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Tag: Construction Contracts

Glass Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

All you need to know about glass tenders

Are you wondering where to begin with bidding for glass tenders? Look no further. In this blog, we have prepared an introduction to tendering for these contracts and our tips for approaching your response.

Glass tenders could be seeking to procure a variety of services:

  • Window replacements;
  • Window installation;
  • Supply of glass windows/panels;
  • Automatic door installation.

Those advertising for public glass tenders could be councils, universities or housing associations. Private tenders could be from a wide range of organisations and could require glass services on any type of building all across the country.

Glass tenders may appear in a variety of contract formats. They could be:

  • Single supplier contracts. The most economically advantageous tender will see success and have total oversight and responsibility for the scope of the requirements.
  • Framework agreements. These contracts result in an approved supplier list with multiple successful tenderers. Suppliers may then be asked to “call off” for works, undergoing another competition to win certain jobs.
  • Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). Similar to framework agreements, these run for extended periods of time. But suppliers can be added to the system as soon as they are approved, unlike after the deadline of a framework agreement. You will then be called off for certain works.

Glass tender documentation

By and large, the makeup of the tender documentation for glass tenders will remain standardised across buyers and contract types within the construction industry. Glass tenders may include:

A PAS 91

This is a standardised Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) for construction bids which is used nationally. You will usually have to complete these instead of another type of PQQ.

These ensure that buyers engage companies which are safe and ethical – particularly important in the construction industry.

PAS 91s have the same structure every time: hence being standardised. The following sections feature in a PAS 91:

  • Company structure and details;
    • Financial data;
    • Insurances;
    • Environmental management;
    • Quality management;
    • Equal opportunities and diversity;
    • Project-specific questions.

If this sounds like your worst nightmare – don’t worry. Firstly, because there are accreditations you can possess which exempt you from certain sections of a PAS 91. For example:

  • ISO 14001 exempts you from answering the Environmental Management section;
    • ISO 9001 exempts you from answering the Quality Management section;
    • CHAS or OHASAS 18001 exempts you from answering the Health and Safety section;
    • Constructionline Gold exempts you from the majority of questions asked.

Constructionline Bronze and Silver will exempt you from some sections too. It’s worth looking into obtaining these accreditations as it will streamline your bidding for glass tenders.

Secondly, our team at Hudson Succeed can help you if the idea of a PAS 91 fills you with dread. We can take it off your hands!

Method statements

It is likely that you will have to respond to some method statements as part of glass tender responses. These will appear further down in the tender documentation. These method statements may cover the following subjects:

  • Service delivery plan. How will you deliver the requirements within the specification? What equipment and resources will you use? How long will you allocate to each task?
    • Contract mobilisation. Buyers might want to know your processes for how you will ensure that the contract is ready to commence on the stipulated date. Activities to complete here may entail:
      • Any necessary recruitment;
      • Additional training;
      • Ordering of equipment and/or materials;
      • Internal and external meetings;

It may be beneficial here to include a mobilisation plan – either a table within the response document or a Gantt chart as an appendix. This shows the timescales within which you will complete the tasks to be ready for the contract commencement date.

  • Your staff. Here, it may be applicable to list your proposed project team, as well as their experience and qualifications. Staff development may also be relevant in this question. Points to cover could include what training staff must undergo – both induction and ongoing.
    • Health and Safety. Such questions may cover risk management, approach to Health and Safety or live site management. These types of questions are seeking to ascertain how you maintain and promote Health and Safety at the sites you work at. Think training, risk assessments, Health and Safety policies and suitably qualified Site Managers.
    • Quality assurance. Achieving zero defects, maintaining a skilled workforce, obtaining high-standard materials, monitoring your supply chain. These factors all contribute to delivering a high-quality service and you may have to demonstrate how you provide this calibre of service.
    • Environmental considerations. How do you minimise the impact of your service on the environment? This may be your approach to vehicle use, your choice of suppliers or recycling initiatives, to name a few.

A pricing schedule

Glass tenders will certainly include a pricing schedule. Your success will be determined by a combination of your pricing and method statement scores. It’s important to think carefully about your pricing to ensure that you fill in all fields with appropriate rates. Don’t insert figures that are so low you’ll be making a loss but do price your services competitively to give yourself the best chance at success.

