> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trubuild.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Evaluation rounds
> Create, track, and compare commercial and technical evaluation rounds across clarification cycles, from first submission to award.
Construction procurement rarely moves from first bid to award in one pass. Most packages go through an initial submission, compliance review, clarification questions (PTCs and tender queries), contractor responses, revised commercial or technical positions, and sometimes a final offer or BAFO-style round before award recommendation.
TruBuild models this with **rounds inside each evaluation workflow**. The package is the common container for contractors, weights, documents, tender queries, and the award record. Inside that package, commercial evaluation keeps its own round history and technical evaluation keeps its own round history. Each new round is a fresh snapshot; earlier rounds stay intact for audit.
That separation matters in practice. A commercial team may run a second round after revised priced BOQs arrive, while the technical team keeps its existing scores because the clarification did not touch technical criteria. The reverse also happens: a technical PTC can trigger a new technical round without changing the commercial comparison.
## Common construction procurement sequence
```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
A["Tender issued"] --> B["Initial submissions received"]
B --> C["Compliance and completeness check"]
C --> D["Commercial Round 1"]
C --> E["Technical Initial Submission"]
D --> F["Commercial PTCs"]
E --> G["Technical PTCs"]
C --> H["Tender query register"]
F --> I["Responses and addenda"]
G --> I
H --> I
I --> J["Commercial next round, if pricing changed"]
I --> K["Technical PTC round, if criteria affected"]
J --> L["Latest reviewed commercial round"]
K --> M["Latest reviewed technical round"]
L --> N["Award recommendation"]
M --> N
```
Not every package needs every step. A simple low-risk package may stop after one round. A complex MEP, facade, civil works, or specialist systems package may need several clarification cycles.
## What a round represents
| Round element | Meaning |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Package | The tender package that owns the contractors, weights, documents, query register, and award decision |
| Workflow | Commercial or technical |
| Round label | Commercial rounds default to "Round 1", "Round 2", and so on, and you can rename them. Technical rounds are labelled automatically: **Initial Submission** first, then **Round 1**, **Round 2** for each PTC round. Organization admins can define custom technical round labels in [Settings](/get-started/settings) |
| Round type | Initial or PTC (post-tender clarification). The technical results workbook records the type against every round |
| Source documents | Commercial: the BOQ, PTE, and contractor priced files evaluated in that round. Technical: the proposals or PTC responses assessed in that round |
| Evaluation output | The commercial comparison or technical scores at that point in time |
| Human review | Notes, overrides, accepted scores, and carry-forward decisions for that round |
| Award relevance | Whether this round is the evidence basis for the recommendation |
Commercial and technical rounds are reviewed independently, on their own timelines. The award should rest on the latest reviewed commercial round and the latest reviewed technical round. TruBuild enforces one part of this: you must complete the technical score review on the latest technical round before you can award the package.
## Commercial round statuses
Every commercial round carries a status badge so the team knows whether results are trustworthy yet: **Setup** while the round is queued, **Analyzing** while extraction and comparison run (with live per-vendor progress), **Ready** when results are available, and **Failed** with a **Retry** action if the run errors. The full status reference is in [Commercial evaluation](/platform/commercial-eval).
Do not circulate results from a round that is still **Analyzing**. Totals and rankings are only complete once the round reaches **Ready**.
Technical rounds move through their own analysis and score-review flow, described in [Technical evaluation](/platform/technical-eval).
## Run a new commercial round
Run a new commercial round whenever the commercial basis changes: revised priced BOQs after PTC responses, corrected arithmetic, newly priced scope, an addendum that changes quantities, or a final offer.
From the package's commercial page, click **Run New Round** and work through the same wizard used for the first round: upload the commercial basis (the BOQ, and optionally the PTE), attach each contractor's revised files against the correct contractor, and click **Create and run evaluation**. The wizard is covered step by step in [Commercial evaluation](/platform/commercial-eval).
Upload revised submissions into the new round, not over the files of an earlier round. In construction procurement the movement between rounds is often the evidence: what changed, why it changed, and whether a clarification improved or weakened the bid.
Users with **full** or **commercial** access can create rounds. For users with **viewer** access, **Run New Round** and **Create and run evaluation** are disabled with a "Read-only access" tooltip. The buttons are also disabled while another round creation is already in progress. Viewers can still switch between rounds and download exports.
## Switch between rounds
Each evaluated asset keeps its full round history. Use the round dropdown at the top of the results page to move between rounds; each option shows the round number and name, for example "Round 2: post-clarifications". Selecting an earlier round shows that round's comparison exactly as it was run, including its overrides and notes.
The package **Pricing Overview** dashboard aggregates the latest results across assets, so use the round dropdown on the asset page when you need to inspect a specific historical position.
## Compare commercial rounds
When a new round reaches **Ready**, compare it against the previous reviewed position before treating it as the new commercial basis. Switch between rounds with the dropdown and check:
* Total bid movement per contractor, and movement in rank
* New exclusions or qualifications that were not in the prior round
* Previously unpriced lines that are now priced (and at what rate)
* Rates that moved materially after clarification, especially on high-value trades
* Provisional sums, dayworks, preliminaries, and prime cost items
* Whether a contractor that was commercially non-compliant is now compliant
A bid that drops sharply between rounds deserves as much scrutiny as one that rises. Check whether the reduction came from genuine re-pricing or from new exclusions that shift scope risk back to the employer.
### Export each round for the record
Click **Export Comparison** on the asset's commercial detail page to download the round as an Excel workbook. The filename includes the round name, so exports from different rounds never get confused in the committee pack. The export options (contractor selection, rate or amount, PTE column, received or normalized bids) are described in [Commercial evaluation](/platform/commercial-eval).
