How to Prepare a Unitized Curtain Wall RFQ: A Complete Buyer Checklist
A unitized curtain wall RFQ is more than a request for a lump-sum price. It is a controlled information package that tells suppliers what project, system, documents, materials, performance requirements, responsibilities, delivery conditions, and commercial assumptions they are expected to address. A useful unitized curtain wall RFQ checklist should include a project brief, drawing and revision register, facade elevations and details, panel/module schedule, glass and infill schedule, materials and finishes, performance and testing requirements, engineering and QA/QC responsibilities, factory and logistics scope, delivery and installation boundaries, programme, commercial assumptions, and a standard response format. Require every bidder to mark items as included, optional, excluded, or subject to confirmation. Record assumptions, alternatives, deviations, and open questions before comparing totals. A complete package improves clarity and comparability; it does not guarantee the lowest price, compliance, performance, or delivery date. This checklist is a flexible procurement framework, not a universal legal or technical form. Adapt it to your project documents, procurement route, contract, local requirements, and design stage. For why technical and commercial inputs change a quotation, see our guide to the factors that affect unitized curtain wall pricing. At minimum, assemble the following package before requesting comparable supplier quotations: The package should also state whether you want a supply-only quotation, delivered-to-site quotation, supply-and-installation quotation, design-assist pricing, delegated-design pricing, budget estimate, or base bid with alternatives. If bidders may propose different systems, say so explicitly and define how alternatives will be reviewed. State the project name, location, building type, intended use, design stage, facade package, buyer entity, project contacts, issue date, question deadline, bid deadline, and required response format. Include the destination and delivery point if the quotation may involve cross-border supply. The brief should describe the planning context without assuming a particular system is suitable. A high-rise office project may require clear floor-to-floor conditions, repeated modules, lifting assumptions, and installation interfaces. A mixed-use project may require separate podium, tower, entrance, corner, and transition information. A public or institutional project may require defined review, testing, traceability, and handover documents. Tell bidders which procurement route the RFQ represents: Do not assume that all bidders interpret "unitized curtain wall quotation" the same way. If design information is incomplete, identify expected allowances, deliverables, and design responsibilities. If alternative systems are permitted, state the required technical submission and comparison basis. Define the boundary between the curtain wall package and adjacent work. State whether doors, louvers, shading, stone, metal panels, waterproofing, fire stopping, structure, access equipment, and interior finishes are included, coordinated, supplied by others, or excluded. Include the response deadline, clarification process, required file format, quotation validity, and contact for technical questions. Your project's contract and procurement policy take precedence over this checklist. A controlled register helps each bidder price the same revision. List, as applicable: Each row should show the document number, title, revision, issue date, format, status, and bidder action. If a document is missing, mark it as an open issue rather than letting bidders make different silent assumptions. Elevations alone may not show the information needed to understand panel marks, slab edges, corners, drainage, movement, openings, or adjacent packages. Attach the details that define typical and non-typical conditions, and identify any area still at design-development stage. Also list the supplier documents you expect back, such as product data, CAD details, specifications, installation or assembly information, maintenance information, certificates, and test reports. Define these per project rather than assuming every supplier provides an identical package. State which revision forms the pricing basis. Require bidders to confirm the drawing register and list any addenda or clarification responses used. Suppliers should identify discrepancies, missing dimensions, unpriced assumptions, and conflicts between drawings and specifications. Do not compare a quotation based on an earlier elevation with one based on a later panel schedule as if the scope were identical. If information changes during the RFQ, issue the same controlled addendum to