, what trading restrictions apply.

You do not need to write a full specification document before approaching a contractor. But you do need enough clarity on these points that every contractor you approach is pricing the same job. If one contractor assumes a closed-site programme and another assumes live trading, their quotes are not comparable.

Share the Drawings You Have

Contractors price from drawings. The more complete your drawings, the more accurate the quote. But you do not need a full construction information package before going to tender. You need enough to define the scope.

What to share at brief stage:

1. Existing floor plans and elevations if the unit is an existing building, showing the current layout and any known structural elements.
2. Proposed layout drawings if design work has started, even at concept stage. A rough layout is better than nothing.
3. The shell and core specification if the unit is being handed over by a developer, including service termination drawings.
4. Any brand specification documents from the retailer, including materials schedules, fit out guides, or approved product lists.

If you have no drawings at all, say so. A contractor with relevant experience can give you a rough order of magnitude cost range and advise on what design information is needed before a proper tender can be run. What they cannot do reliably is give you a fixed price from a verbal description.

Provide the Existing Building Information

For any project involving an existing building, the contractor needs to know what they are working with. This is the information that most often gets shared late and causes the most problems when it surfaces mid-programme.

Before you brief a contractor, gather:

1. An asbestos survey covering all areas that will be disturbed by the works. This is a legal requirement before any refurbishment or demolition work begins on a building that may contain asbestos, and any building constructed before 2000 should be treated as potentially containing it.
2. Structural drawings for the existing building if they exist. For a unit in a multi-occupancy building, the developer or landlord should hold these.
3. Records of previous fit outs, including any structural alterations made by previous occupiers.
4. Utility records showing the location and capacity of existing gas, electrical, water, and drainage connections to the unit.
5. The lease or agreement for lease, which defines what works the tenant can carry out and what landlord consents are required.

If the asbestos survey has not been done, commission it before tender. A contractor who discovers asbestos during strip out on a project where no survey was provided has no obligation to absorb that cost. It becomes a variation, and a significant one.

Define the Programme Requirements

Your programme requirements are as important as your scope. A contractor needs to know not just what they are building but when it needs to be finished and what constraints they will be working under.

Tell the contractor:

1. The target handover date and whether it is fixed by a lease commitment, a trading commitment, or another external deadline.
2. Whether the site is available now or has a future access date.
3. Any restrictions on working hours, access routes, or delivery times, particularly for units in managed retail environments or mixed use buildings.
4. Whether the store will trade during the works and what trading hours must be protected.
5. Any phasing requirements if the works are split into stages.

A handover date that is a fixed lease commencement is a different programme risk from a handover date that is a commercial target. Be clear which yours is. A contractor pricing a fixed deadline will and should include more programme contingency, which affects the cost. A contractor who does not know the deadline is fixed may not price that contingency in, and you will both discover the problem at the wrong moment.

Set a Budget Range

Many clients are reluctant to share a budget with a contractor before tender, on the theory that the contractor will just price up to it. This is understandable but counterproductive.

A budget range gives the contractor useful information. It tells them whether the scope is achievable within your expectations or whether there is a fundamental mismatch before anyone spends time pricing. It allows them to make sensible specification recommendations rather than guessing whether you want a budget, mid, or premium specification on items where you have not told them. And it allows them to flag early if the scope cannot be delivered for the budget, which is information you need before you commit to the project.

If you are genuinely uncertain what the budget should be, say so and ask the contractor for a rough order of magnitude estimate before you run a formal tender. That estimate, based on a site visit and a clear scope, will give you a realistic baseline for your budget.

Confirm the Procurement Route

How you intend to procure the works affects what you need to prepare and what the contractor will submit. The main routes for retail construction are:

1. Single stage tender: you issue the complete scope and information to a shortlist of contractors and ask for a fixed price. Used when the design is substantially complete before tender.
2. Two stage tender: you appoint a preferred contractor at an early stage based on preliminaries and overhead and profit rates, then develop the detailed cost plan together as design progresses. Used when you want to involve the contractor in the design process or when the design is not complete enough for a fixed price tender.
3. Negotiated appointment: you approach one contractor and agree the price directly without competitive tender. Used for repeat programmes or where a specific contractor relationship is the starting point.

For most retail fit outs, a single stage tender works well if the design is developed enough to allow accurate pricing. For supermarket new builds and large format projects with complex specifications, a two stage route often gives better outcomes because it brings the contractor's construction expertise into the design process before the specification is fixed.

Be Clear About What You Are Comparing

When tenders come back, the comparison needs to be on a like for like basis. This only works if every contractor has been given the same information and the same scope. Price alone is not a reliable comparison. What is included and what is excluded matters as much as the total.

Ask every contractor to submit their tender with:

1. A clear statement of what is included in the price and what is excluded.
2. A breakdown by element rather than a single lump sum.
3. Their assumptions about start condition, access, and programme.
4. Their approach to variations and how they are priced and agreed.

A tender that is 20 percent lower than the others without a clear explanation of what has been excluded is not a bargain. It is a risk. The most common source of cost overrun on retail construction projects is a tender won on a low price that recovers margin through variations once work has started.

What to Prepare: A Summary Checklist

1. Clear scope of works covering what is being built, what the start condition is, and what the finished standard needs to be
2. Existing drawings and any proposed layout drawings, even at concept stage
3. Asbestos survey for any existing building
4. Utility records and structural information
5. Lease or agreement for lease
6. Programme requirements including fixed deadlines and access constraints
7. Budget range
8. Procurement route decision
9. Instructions for tender format and what you want each contractor to include in their submission

Preparing this information before you approach contractors takes time. It saves significantly more time during tender and on site. Every piece of information that is not shared at brief stage gets discovered during the project instead, always at higher cost and with less time to resolve it cleanly.

We work with developers, retailers, and investors across the UK on retail fit outs, refurbishments, and new builds. If you are preparing a brief and want to test it against our experience before you go to tender, get in touch with our team. We will tell you if anything is missing and what it is likely to cost you if it surfaces later.