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Tag: Construction opportunities

Tender for Construction Projects

Posted on by John Hudson

How to tender for construction projects step by step guide

Wondering how to tender for construction projects? In each industry, the tendering process can slightly differ. If you’re tendering in the construction industry and you’re unsure of the process, we can help you. We’ve put together a blog on things you need to know about tendering for construction projects.

Construction tenders are essentially public contract opportunities. In construction, an invitation to tender may be issued for a number of reasons to procure the likes of:

  • Services
  • Goods
  • Works
  • Utilities

Documents required for tenders for construction projects

Documents for tenders for construction projects may be prepared for a range of contracts such as:

  • Equipment supply
  • Main construction contracting including the design by the contractor
  • Demolition
  • Enabling works

Types of tenders for construction projects

No matter the service or goods being sought the tendering process can come in many formats. Types of tenders include:

  • Open tendering

In open tendering contracts are first advertised giving notice to anyone wanting to submit a tender. Open tenders usually provide an equal opportunity for any business to submit a tender.

  • Selective tendering

Pre-selected potential suppliers are invited to tender. They are assessed and approved as being able to fulfil the required work. Selective tendering is generally only used for specialist works or suitable companies.

  • Negotiated tendering

This is when a client reaches out to a single supplier. It could be because they’ve worked together previously, or they are a specialist in that area of expertise. Working with a supplier they already know can be reassuring for them as they know they can trust them.

  • Serial tendering

Serial tendering is when tenders are submitted based on typical quantities or schedule of works. The documents will detail the buildings that would be covered by the works.

  • Framework tendering

Framework tendering involves documents that establish the scope of the works or services required during a certain time period.

  • Single-stage and two-stage tendering

Single-stage tendering is the most common route. It means all the information required by the supplier to submit their bid is available.

Two-stage tendering is useful as it allows the early appointment of a supplier or specialist. In the first stage, the supplier and the buyer can make an agreement between themselves.

  • Public sector tendering

Most tendering opportunities are published by public sector departments. This is because most publicly funded organisations have to spend their money equally and wisely. They have to create fair and equal opportunities for suppliers competing for the bid.

Strong examples can help you win your bid

When tendering for construction projects the buyer wants evidence to see what you’re capable of. Always back up what you’re saying with evidence. Providing good examples of previous work can help you win a construction contract. Some examples may include:

  • References from clients
  • Before and after photos of a projects
  • Awards and nominations
  • Completed risk assessments

What to do if you’re unsuccessful with your bid?

Tendering for construction projects can be a competitive market as there is a lot of competition out there. Everyone wants to prove why they should win the bid so don’t be disheartened if you lose the bid. Asking for feedback can help you understand where you lost marks and help you improve for next time. There are a number of reasons you may have lost the bid including:

  • Not answering the question fully
  • Spelling and grammar errors
  • Not concise or clear
  • Not including everything requested

Asking for feedback shows the client that you are committed to improving your bid writing. We recommend meeting with your team who worked on the bid. Discuss what went wrong and how you can work together to improve on the next bid. It’s important everyone knows how they can turn those weaknesses into strengths. 

The most important thing to remember when tendering for a construction project is to prepare as much as possible. Give yourself plenty of time to read documents and understand the bid at hand. If you rush the tendering process, you’ll find yourself unsuccessful with the bid. Be prepared and read carefully!

The more you go through the tendering process, the better you will become at it.

Need help to tender for construction projects?

Finding the right tender for your business can take a large amount of time out of your day. There are thousands of websites posting multi-sector opportunities and searching for leads can turn into a full-time job. Each one may have its own portal, login or password. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Construction Tenders is one centralised and easy-to-navigate portal hosting exclusive, public and private construction leads and tendering opportunities. Gone are the days of relying on inaccurate CPV Codes! Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload tenders from thousands of websites across the UK. You’re able to filter and search the results by budget, keyword, location and more, streamlining the process.

A subscription to Construction Tenders offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, private and public sector opportunities within the construction industry.
  • An on-hand Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about competitive tendering in construction.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new construction tenders are uploaded that day.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes for free consultancy with one of our Bid Writers each month.

We also source opportunities for services including;

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

 

Finding Success in Procurement and Tendering in Construction

Posted on by John Hudson

Procurement and tendering in construction: a guide to success

Are you currently in the process of procurement and tendering in construction but don’t know how to be successful? Tendering can be hard especially in the construction industry as it’s such a competitive market. If you’re sitting scratching your head, wondering how is this achievable, we can help you! We’ve put together a guide on how to be successful in procurement and tendering in construction.

The process of procurement and tendering in construction 

Buyers may require a supplier for a contract for a number of reasons including:

  • Supply of goods
  • Works
  • Utilities
  • Services.

The process starts with an invitation to tender (ITT). This will include a letter to invite interested parties to tender. It will include the following:

  • Pre-construction information
  • Contract
  • Tendering pricing document
  • Design drawings
  • Any other specifications.

For buyers that use pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs), they should be completed before the invitation to tender is released. PAS91 is a standardised PQQ in the construction industry.

What’s included in the bid response?

