Whole-building AMC — what should the contract actually cover, and how do I compare bids fairly?

Question

I'm putting a whole-building annual maintenance contract (AMC) out to tender and the bids are all over the place — some cheap, some triple, and genuinely hard to compare. - What should a building AMC actually cover — MEP, chiller/AC, plumbing, electrical, common areas, lifts? - What's often sneakily excluded (so the cheap bid isn't really cheap)? - How do I compare bids like-for-like rather than on headline price? Trying to avoid a cheap contract that excludes everything that matters and nickel-and-dimes me on call-outs. What should I be looking for?

Sam D. · Accepted Answer

Short answer: a building AMC lives or dies on SCOPE, and the cheap bids win by quietly narrowing it. A real whole-building AMC covers the MEP systems (the chiller/AC plant is usually the biggest and most important line), plumbing and drainage, electrical and the DB/panels, common-area systems, and often lifts (frequently a separate specialist contract) — with defined PM visits, response times, and what's included vs chargeable. Compare bids by forcing them onto the SAME scope sheet, not by headline price.

What it should cover: - HVAC / chiller plant — the big one: chiller/cooling-tower servicing + water treatment, FCUs/AHUs, pumps. This is where a building's money and risk concentrate, so scrutinise it. - Electrical — DBs/panels, common-area power/lighting, safety checks. - Plumbing & drainage — pumps, tanks, common risers, blockages. - Common areas & building fabric — general upkeep. - Lifts — usually a separate specialist AMC (check whether it's in or out). - Defined: number of PM visits, response times for breakdowns, and a clear inclusions vs exclusions list (parts? consumables? after-hours?).

What gets sneakily excluded (why cheap isn't cheap): - Parts and consumables billed on top of a low "labour-only" headline. - Chiller water treatment / major HVAC carved out. - Call-out limits and pricey after-hours rates. - Response times vague or absent.

How to compare fairly: write your own scope + PM-frequency + response-time sheet and make every bidder price THAT, so you're comparing identical scope. Then the tripled bid might be the honest one and the cheap one is labour-only. Ask for references and sample reports, and confirm the HVAC competence specifically (get the chiller side assessed by a chilled-water specialist if you're unsure). FMs — what exclusion caught you out?

DubaiFix Team · Answer

This is exactly it — never compare AMC bids on their own scopes, because they're deliberately different. Issue a single scope-of-work and PM schedule and make everyone price it identically; suddenly the numbers converge and the real gaps show. The classics that get excluded: parts/consumables, chiller water treatment, after-hours response, and a call-out cap. And insist on response-time SLAs in writing — "we'll come when we can" is worthless when a pump fails on a Friday night. Cheap-and-narrow costs more than fair-and-complete within a year.

Faisal M. · Answer

From owning a few units: the exclusions are where the cheap contracts get you. I've seen a "great price" AMC that excluded parts, capped call-outs at a joke number, and carved out the AC plant entirely — so every real problem was extra. Now I hand every bidder the same scope sheet and read the exclusions before the price. The HVAC/chiller line is the one to get right because it's the biggest cost and the biggest failure risk in a building. Fair-and-documented beats cheap-and-vague every time.

Whole-building AMC — what should the contract actually cover, and how do I compare bids fairly?

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