Export the reviewed position of each round and keep both with the award pack. The committee should review fixed snapshots, not a live screen.
### Track the clarifications between rounds
The commercial clarification questions raised in a round can be exported as an Excel workbook named `_PTC_Questions_.xlsx`. It lists each question per contractor with the item reference, the vendor's response, and a status (pending, clarified, or closed), categorized by issue type: exclusions, unpriced items, deviations, pricing anomalies, and arithmetic checks. Filed alongside the round exports, it documents why the next round was needed.
## Technical rounds
Technical rounds preserve technical scoring at each stage of the tender. The first technical round is always labelled **Initial Submission**; it sets the criteria and the baseline scores. Each PTC round after it (labelled **Round 1**, **Round 2**, and so on) inherits the criteria from the previous round, so the scoring basis stays consistent.
Common triggers for a new technical PTC round:
* Contractor provides missing method statements, programme details, resources, HSE, QA/QC, or design clarifications
* Technical PTC responses affect specific criteria
* Revised submissions change the technical basis
A PTC round has three setup steps: **Round setup** (choose whether to carry the clarification items from the prior round or upload the PTCs you issued), **Response files**, and **Affected criteria**. For the full walkthrough, see [Technical evaluation](/platform/technical-eval).
### Rerun or carry forward
Avoid blindly re-scoring every criterion after every clarification. For each affected contractor and criterion, decide whether to **Rerun** (the response materially changes the evidence for the criterion) or **Carry Forward** (the response does not change the score basis). Each decision carries a rationale, so the round record shows why unaffected scores were preserved. The decision workflow is covered in [Technical evaluation](/platform/technical-eval).
### Compare technical rounds
After a PTC round completes, rerun criteria show delta badges against the prior round, and the contractor leaderboard shows total-score deltas, so you can see at a glance which contractor gained or lost ground after clarifications. The technical results workbook lists every round with its type, each contractor's score per round, and the net change in ranking between rounds, which makes round-over-round movement easy to present to a committee. See [Technical evaluation](/platform/technical-eval) for the full scoring walkthrough.
## Recommended commercial round naming
TruBuild names commercial rounds "Round 1", "Round 2", and so on by default, and lets you customize the name. Use names that make sense in a committee pack without opening the system:
| Situation | Recommended name |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------- |
| First priced bid return | `Round 1 - initial pricing` |
| After commercial PTC responses | `Round 2 - post-clarifications` |
| Final offer request | `Round 3 - final offer` |
| BAFO-style close | `Final - BAFO` |
Avoid names like `test`, `rerun`, `new`, or `final final`. They make audit review harder. The round name also appears in export filenames, so a clear name keeps the committee pack self-explanatory. Technical rounds are labelled automatically, and organization admins can standardize custom technical round labels in [Settings](/get-started/settings).
## Tender queries and PTCs
Tender queries and PTCs are the bridge between rounds:
| Type | Typical source | Purpose |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Tender query | Contractor asks the employer, owner, or procurement team a question | Clarify tender documents, scope, drawings, BOQ, or instructions |
| Commercial PTC | Commercial evaluator raises a question to a contractor | Clarify price, exclusions, unpriced items, arithmetical issues, or qualifications |
| Technical PTC | Technical evaluator raises a question to a contractor | Clarify proposal compliance, methodology, resources, programme, design, HSE, or QA/QC |
| Circular/addendum | Procurement team issues information to all tenderers | Keep the tender process fair when information affects more than one bidder |
In most construction procurement processes, a clarification response that changes the tender basis should be issued as a circular or addendum to all affected tenderers. TruBuild maintains the query record; the procurement team still owns fairness, equal treatment, and formal issue through the approved channel. See [Tender queries](/platform/tender-queries) for the query register, approvals, and circular generation.
## Round controls
* Confirm the contractor list, package currency, and technical/commercial weighting.
* Upload the issued BOQ, PTE, and criteria where applicable.
* Upload initial contractor submissions against the correct contractors.
* Confirm evaluator access levels; viewers cannot create rounds.
* Confirm PTCs or tender queries were issued through the approved channel.
* Collect contractor responses against the right contractor and stage.
* Identify whether the response affects commercial items, technical criteria, or both.
* Create a new commercial round only when the commercial basis changes.
* Create a new technical round only when criteria or scoring evidence changes.
* Decide what should rerun and what should carry forward inside the affected workflow.
* Confirm the latest reviewed commercial round is the intended commercial basis, and export it.
* Complete the technical score review on the latest technical round; the **Award package** action stays blocked until it is complete, and only contractors ranked in both the technical and commercial evaluations are eligible.
* Confirm no high-priority query remains unresolved.
* Capture any residual risk in the award comments.
## Typical pitfalls
| Pitfall | Better practice |
| --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Treating a round as one combined technical/commercial event | Keep commercial and technical round histories separate under the same package |
| Overwriting Round 1 with revised files | Create a new round so the first comparison or score remains auditable |
| Reviewing results while the round is still **Analyzing** | Wait for **Ready**; partial extractions understate totals |
| Re-scoring every technical criterion after one clarification | Rerun only affected criteria and carry forward the rest with rationale |
| Mixing commercial and technical clarifications in email threads | Keep commercial PTCs, technical PTCs, and tender queries categorized |
| Issuing bidder-specific answers that affect all tenderers | Use a circular or addendum where fairness requires common information |
| Calling a round "final" before queries are closed | Use a final round name only after material queries and PTCs are resolved or accepted as residual risk |
## Related
Run the full commercial comparison workflow inside a round.
Score technical criteria and complete the score review per round.
Manage the clarifications that trigger new rounds.
Check whether the latest rounds are ready for committee review.