all bidders. Mark the typical grid, floor-to-floor condition, slab edge, head, sill, jamb, stack joint, drainage path, glazing plane, and connection intent in the quotation documents. Your qualified design professionals must define and review structural, water, fire, movement, and other technical requirements. Mark internal and external corners, podium/tower transitions, roof and parapet conditions, base interfaces, slopes, curves, irregular grids, openings, fins, shading, louvers, doors, stone, metal panels, BIPV, and movement joints. Show how these conditions relate to the unitized package and adjacent work. For each non-typical condition, ask the bidder to state whether it is included, optional, excluded, or subject to confirmation. Request the relevant detail, panel mark, material basis, engineering responsibility, testing assumption, and installation boundary. Identify areas that are not unitized curtain wall, such as non-unitized infill, special entrance assemblies, opaque panels, local repairs, adjacent facade systems, or work by others. A clear exclusion is more useful than an area that disappears from the quotation without explanation. A panel or module schedule translates the elevations into a controlled list of panel marks, locations, quantities, materials, dimensions, repetition, and handling assumptions. Include, as applicable: Separate standard repeated panels from custom or design-development panels. If a panel is not fully defined, label it as an allowance, design-development item, or subject to confirmation. Do not invite bidders to make different assumptions and then treat their totals as directly comparable. Provide typical, minimum, and maximum width and height, floor-to-floor constraints, estimated weight and center of gravity where known, relevant tolerances, attachment conditions, and handling restrictions. Ask bidders to identify any dimensions, weights, tolerances, or lifting conditions they have assumed. The schedule should also show standard-module count, unique-panel count, repetition ratio, panel quantities, and delivery batches. If the design is still developing, identify the design responsibility and change-control process rather than hiding uncertainty inside a lump sum. Panel schedule template: State the glass make-up, nominal thickness, coatings, interlayers, spacer and gas assumptions where relevant, visual criteria, sample requirements, and performance targets. Identify insulated, laminated, monolithic, spandrel, metal-panel, opaque, or other infill configurations. Also state pane size, weight, edge treatment, color, frit, reflectance, ceramic coating, safety criteria, and whether factory glazing or sealing is included. Do not rely on broad descriptions such as "double glazing" or "high performance" without a defined schedule. Define the aluminum profile basis, profile depth, reinforcement, thermal-break approach, drainage, gaskets, sealants, isolators, anchors, brackets, fasteners, flashings, pressure plates, cover caps, and hardware. Ask bidders to identify their proposed product basis and any approved-equivalent or alternative item. The screening fields on our Unitized Curtain Wall Systems page (system depth, glazing method, glass plane, glazing installation, and infill type) are a useful starting list for these RFQ questions. State whether the finish is painted, anodized, fluoropolymer, or another specified system. Include color, gloss, texture, dual finishes, batch consistency, sample approval, mockup requirements, and replacement assumptions. Set an approved-alternative procedure. Require bidders to list substitutions separately from the base bid, explain technical differences, submit product data and samples where requested, and state any effect on programme, responsibility, testing, or maintenance. Do not treat an unmarked alternative as equivalent to the specified basis. The RFQ should identify the project's applicable design requirements without assuming compliance. As applicable, define: State whether a pre-construction laboratory mockup, field mockup, or both are required. Identify the representative specimen, test method, agency, witnessing, report format, acceptance criteria, retesting, and responsibility for changes after a failed or revised mockup. ASTM E2099-23 covers pre-construction laboratory mockup design and construction, observation, testing, evaluation, documentation, and coordination for exterior wall systems. ASTM E331-00(2023) covers water-penetration testing of curtain walls under a uniform static air-pressure difference. Name the specific methods your project requires rather than citing standards generally. Ask the project team and bidders to distinguish design requirements, test methods, acceptance criteria, test reports, corrective actions, and final approvals. Mentioning