Hudson Succeed’s tips

We’ve included a handy little guide here to advise you when bidding for construction contracts. Here are some things we suggest you consider when preparing your response:

1. Get specific.

This is easier said than done. What this means in practice is:

  • Naming things – people responsible for tasks, systems used, frequencies of tasks. This could be the brand of glass you’ll use or its specific properties and features. The more specific you are, the more concrete your proposals and therefore the more confidence you instil in the buyer.
  • Drilling down on procedures and approaches. Assume that the buyer knows nothing about how you go about delivering your service. Because they don’t. Spell things out for them and ensure that you’ve described processes in full that flows logically. Their only experience of your provision is your responses, so these need to be carefully crafted.

You’ll know that your industry has many regulations and best practice guidelines to adhere to. Demonstrate how you adhere to these where appropriate, mentioning specific actions or processes which ensure compliance.

2. Evidence, evidence, evidence.

As part of the PAS 91, you will have to attach various policies if you are not exempt from answering certain sections. Even if you do, we recommend that you refer to written policies and procedures throughout your method statements and attach them as evidence. When you centre your points in the method statements around your company documentation, you strengthen your response. Think of what you can attach to enhance the quality of your method statements. To get you started, we’ve come up with a few examples:

  • A Health and Safety Policy;
  • A sample risk assessment or RAMS;
  • A Gantt chart – to support a question about mobilisation;
  • A Quality Assurance Policy;
  • An Environmental Policy.

3. Break down the question.

In the construction industry, often a question will be asked about an overarching theme such as “risk” or “defects”. It’s important to break this down into sections. This enables you to ensure you cover everything the buyer may want to know on this subject.

Another benefit of breaking down the question is it keeps you on topic and gives you direction. Creating subheadings when responding to method statements focuses your content and stops you from going on a tangent. This will maximise your quality score as well as tailoring responses to the buyer’s requirements.

It’s also easy to identify where other members of your team could feed into the response. Breaking down the question will highlight knowledge gaps – capitalise upon other team members’ expertise to fill these and enhance your method statements.

Get in Touch: 

Sign up to Construction Tenders today and receive a daily construction leads bulletin straight to your inbox, containing all relevant small construction tenders uploaded that day. We source construction tenders from thousands of websites across the UK. Filter the result by location, keyword, budget and more. This saves you even more time when looking for tendering opportunities for your business. 

Below are some previous glass tenders that we’ve sourced on our portal:

Disposal of Double-Glazing Glass and Associated Products

East Riding of Yorkshire- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

09-12-2020

Replacement of the Glass Frontage of the Guildhall, Chard

Chard Town Council- South West- Budget: £60,000

01-12-2020

Supply of Automotive Glass to the UK Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Operational Support Vehicle Programme (OSVP)- South West- Budget: £1,600,000

04-12-2020

Supply of Glass and Glazing Sundries

Derbyshire County Council- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

12-02-2021

The Supply of Ballistic Glass Replacement Units to NATO STANAG 4659 Levels

Defence Forces Ireland- International- Budget: £750,000

05-02-2021

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and has over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

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.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next structural engineering tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

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.

Get in touch to find out more information.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Check out some of our other blogs:

 

Government Construction Contracts

Posted on by John Hudson

Winning Government Construction Contracts

Over the years, construction has continued to be the largest public sector expenditure by volume and value. Almost 16% of UK construction spend is by the public sector. Budgets bidsfor government construction contracts are vast, meaning there is an opportunity for business of all sizes. There are several reasons for this. The UK government is keen to encourage Small, Medium Enterprises into government supply chains in order to improve value for money within the public sector.

Although tendering for government construction contracts is highly regulated, the advantage is that no matter how small your business, there is always an opportunity to supply the government. Their remit extends across all major areas of the UK construction sector.

Additionally, the government has to be transparent in the way they are spending public money. This means there are no grey areas during both the tendering process and any time spent under contract.

Most Economically Advantageous Tender

Nearly every government construction bid will be evaluated in the same method. This is known as ‘MEAT‘ and it stands for: Most Economically Advantageous Tender. 

What this means, is the client is looking for a contractor who can provide the best value throughout their bid. Therefore, this gives the best chance of delivering a successful project.

It is important you don’t misunderstand what this means for your bid. Being economically advantageous does not necessarily mean ‘cheapest’.

Do not make the mistake of deliberately pricing low-cost bids in an effort to win. This will result in you risking two outcomes:

  • You may end up completing the project at a loss, meaning you lose money instead of making it!
  • Annoying your clients by either failing to meet quality standards or having to request additional funding later on or, at worst – breaking contract and/or getting thrown off-site!

Instead, you should write your bid to demonstrate clearly and concisely how you will deliver an outstanding service to the client:

  1. Completing the construction to meet the client’s specifications.
  2. Provide a quality construction team who can safely deliver the works.
  3. Provide added value to the construction works.

