The short answer
Verify five things before awarding boiler erection: IBR class and state endorsement, welder qualification testing before mobilisation, owned versus hired equipment, a sample handover dossier from a completed job, and repeat orders from the same EPC house.
Rate comparison is the least useful way to choose an erection contractor. The cost of a slow or non-compliant contractor is measured in schedule days and rework, and it dwarfs any rate difference. These are the questions that actually predict the outcome.
Statutory standing
- What IBR class do you hold, and can I see the certificate? Class-I is required above 40 kg/cm².
- Is it endorsed for my state? Approval in one state does not automatically extend to another.
- Is it currently valid? Approvals are time-limited and require renewal.
People
- Are your welders qualification-tested before mobilisation or at my gate? Testing at the gate costs you a week.
- How many permanent technical staff do you carry? A contractor who assembles a team per job carries no institutional knowledge between jobs.
- Who is the site in-charge, and what have they erected? Ask for the individual, not the company average.
Equipment
- Do you own your welding sets, chain blocks and scaffolding, or hire them? Owned plant means mobilisation does not wait on a rental yard's availability.
- How many dedicated IBR welding sets do you hold? A specific number is a good sign; a vague answer is not.
Evidence
- Show me a completed handover dossier from a previous job. This is the single most revealing request you can make. A contractor with good document discipline will produce one immediately.
- What was your first-time radiography acceptance rate on your last pressure-part job? If they track it, they manage it.
- Which EPC houses have re-awarded you, and how many times? Repeat orders from an OEM are the strongest available signal — the OEM carries the performance risk.
A note on lowest bid
In erection work an unusually low bid usually means one of three things: the scope has been read differently to how you intended it, the manpower has been under-estimated, or the contractor intends to recover margin through variations. All three cost more than the difference. Interrogate the assumptions behind the number rather than the number itself — ask for the manpower histogram that sits behind the price.
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