Tenders
For the Client’s peace of mind Tender Documents should comprise the following as a minimum:
1. Instructions to Tenderers that define the deliverables and tender programme.
2. Designer’s drawings and specifications etc…(prepared by the Architect, Structural Engineer, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer etc…)
3. a Preliminaries document which defines standards of work, working constraints and conditions and site requirements (welfare, management, builder’s conduct etc…) amongst other things.
4. the intended Standard Form of Contract (one of the JCT family or other.)
5. a Pricing Document.
Care should be taken with Tender List Compilation to ensure that all tenders received are from experienced, competent and reliable contractors. Simple pre-qualification questionnaires and pretender interviews are helpful.
We prepare Pricing Documents that list the Client’s requirements, as drawn and described in the designer’s drawings and specifications, in an industry standard order that leads the tenderers through the project and gives them a form to use to build up their tender prices and check their calculations against. Pricing Documents clearly differentiate between Defined Work, for which firm and accurate prices can be provided by tenderers; Undefined Work, where perhaps the Client is still finalising their requirements and for which we will provide a suitable Provisional Sum to be used by all tenderers; and a contingency for unforeseeable work, perhaps in the ground or associated with existing building fabric yet to be exposed and again provided by ourselves for use by all tenderers. It is usual to require the tenderers to propose their construction period as part of their tender too.
Tenders received in this regulated and disciplined form are more likely to be comprehensive and are easily and effectively analysed and compared, and therefore the most competitive tender is easily identified. They provide a reliable and logical basis from which to raise queries and requests for clarifications with the preferred tenderer(s) and to conclude an agreed Contract Sum for inclusion in the Contract.
Tender arrangements can take various forms, including:
1. Single Stage Select List Tender Procedures.
2. Two Stage Select List Tender Procedures
3. Design Build Tender Procedures
Please call Steve Leech for a full explanation of these alternatives and how they can help ensure the delivery of your requirements and control cost and risk.