Let’s break this down… 

1. Meeting Specifications

When bid writing for a construction sector tender you should clearly demonstrate how you will deliver the required works:

  1. Show the client you know how to will meet the needs of the works.
  2. Give examples of your track record achieving similar specifications.
  3. Provide references and testimonials for each example where possible.

2. Provide a quality construction team who can safely deliver the works.

Demonstrate in your bid that the team delivering these works have the capability and experience to guarantee a successful project. This can include:

  1. CVs
  2. Summary introductions to team members
  3. Provision of qualification documents
  4. Examples of previous projects
  5. Examples of track record working together with the Client and or contract partners

The key point to remember is you need to provide confidence to the client that your team know what they’re doing and will deliver the project successfully

As part of your bid, you may be invited to interview before the award stage. This is a chance to introduce key people to the client and let them showcase their expertise, providing confidence in them, and your bid.

3. Provide added value to the construction works

This is an important (and often forgotten) part of your bid. Writing about how you can provide added value to the construction contract is a big part of being economically advantageous. What you can offer will vary from bid to bid, but examples of what it can include are:

  1. Planning works to minimise project costs e.g. ordering materials in bulk to save cost and well before they’re needed to prevent delays.
  2. Reducing (or removing altogether) waste from your site by repurposing it. E.g. turning waste wood into outside seating for a local benefactor.
  3. Investment in the Client’s customers e.g. employing local people or subcontractors to deliver the works?
  4. Upskilling the communities where you work with work placements/skills workshops etc.
  5. Increasing quality of life for local residents by providing free to access events and resources. Examples of this include coffee mornings for local elderly residents, hosting soup kitchens for rough sleepers or donations to local food banks.

Types of Government Construction Contracts

Typical with most government construction contracts, opportunities are subject to a legal framework, in the interests of promoting fair, transparent competition and value for money. Contract opportunities can come in the form of:

Standard, direct, winner-takes-all contracts, in which one supplier will be appointed to deliver the specification. An example of such a government construction contract currently available to tender is:

  • Contract Title: South Ferriby, Skinners Lane Car Park Resurfacing
  • Buyer: North Lincolnshire Council
  • Contract Length: 2 months
  • Value: £10,000

Framework agreements, in which multiple approved suppliers are utilised, often on an ad-hoc, call-off basis. An example of government construction framework currently out to tender is:

  • Contract Title: London and Quadrant Housing Trust – Paving Products Framework 2020 – 2024
  • Buyer: L&Q Construction
  • Contract Length: 4 years
  • Value: £6,000,000

Dynamic purchasing systems (DPS), with extended deadlines so you can apply at any time, with workstreams following similar to that of framework agreements. An example of a current government construction DPS out to tender is:

  • DPS Title: DPS for the Supply, Delivery and Maintenance of Leakage and Data Logging Equipment
  • Buyer: NI Water and its Subsidiaries
  • Contract Length: Ongoing until 2028
  • Value: £5,000,000

Regardless of its form, opportunities can substantially increase turnover and profits, allowing your business to develop further.

HS2

Getting involved in public sector construction can reap awards, as this sector often represents numerous high-value contract lots. Perhaps the most well-known ongoing opportunity for the procurement of government construction contracts is HS2. HS2, or High Speed 2, is a landmark project proposed by the government, which began in 2009. The project involves the design and construction of brand-new high-speed railway tracks and stations. They will connect Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London. HS2 is the biggest project of its kind in Europe and continues to provide numerous opportunities to secure government construction contracts.

Despite the issues and rather significant financial stumbles surrounding HS2, the project will be running long-term. As of 11 February, prime minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that the full project will be followed through. Getting on board could very well be profitable for your business.

Here’s why:

  • HS2 contract opportunities are in full supply for large businesses and SMEs alike. HS2 place particular focus on making project work more accessible for small or medium-sized enterprises. This is a unique opportunity to build contract experience on a national, government framework. This can typically be challenging and inaccessible for SMEs.
  • The tier system HS2 ltd uses for procurement means a fairer opportunity to tender for projects. Bidders can apply as a Tier 1 direct supplier for high-value opportunities. Contractors who gain work as a Tier 1 contractor are required to advertise relevant supply chain opportunities, which benefits SMEs. This amounts to thousands of government construction contract supply chain opportunities.
  • HS2 contract experience will be invaluable for demonstrating experience in future tenders. Showing a clear commitment to UK infrastructure.

Where to Find Government Construction Contracts

Government construction contracts can be found in several places. There are quite literally thousands of procurement portals. Knowing where to find tenders that suit your service offering can be impossible.

