Before carrying a compressed air equipment price in your bid, confirm three things: when the quotation expires, what must happen before that expiration to hold the price, and which costs or assumptions remain subject to change. A current quote isn’t necessarily a fixed delivered price, and submitting your construction bid doesn’t automatically secure the supplier’s pricing.
Compressed air quote validity needs to match your procurement schedule—not just bid day. At Process & Power, we encourage contractor teams to identify the expected award, submittal approval, and purchase order dates before relying on an equipment number. If those dates extend beyond the quoted validity period, request written clarification or revalidation and document any remaining exposure in your estimate.
Read the Expiration Date Alongside the Acceptance Terms
A statement such as “valid through” a particular date answers only part of the question. You also need to know what counts as acceptance and whether other conditions affect pricing.
Expiration: Is there a specific expiration date, or a period measured from the quote date?
Acceptance: Must the supplier receive a purchase order, acknowledge the order, receive a deposit, or complete another stated requirement?
Release conditions: Does pricing depend on approved submittals or release for production by a separate date?
Exceptions: Are freight, taxes, surcharges, or other identified costs excluded from the price hold?
Don’t assume sending a purchase order before expiration resolves every condition. Ask the supplier to confirm acceptance and identify any differences between the purchase order and quotation. An order marked “hold for approval” may not satisfy a production-release requirement.
If the quote expires before your likely award date, request an extension through a specific date. Keep the written response with the estimate. Unless the supplier confirms otherwise, an extension of price validity should not be treated as a reservation of equipment or production capacity.
Separate Budget Pricing From a Firm Equipment Proposal
Budget pricing helps establish a planning allowance when requirements are incomplete. It may rely on assumed flow, operating pressure, air treatment, voltage, or package configuration. It should not be carried as though every specification and commercial condition has been resolved.
A firm equipment proposal should identify the equipment, scope, price, validity period, and applicable terms. “Firm” still needs to be read alongside any stated qualifications. It doesn’t automatically mean freight is fixed, taxes are included, or a later specification revision can be absorbed without adjustment.
Before comparing proposals, establish a common pricing basis:
Drawing, specification, equipment schedule, and addendum revisions used.
Required flow and pressure, air quality requirements, and electrical characteristics.
Included compressors, dryers, filters, receivers, drains, controls, and accessories.
Exceptions to the specified equipment or approved manufacturers.
A supplier’s proposed alternate remains an alternate until accepted through the project’s approval process. If your estimate depends on that alternate, identify the approval dependency rather than treating it as an engineer-approved substitution.
Define Freight Beyond “Included” or “Excluded”
Freight can change the carried cost even when the equipment price remains valid. Confirm whether transportation is a firm amount, an estimate, an allowance, or a cost to be billed at shipment. Also confirm the destination used to calculate it.
For a Tennessee project, delivery to a contractor’s warehouse in Memphis may involve different receiving arrangements than delivery directly to a constrained jobsite. The quotation should reflect the intended destination and known access requirements.
Ask who is responsible for:
Transportation to the named delivery point, including separate accessory shipments.
Delivery appointments, special truck requirements, or limited-access charges.
Unloading, rigging, and moving equipment from the receiving point to its final location.
Storage, redelivery, or additional handling if the site cannot accept shipment.
Receiving inspection and freight-claim coordination under the stated shipping terms.
Pay attention to both payment responsibility and risk of loss; they aren’t necessarily the same issue. If shipping terms are unclear, request a plain-language explanation in writing. “Freight included” should not be interpreted as “unloaded and set in place.”
Check the Assumptions That Can Reopen Pricing
An unexpired quote can still require revision when the quoted scope changes. For compressed air packages, changes to operating pressure, dryer requirements, controls interfaces, electrical characteristics, or installation environment can affect equipment selection and price.
Compare the latest bid documents with the revisions listed in the proposal. If an addendum changes air treatment or package accessories, ask for a revised quotation—not just confirmation that the old expiration date still applies.
Commercial assumptions also matter. Confirm how applicable taxes, payment terms, deposits, and any stated price-adjustment provisions are handled. If a provision permits an adjustment, ask what triggers it, which costs it affects, and when the revised amount will be confirmed.
Keep equipment supply separate from field responsibilities. Piping, electrical connections, controls integration, testing, startup, and training should be explicitly included or assigned elsewhere. Our equipment proposal and any installation scope need to be reviewed as defined scopes; neither should be assumed to cover every construction trade.
Keep Price Validity Separate From Delivery Timing
A valid price doesn’t establish a required-on-site commitment. Lead time may be measured from order acceptance, approved submittals, deposit receipt, or release for production. Ask which milestone starts the quoted clock and whether that timing is an estimate or a confirmed commitment.
Hypothetical example: A mechanical contractor bidding a Memphis facility expansion receives a compressor package quote that expires before the anticipated subcontract award. Freight is estimated, and production timing begins after approved submittals. The estimator carries the package price as fixed and assumes delivery timing begins on bid day.
Three clarifications are needed: whether pricing can be extended through the expected order date, how freight will be finalized, and whether the submittal schedule supports the required-on-site date. The estimator should document those answers and unresolved allowances before carrying the number forward.
A Quote-Validity Request You Can Reuse
Send the supplier the quote number and revision with this focused request:
Confirm pricing remains valid through our anticipated purchase order date of [date].
Identify the acceptance, deposit, approval, or release requirements needed to hold pricing.
Confirm the proposal includes drawings, specifications, and addenda through [revision/date].
Identify freight, taxes, surcharges, and other amounts that are excluded or subject to adjustment.
Confirm delivery pricing to [location] and clarify unloading and receiving responsibilities.
State the milestone that starts lead time and review our required-on-site date of [date].
List unresolved scope exceptions, alternate approvals, and startup responsibilities.
Confirm the Price Basis Before Carrying It
Working on a compressed air equipment bid? Send us your scope, specifications, project location, bid deadline, expected order date, and estimator or project manager contact through our Contractor Bids page. Include the required-on-site date so we can discuss the pricing assumptions and procurement timing together.
Process & Power, Inc.
901-362-5500
1721 Corporate Avenue, Memphis, TN 38132