ASTM, AAMA/FGIA, EN, or local codes is not a substitute for a configuration-specific test plan, report, or qualified review. Use a responsibility matrix to assign design assistance, delegated design, calculations, analysis, system details, interface details, and revisions. State whether the supplier is expected to review buyer information, develop details, produce calculations, or only manufacture to approved documents. Our Curtain Wall Design & Budget Planning service covers engineering design, shop drawings, structural calculations, system details, material schedules, installation planning, and BIM coordination. Whichever supplier you use, ask them to list which of these deliverables their quotation includes. Define BIM authoring, model detail level, file format, clash coordination, model exchanges, panel schedules, bills of materials, shop drawings, fabrication drawings, installation details, revision limits, and approval steps. State who owns the model, who coordinates interfaces, and how changes are instructed and recorded. Request a QA/QC response covering: Require each bidder to classify these deliverables as included, optional, excluded, or subject to confirmation. State whether the supplier is responsible for assembly, factory glazing, sealing, inspection, labeling, storage, rework, release criteria, batch identification, and traceability. Define the boundary between factory QA/QC and site acceptance. FOWALL's unitized panels are factory-glazed, so we recommend stating in the RFQ exactly where factory release ends and site acceptance begins. Define packaging format and protection for glass, corners, fins, and custom units. State loading, containerization, transport, insurance, customs, duties, taxes, loss or damage responsibility, delivery point, port, inland route, unloading, storage, and weather protection. If Incoterms are used, identify the selected term and the practical responsibility boundary. If another allocation is used, describe it in plain language. Have your commercial and legal teams review the final terms. State hoist, crane, lifting-equipment, floor-access, staging, storage, and site-readiness assumptions. Clarify installation labor, supervision, training, technical support, site adjustments, damaged-unit replacement, re-delivery, handover, and maintenance documentation. Supply-only, delivered-to-site, and installed quotations are not comparable unless these boundaries are explicit. Require the supplier to mark each item as included, optional, excluded, or subject to confirmation. Provide facade area, panel count, buildings, elevations, phases, standard-to-unique panel ratio, and delivery batches. Separate unitized areas from non-unitized areas and identify any allowance or design-development quantity. List submittal, approval, fabrication, mockup, testing, delivery, floor release, installation, and handover milestones. State site-readiness assumptions, installation windows, storage limits, delivery batches, and dependencies. Ask bidders for a project-specific programme with assumptions rather than a generic lead-time statement. Include response date, quotation validity, currency, taxes, duties, insurance, escalation, payment terms, retention or bonds where applicable, alternatives, allowances, provisional items, unit rates, warranty and service clauses, and open questions. These conditions depend on your project, contract, jurisdiction, and procurement policy. Require every bidder to return the same structure: A lump sum with no scope schedule, assumptions, exclusions, or open questions should be clarified before it is compared with structured responses. Ask the same questions of every bidder and keep an auditable record: Record answers in a clarification register or addendum. Where procurement rules require common information, issue material clarifications to all bidders. Clarification register template: Level a bid before interpreting its price. Compare the same document basis, facade scope, panels, glass/infill, materials, engineering, BIM, testing, QA/QC, factory work, logistics, installation, commercial terms, assumptions, alternatives, exclusions, and open issues. Same-scope bid-leveling matrix: A lower total is not a better offer until missing scope, alternatives, allowances, taxes, duties, logistics, installation, and assumptions have been reconciled. Include a controlled project brief, drawing and revision register, elevations and details, panel/module schedule, glass and infill schedule, materials and finishes, performance and testing requirements, responsibility matrix, factory and logistics scope, delivery and installation boundaries, programme, commercial assumptions, and a standard supplier response format. Provide current elevations, grids, plans, sections, typical and non-typical details, corners, transitions, slab