EPC or subcontractor?How to read the role.

In high voltage, almost no job is done by a single company. There is a prime contractor, consortia, manufacturers, installation subcontractors and companies from the same group that contribute a part. That is why the most common question in a prequalification committee is not «did you do this job?» but «which part did you do?».

What the tenderdocuments count

Large buyers’ rules are explicit. The World Bank’s procurement regulations state that a bidder’s prequalification will not take into account the qualifications of other firms, such as subsidiaries, parents or subcontractors:

shall not take into consideration the qualifications of other firms such as its subsidiaries, parent entities, affiliates, subcontractors

In Colombia, the UPME 01-2026 terms for selecting the inspector of a 500 kV project require a consortium share of 30% or more, and the contracts submitted must have been executed in the country. A smaller share, or a job done by the partner, does not count.

What a job sheetshould say

• The company’s exact role: engineering, procurement, installation, supervision, commissioning or management.
• The share, when there was a consortium.
• The start and handover years, or «in progress» with a cut-off date.
• The job’s real status, even when it is uncomfortable.
• The supporting document: contract, handover record or reference letter.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sums it up for any advertising: whoever makes a claim must have at least the level of evidence they say they have. In a prequalification, that level is the paper you can hand over the same day it is requested.

How we apply itat GS&E

In GS&E’s file, every sheet carries those fields. The ones without a document yet are flagged «to confirm», not filled with adjectives. We would rather show an incomplete, honest sheet than a complete one that fails the first verification call.