The practical answer
AI can help extract and compare vendor quotation terms, but price comparisons are reliable only when the underlying scope matches. Use a common comparison sheet, require document and page references, and confirm missing or ambiguous terms with each vendor before selection.
Start with a common scope, not the quoted total
Two vendors may quote for “housekeeping services” while assuming different staffing, consumables, machines, working days or supervision. A lower monthly total is not enough to establish better value.
Write a scope checklist from your actual requirement. Separate mandatory requirements from preferences, and identify which assumptions affect the cost. Ask AI to populate the checklist from the quotations, keeping extraction separate from scoring.
This exercise is part of the AI upskilling pathway for facility management professionals. It is particularly useful when commercial and operations teams need to review the same information.
Build a comparison that preserves missing information
| Comparison area | Questions to record |
|---|---|
| Scope and quantities | Which areas, tasks, frequencies and quantities are included? |
| Resources | Who provides people, relief cover, supervision, machines and consumables? |
| Commercial basis | Are taxes, mobilisation, travel and annual increases stated? |
| Service commitments | What response, reporting and replacement commitments are explicit? |
| Validity and change | How long is the offer valid and how are scope changes priced? |
Use “not stated” when the document does not provide a term. “Not stated” does not mean “excluded”, “included”, or “non-compliant”. Those are different conclusions that may need clarification.
Use AI for extraction and a first comparison
Microsoft documents file comparison in Copilot for OneDrive. That supports a document-review starting point, but it does not make a vendor recommendation trustworthy without a scope and evidence review.
Compare the attached quotations against this requirement checklist. For each term, return the vendor's stated position, document name and page or clause reference. Mark absent terms as “not stated” and ambiguous terms as “clarification required”. Do not infer inclusions, tax treatment or legal compliance. Finish with a question list for each vendor.
Inspect scanned pages and tables carefully. Poor text extraction can confuse quantities, currencies, footnotes and column headings. Keep the original documents available alongside the comparison.
A worked example of an incomplete price comparison
Offer A states ₹1,00,000 per month excluding consumables. Offer B states ₹1,10,000 per month including a specified consumables list. Both are shown on the same tax basis for this example.
The difference is ₹10,000, but the comparison is incomplete until A's required consumables cost and B's coverage are understood. If a material item is absent from B's list, it may still require an additional purchase.
Ask AI to identify the missing comparison inputs. Calculate totals only when the assumptions are explicit, and show the sensitivity to uncertain items. Do not ask the tool to fill a pricing gap with an invented market estimate.
Make the final decision reviewable
- Have operations confirm that the compared scope meets the requirement.
- Obtain written clarifications for material gaps.
- Reconcile the commercial calculation to the clarified offer.
- Apply the approved evaluation criteria consistently.
- Record why the selected offer meets the requirement and who approved it.
Vendor selection may involve financial, legal and technical considerations outside the documents supplied to the assistant. Keep those reviews with the appropriate professionals.
After appointment, track actual expenditure using the same scope assumptions. Our guide to operational data and overtime analysis explains how to distinguish exceptions from unsupported explanations.
Practical questions
Can AI select the best FM vendor?
It can organise evidence and identify gaps. The responsible procurement and operations teams should make the decision against approved criteria.
Can I compare a PDF quotation with a spreadsheet?
Check the tool and licence for supported formats. Regardless of format, verify extracted terms and reconcile figures with the source.
Source notes
Product capabilities were checked against the following primary sources on 3 November 2026. The workflows and worked examples are illustrative management exercises, not reported client results.
- Microsoft Support: Compare your files with Copilot in OneDrive — document comparison capabilities.