edges, parapets, roof and base conditions, interfaces, specifications, revision register, and addenda. Identify missing information and ask bidders to list the documents used for their response. The manufacturer needs enough information to understand the project, package boundary, panel schedule, materials, performance brief, engineering scope, factory work, delivery point, installation boundary, programme, and commercial assumptions. The required detail depends on the design stage and procurement route. Use a glass and infill schedule that states make-up, thickness, coatings, interlayers, spacer or gas assumptions where relevant, dimensions, visual criteria, samples, performance targets, approved alternatives, factory-glazing responsibility, storage, and replacement assumptions. Only when the RFQ clearly defines the installation boundary. State whether labor, supervision, lifting, site adjustments, training, replacement, re-delivery, handover, and technical support are included, excluded, optional, or subject to confirmation. Bid identification, scope confirmation, pricing schedule, status matrix, technical response, programme, assumptions, qualifications, clarifications, and document list. Every bidder should use the same categories so omissions and deviations are visible. Normalize the document revision, facade scope, panel schedule, glass/infill, materials, engineering, testing, factory work, logistics, installation, commercial terms, alternatives, exclusions, and assumptions. Record open questions and reconcile them before interpreting the totals. Uncontrolled revisions, missing panel schedules, vague glass descriptions, omitted custom or interface conditions, mixed supply and installation boundaries, unstated testing or engineering scope, different delivery points, and unmarked alternatives or allowances. A well-prepared unitized curtain wall RFQ gives every bidder the same reviewable basis. The practical sequence is: Preparing a unitized curtain wall RFQ? Send FOWALL your project location, building type, drawings, elevations, panel/module schedule, glass and infill requirements, performance targets, delivery point, installation boundary, and programme. Our team will return a project-specific quotation using the included/optional/excluded/confirm format above, with assumptions, clarifications, and logistics terms stated line by line. We also support factory inspections by you or your appointed third-party inspector. Structural, code, performance, fire, testing, installation, and acceptance requirements should be confirmed by qualified project professionals using project documents and applicable requirements.Introduction: Build a Comparable RFQ Package
What Should Be Included in a Unitized Curtain Wall RFQ?
RFQ section Information to provide or request Why it matters Owner/status Project brief Project name, location, building type, procurement route, package boundary, contacts, issue date, and bid deadline Establishes commercial and geographic context Buyer / to be confirmed Document register Drawing and specification numbers, revisions, dates, formats, status, and addenda Prevents bidders from pricing different information Buyer / controlled Facade scope Areas, elevations, grids, sections, details, openings, non-unitized zones, and interfaces Defines what is inside and outside the package Buyer and design team Panel schedule Panel marks, locations, dimensions, quantities, repetition, custom conditions, corners, transitions, and weight where known Converts facade geometry into a controllable schedule Buyer / design team Glass and infill Make-up, thickness, coatings, panels, spandrels, openings, visual and performance requirements Establishes the material basis Design team / to be confirmed Performance and testing Applicable project requirements, mockups, tests, acceptance criteria, reports, and retesting Makes verification scope explicit Qualified professionals Responsibility matrix Design, calculations, BIM, shop drawings, testing, QA/QC, logistics, installation, replacement, and handover Prevents hidden scope gaps Buyer with project team Logistics and site Packaging, delivery point, customs, unloading, storage, lifting, access, and installation boundary Makes delivery bases comparable Buyer / supplier to confirm Commercial schedule Quantity, phases, programme, currency, validity, taxes, duties, payment, alternatives, allowances, assumptions, and exclusions Makes bids levelable Buyer Response format Line-item pricing, status matrix, technical response, programme, documents, and open questions Produces normalized supplier responses Buyer Step 1: Define the Project Brief and Procurement Route
Project Information
Procurement Route
Package Boundary and Response Deadline
Step 2: Create a Controlled Drawing and Document Register