Tender tracking can consume your businesses, time, resource and money. Which is why Hudson has developed Construction Tenders. A product designed to help you source and secure new construction leads for your business via the public procurement process.

How does it work?

Hudson’s Construction Tenders portal is constantly updated with the latest large and small construction tenders. The portal allows you to filter through new tenders by simply entering keywords, locations, sectors and budgets.

These filters allow you to tailor the portal so that it becomes completely bespoke to your service offering. This feature is particularly relevant to small construction tenders, enabling you to filter works based on value and scope of works. Ensuring only suitable opportunities are presented to you and your business.

Once the tenders have been sourced, our team upload each tender manually. They then tag the tenders with relevant keywords that match the opportunity. This means that our clients can simply enter their keywords (i.e. small construction bids) into the search field and instantly see all the live tenders in their industry.

Get in touch

Sign up to Construction Tenders today and receive a daily bulletin straight to your inbox, containing all relevant small construction tenders uploaded that day. 

Below are previous government construction tenders sourced on our portal:

Effective Transition from Children’s to Adult’s Mental Health Services

Local Government Association- London- Budget: Undisclosed

Engagement Strategy for Settlements (OxCam Arc)

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government- London- Budget: £50,000

Chester Street Car Park – Fencing Alterations and Fall Prevention System Installation

Isle of Man Government- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Charter for ROV Survey of Offshore Infrastructure

Scottish Government- Scotland- Budget: £10,000

Provision of Home to School Transport between Ulverston and Grange Over Sands

Cumbria County Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Our Opportunity Trackers upload government construction contracts from multiple websites across the UK. You’re able to filter the results by location, budget, keyword and more. This can help save you even more time when tendering for government construction contracts.

This includes the following: 

If you would like to have a free demo of our live tendering site, to see the construction tenders we have currently, please do not hesitate to contact our Hudson Discover team who will start your free trial today.

We’ve Rebranded! New Construction Tenders logo

Posted on by John Hudson

Our parent company, Hudson, is going through a complete rebrand and so here at Construction Tenders, we have a new look, too!

You can check out our new logos and colour palette below:

construction tenders logo

   construction tenders logo (grey)

   

We hope you like it, we know we do!

 

Remember you can keep up to date with all the latest small construction contracts from around the UK by becoming a subscriber today.

Get in Touch with Construction Tenders:

Sign up to Construction Tenders today and receive a daily bulletin straight to your inbox, containing all relevant small construction leads uploaded that day.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and has over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

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.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next structural engineering tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

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.

Get in touch to find out more information.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Check out some of our other blogs:

 

PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION TENDERS | 5 NEW CONTRACTS

Posted on by John Hudson

Private Construction Tenders Announced – Exclusive to our Portal! At Construction Tenders we are constantly working with private buyers to bring our clients those all-important private construction contracts in the UK. This time we are giving you access to these new contracts – completely free of charge. If you think you could deliver the following private construction tenders, please feel free to contact the buyer directly.

Demolition Contract – Yorkshire – £150K – 05/10/2018 Organisation seeking to establish a contract with a suitably experienced provider of demolition works.

Groundworks Contract – Yorkshire – £50K – 05/10/2018 Buyer seeking to establish a contract with an experienced supplier of groundworks.

Masonry Contract – Yorkshire – £200K – 05/10/2018 Buyer seeking a qualified supplier for the provision of masonry services.

Roofing Contract – Yorkshire – £65K – 05/10/2018 Contracting authority requiring roofing services from qualified providers.

Steelwork Contract – Yorkshire – £75K – 05/10/2018 Tender submissions required from suitably qualified parties for the undertaking of steelworks.

We are bringing you these private small construction tenders in order to demonstrate the type of opportunities we source on our portal. With 30-60 new tenders uploaded DAILY, our customers never miss new business opportunities.

To see more of our portal, including our currently sourced contracts, BOOK A FREE TRIAL OF OUR LIVE SITE HERE.

If you have already found a tender that you would like to bid for but don’t have the time and resources to compose responses internally, SPEAK TO ONE OF OUR TENDER CONSULTANTS today for a free consultation. Our consultants have over 16yrs experience and an 83% success rate writing and preparing tenders for clients across multiple sectors including Construction, Engineering and Architecture.

Our customers are currently receiving alerts for new contracts, released TODAY! Never miss another opportunity again and join our portal now.

 

Get in Touch with Construction Tenders:

Sign up to Construction Tenders today and receive a daily bulletin straight to your inbox, containing all relevant small construction leads uploaded that day.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and has over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

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.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next structural engineering tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

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.

Get in touch to find out more information.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Check out some of our other blogs: