CIDB grade calculator

How to use the CIDB grade calculator

This CIDB grade calculator screens your completed-contract history against the supplied grading table and shows the corresponding maximum tender value. It is not an official CIDB grading decision. A contract-history estimate does not confirm financial qualification, registration status or eligibility for a particular tender.

Enter the value of your largest completed contract from the past five years. Use a single completed contract, not the combined value of several jobs, an unsigned quotation or the value of work still in progress. Use contract history relevant to the class of works you are assessing and keep the completion evidence available for review.

Select the estimate button, then read the contract-history grade, tender cap and shortfall to the next contract threshold. Copy or print the result if you need to discuss it with an adviser. Before bidding, confirm your registered grade and the tender's conditions directly against the relevant records.

Supplied CIDB grade table

Grade	Maximum tender value	Largest completed contract in past five years
1	R500,000	No completed-contract minimum supplied
2	R1 million	R130,000
3	R3 million	R450,000
4	R6 million	R900,000
5	R10 million	R1.5 million
6	R20 million	R3 million
7	R60 million	R9 million
8	R200 million	R30 million
9	No limit	R90 million

These are the maximum tender values and completed-contract thresholds in the supplied verified figures. The completed-contract column is not a capital requirement or an annual-turnover table. A tender cap is also not a guarantee that a contractor will receive work up to that amount.

How the estimate works

The calculator compares your largest completed contract with the thresholds, starting with the lowest grade. It selects the highest contract-history grade whose completed-contract threshold is met. An amount exactly equal to a threshold meets that threshold. It then looks up the maximum tender value for that grade.

For the next grade, it subtracts the entered completed-contract value from the next completed-contract threshold. That difference is a screening shortfall, not an instruction to increase an invoice or combine unrelated projects. You need genuine qualifying contract history and supporting evidence.

The supplied figures do not include financial-capacity, annual-turnover or Potentially Emerging status rules. This version therefore excludes those factors instead of inventing thresholds or applying contract thresholds to turnover. Those questions need separate CIDB assessment. Grade 1 is the fallback contract-history result below the first supplied threshold, not confirmation that an application is approved.

Hypothetical worked examples

These examples are invented and describe the contract-history screen only.

Meeting the grade 3 threshold

A hypothetical contractor's largest qualifying completed contract is R450,000. That meets grade 3's contract threshold exactly. The corresponding maximum tender value is R3 million. Financial capacity and other qualification requirements still need confirmation.

Between two thresholds

A hypothetical completed contract of R1.2 million meets grade 4's R900,000 threshold but is below grade 5's R1.5 million threshold. The screen returns grade 4 and a R6 million tender cap. The contract-history shortfall to grade 5 is R300,000.

Reaching the highest contract threshold

A hypothetical largest completed contract of R90 million meets grade 9's threshold. The table gives grade 9 no tender-value limit. That does not remove registration requirements or the conditions attached to any individual tender.

Frequently asked questions

Is the estimated grade my registered CIDB grade?

No. It is a completed-contract screening result. Your registered grade and official qualification depend on CIDB's assessment, not this calculator output.

Can I add smaller contracts together?

Not for this input. The supplied table refers to the largest completed contract. Enter the qualifying single-contract value rather than cumulative business revenue.

Does available capital change this result?

Not in this version. Financial thresholds were not supplied, so capital and turnover grading are excluded rather than presented as verified calculations.

Does PE status automatically raise the tender cap?

No automatic increase is calculated here. Confirm Potentially Emerging status and any applicable tender allowance with CIDB before relying on it.

Can Smartbook help with registration?

See Smartbook's CIDB registration service for support with the application. Keep your contract evidence and financial records ready for the separate qualification review.