Drawing Register
Required Details and Interfaces
Revision and Addenda Control
Step 3: Issue the Elevations, Details, and Facade Scope
Typical Details
Non-Typical and Interface Conditions
Areas Outside the Unitized Package
Step 4: Build the Panel/Module Schedule
What the Schedule Should Contain
Typical Versus Custom Panels
Dimensions, Weight, and Tolerances
Field Buyer input or supplier response Panel mark and location Elevation, grid, floor, zone, and building Status Typical, repeated, mirrored, unique, allowance, or subject to confirmation Dimensions Width, height, floor-to-floor, and slab-edge conditions Glazing/infill Glass make-up, spandrel, metal panel, opaque infill, or other basis Openings and attachments Doors, vents, fins, shading, brackets, and interfaces Geometry Corners, transitions, slopes, curves, or irregular forms Quantity By building, elevation, phase, and delivery batch Handling Weight where known, packing, lifting, access, and storage assumptions Supplier qualification Deviation, assumption, alternative, or clarification Step 5: Define Glass, Infill, Materials, Finishes, and Hardware
Glass and Infill Schedule
Profiles, Thermal Breaks, and Accessories
Finishes, Samples, and Alternatives
Step 6: State Performance, Codes, Testing, and Mockup Requirements
Performance Brief
Mockup and Test Plan
Acceptance Criteria and Professional Review
Step 7: Assign Engineering, BIM, Shop Drawings, QA/QC, and Submittals
Engineering and Calculations
BIM and Drawing Deliverables
QA/QC, Traceability, and Handover
Step 8: Define Factory Assembly, Packaging, Logistics, Delivery, and Installation
Factory Scope and Quality Release
Packaging and Delivery Point
Lifting, Installation, and Handover
Step 9: Add the Programme and Commercial Schedule
Quantity and Phases
Programme and Site Readiness
Currency, Validity, Taxes, Duties, and Exclusions
What Should a Unitized Curtain Wall Supplier Response Include?
Which Clarification Questions Should Be Asked Before Bid Leveling?
Question RFQ reference Requested bidder answer Cost/programme effect Responsible party Status Drawing or schedule discrepancy Document number and revision Written interpretation or required change To be stated Buyer / bidder Open Panel or interface assumption Panel mark or detail Included, excluded, or allowance To be stated Bidder Open Material alternative Schedule line Proposed product and deviation To be stated Bidder / design team Open Testing responsibility Test schedule Method, agency, report, retest To be stated Project team / bidder Open Delivery or installation boundary Logistics/site schedule Exact responsibility allocation To be stated Buyer / bidder Open How Do You Compare Unitized Curtain Wall Bids on the Same Scope?
Category Buyer baseline Bidder response Status Assumption or deviation Cost/programme effect Clarification Project and documents Issue list and revisions Documents used Confirm Missing or conflicting data To be stated Open/closed Facade scope Areas, elevations, non-unitized zones Scope covered Confirm Area or interface assumption To be stated Open/closed Panels Panel schedule, quantities, repetition Panel basis Confirm Custom or unique panels To be stated Open/closed Glass/infill Approved schedule Proposed make-up Confirm Alternative or substitution To be stated Open/closed Materials/finish Profiles, finish, hardware Product basis Confirm Equal or alternative To be stated Open/closed Engineering/BIM Responsibility matrix Deliverables Confirm Revision allowance To be stated Open/closed Testing/QA Test and mockup brief Plan and reports Confirm Retest or agency assumption To be stated Open/closed Factory scope Assembly, glazing, inspection Factory activities Confirm Storage or rework To be stated Open/closed Logistics Delivery and site boundary Logistics basis Confirm Customs, unloading, or lifting To be stated Open/closed Installation Labor, supervision, handover Installation scope Confirm Site adjustment or replacement To be stated Open/closed Commercial Currency, validity, tax, payment Terms Confirm Allowance or exclusion To be stated Open/closed Common Unitized Curtain Wall RFQ Mistakes to Avoid
FAQ: Unitized Curtain Wall RFQ Questions Buyers Ask
What should be included in a unitized curtain wall RFQ?
What drawings does a unitized curtain wall supplier need to quote?
What information does a curtain wall manufacturer need for an RFQ?
How should glass requirements be written in a curtain wall RFQ?
Should installation be included in a unitized curtain wall quotation?
What should a unitized curtain wall supplier response include?
How do I compare unitized curtain wall bids on the same scope?
What are common mistakes when preparing a curtain wall RFQ?
Conclusion: Control the Inputs, Then Compare the Offers
Send Your Unitized Curtain Wall RFQ to FOWALL
