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Insulation is one of the most efficient means of providing energy savings to buildings. This includes homes, business premises or community centres. According to the Energy Saving Trust, the average three-bedroom semi-detached house could save £310 on energy bills with proper loft and cavity wall insulation.
In recent years, insulation has been a central feature of the increasing public awareness of the need to conserve heat and energy. Rising energy prices and climate change will continue to be major considerations in for any construction project.
To encourage the installation of insulation, the government launched the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme in 2013. The scheme requires large gas and electricity suppliers to cover all or part of the cost of energy-efficiency measures, including insulation. Under the Home Cost Reduction Obligation (HHCRO), obligated suppliers must provide measures which improve the ability of household to heat domestic homes. This includes actions that result in heating savings. For example, the replacement or repair of a boiler, cavity wall insulation and loft insulation.
The scheme has led to an increase in public spending in the sector. Meaning installers have a golden opportunity to take on more jobs and increase revenue by securing insulation tenders.
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is a government energy efficiency scheme in Great Britain. It aims to help reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty. Since the ECO was launched in January 2013, 2.3 million energy efficiency measures have been installed in approximately 1.8m homes. This is helping to;
The latest scheme facilitated by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, ECO3, was launched in December 2018 and will run until 31 March 2022. With the transition from ECO2 to ECO3, there has been a big shift in focus from replacing older heating systems to insulating homes as much as possible. This is in an effort to reduce the carbon tonnes used in the UK. This has led to an increase in insulation tenders available via the UK procurement system.
The government are focusing the entire scheme to support low income, vulnerable and fuel poor households. Increasing the proportion of the scheme that can be delivered under local authority flexible eligibility to 25%. Meaning insulation tenders are being regularly circulated by local authorities and housing associations.
The Association of the Conservation of Energy (ACE) estimates up to 33,000 people are currently delivering ECO and the Green Deal. However, the latest government statistics show that the number of home insulation measures carried out this year under ECO are 50% below target.
There are over 7 million homes requiring solid wall insulation, over 5 million homes requiring cavity wall insulation and 7 million homes with inadequate loft insulation. Meaning there are and will continue to be insulation tender opportunities for construction firms of all sizes as a result. Due to this major shortfall on expectations, public spending will look toward trusted, accredited and experienced suppliers to guarantee progress toward these goals.
Within ECO3, the government will support a greater diversity of products and installations by allowing up to 10% of a supplier’s obligation to be met through innovation. They will allow and encourage suppliers to do this under two options: Demonstration Actions and Innovation Score Uplifts. Meaning suppliers will be more likely to see success in their insulation tenders by describing innovative processes in their response to qualitative questions.
As governmental environmental commitments increase – specific environmental questions will appear in the tendering process across all sectors. However, for construction bids, including insulation tenders, this may dominate the qualitative side. Therefore, suppliers must incorporate sustainable practices and methods into their service delivery, in order to be considered by buyers.
When applying for insulation tenders, it is essential to evidence your claims and ensure they are measurable. This must be in solid facts and figures. There is little value in providing vague or airy statements without the ability to demonstrate this to buyers. Evidencing such features will present your business as having transparency and integrity.
Why not evidence your capacity by attaining industry certification and accreditation.
The NIA represents the insulation industry within the UK. Members vary from manufactures to system designers, to installers of insulation solutions to homes and business premises. Becoming part of such an organisation demonstrates to buyers your company’s commitment to maintaining and raising standards within the insulation industry. The NIA can present:
Membership to such an accredited association will add to your CV. It will place your organisation above competitors, on a pedestal alongside other industry leaders.
Perhaps you could consider attaining some relevant industry accreditations, such as:
It is beneficial for construction companies to consider Passivhaus, particularly those who specialise in insulation. Passivhaus certification is highly regarded by procurement buyers seeking environmentally-friendly construction businesses. The key here is that Passivhaus is more economical to implement during a building design phase. It can be potentially more costly to refurbish a space later on, in line with this standard.
Passivhaus is a rigorous, voluntary house-building standard. It focusses on energy efficiency and reducing the energy needed to run a comfortable home. Passivhaus was born not only out of a desire to build more energy-efficient homes but to reduce the amount of energy needed. They also work to minimise the ecological footprint that house-building leaves. The result of Passivhaus building is low impact homes that save the owners money.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Passive House is insulation. Buildings which can be certified as Passivhaus can range in size and scope. They are designed to be so efficient that the need for internal heating is negligible. This means that the building does not lose heat. So much so, that rooms maintain pleasant ambient air temperature within the space.
Passivhaus is important to the construction sector because more heat-efficient buildings means less CO2. For one building alone – this makes a difference. For larger housing contracts and frameworks – the cumulative CO2 saving is more significant. Designing houses to this standard makes sense, both financially and environmentally.
Insulation tenders, much like most construction sector tenders commonly follow a two-stage tendering process. These two stages are known as the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and the Invitation to Tender.
The PQQ is a series of questions you will need to answer regarding;
Your answers to this first part of the bid will enable the client to decide if you can deliver the quality standards they require.
The PQQ is a standard form which you will come across regularly when responding to insulation tenders (and more widely).
The purpose of the PQQ is to reduce the number of bidders to just those who can deliver the project. This saves the client a lot of time and cost. It also reduces competition for you. Your bid is only in competition against a few other suppliers for the required works.
If your bid is shortlisted, you will receive an invitation to tender (also known as an ‘ITT’).
Insulation tenders often include the following information:
The ITT stage is your opportunity to demonstrate your company’s capability and capacity to deliver the required works.
If you are dedicated to a construction contract, then investigating which public sector contracts and frameworks are suitable for you to apply for is certainly an advisable place to start.
Remember, when tendering in the public sector, buyers will need to prove they’re spending public money reasonably. Consequently, you will need to be prepared to evidence the following:
Sign up to Construction Tenders today and receive a daily bulletin straight to your inbox. The bulletin contains all the relevant small, and larger, construction leads that we have uploaded that day. Our Opportunity Trackers manually trawl thousands of websites across the UK, uploading relevant construction tenders. You can filter the results by budget, location, keyword and more.
Cladding and Insulation Removal and Replacement
Citizen- West Midlands- Budget: £250,000
Responsive Repairs – Insulation & Extraction
North Tyneside Council- North East- Budget: Undisclosed
External Wall Insulation Pilot Scheme
Northumberland County Council- North East- Budget: £75,000
Kirriemuir ACF –Façade – External Wall Insulation System
Highland Reserve Forces and Cadets Association- Scotland- Budget: £17,000
Noise Insulation Contract for Roads Investment Strategy 2
Highways England- Unspecified- Budget: £9,300,000
The construction industry has a wide range of health and safety tenders on offer. If you need support in your tendering efforts, contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.
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Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.
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If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.
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