When submitting the bid response for construction contracts in the UK, the buyer is expecting a number of things in your response. These will include:

  • Tender pricing document – supplier’s rates, costs and totals
  • Construction phase plan – outlining how to deal with health and safety procedures
  • Design proposals
  • Programme of works highlighting the order in which tasks will be carried out
  • Any procedures that need to take place during the project
  • Demonstration of capability – what is your methodology?
  • Management organisation
  • Plant and labour resources and how you will source them
  • Examples of contracts you have won in the past
  • References and reviews from other completed projects.

Tips for success in procurement and tendering in construction

Be the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT)

Each bid for construction contracts in the UK will be evaluated in the same way. This is known as MEAT. The buyer is looking to award the contractor who can provide the best value throughout their bid. This doesn’t necessarily mean being the cheapest. You want to provide added value to the building works.

Meet the specifications

If you don’t meet the specification or requirements the buyer is asking for you won’t be successful. The buyer wants someone who can deliver exactly what they are asking for. They want you to back up what you’re saying with evidence and examples. Some examples may include:

  • References from clients
  • Before and after photos of a project
  • Awards and nominations
  • Completed risk assessments.

If the buyer is asking for a 500-word answer for one of the questions writing one paragraph won’t suffice. If they’ve asked for that many words, they are expecting a detailed answer. The buyer wants you to demonstrate why you should in the bid. The more in-depth answer you provide, the better you will score against the evaluation criteria.

Allow yourself plenty of time 

The tendering process is very time-consuming, and people often misjudge that. When bidding for construction tenders, there several things to think about. You may be asked to present a drawing schedule or design drawings as part of your bid. This will take up more time than you think. We advise planning in advance so you can allocate sufficient time for each part of the process. If you rush your bid, it won’t reach its full potential.

Get feedback

If you have been unsuccessful with a bid, you need to know where you went wrong so ask for feedback. It’s important to find out where you lost out on marks and how you can improve for next time. Some examples of where you may have lost marks include:

  • Your pricing wasn’t right
  • You didn’t understand the questions fully
  • You didn’t provide enough case studies
  • Not concise or clear.

Proofread

We can’t stress enough how important it is to check over your work multiple times. It can be easy to make mistakes when you’re working through a long document. But not taking the time to proofread it before submitting it would be a bigger mistake. You will lose marks if you submit a bid that has spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. We suggest asking someone else to check over your work. A second pair of eyes may spot mistakes you missed. Be sure to put plenty of time aside to proofread.

Need help with procurement and tendering in construction?

Finding the right tender for your business can take a large amount of time out of your day. There are thousands of websites posting multi-sector opportunities and searching for leads can turn into a full-time job. Each one may have its own portal, login or password. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Construction Tenders is one centralised and easy-to-navigate portal hosting exclusive, public and private construction leads and tendering opportunities. Gone are the days of relying on inaccurate CPV Codes! Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload tenders from thousands of websites across the UK. You’re able to filter and search the results by budget, keyword, location and more, streamlining the process.

A subscription to Construction Tenders offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, private and public sector opportunities within the construction industry.
  • An on-hand Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about competitive tendering in construction.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new construction tenders are uploaded that day.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes for free consultancy with one of our Bid Writers each month.

We also source opportunities for services including;

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Answers to your FAQs About Building Surveying Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Building surveying tenders and where to find them

Building surveying tenders are great opportunities to grow your business. However, they can seem confusing and complicated, particularly if you’ve never tendered before. Both the private and public sector release tenders for building surveying works and services. 

Even if you have tendered for work before, you may have some questions and that’s perfectly normal. This blog will answer some of your frequently asked questions on building surveying tenders.

What services are expected from a building surveyor in building surveying tenders?

Building surveying tenders may be looking to procure the following services:

  • To support the design and build of building works.
  • Defect analysis, condition monitoring and design of solutions to building failures.
  • Conduct measured surveys of buildings preparation of drawings and legal mapping.
  • Provision of advice in relation to protected structures.
  • Provide a range of guidance in relation to the maintenance and repair of buildings.
  • Work with the Quantity Surveyor to deliver cost planning, tenders and contract administration of works.
  • Ensure the delivery of the design phase to RIBA 4.
  • Engage the services of a Structural Engineer to check the robustness of a design.
  • Attend project meetings.
  • Support the appointed Architect in preparing all design and detailed construction drawings.

What are building surveying framework agreements?

Sometimes, you can find building surveying tenders as part of a framework agreement. You may come across building surveying services as part of a larger framework for consultancy services. A framework agreement is a multi-supplier agreement that’s frequently used within the public sector. Frameworks can run for years at a time. They are a good way to secure a pipeline of work for your business if successful. Some may even have the possibility of an extension. 

They are split into lots with each lot representing a specific good, work, service or geographical location. Lots allow suppliers to apply to the specific lots they specialise in or specific region they operate in. Depending on the building surveying tender agreement, a supplier may be eligible to apply for more than one lot. If this is the case, you’ll need to be prepared to provide evidence. You’ll have to demonstrate that your business has the capacity and resources to undertake the works across the selected lots. 

Do I need to provide experience of previous contracts?

Typically, you will be required to detail evidence of your completion and experience of previous contracts. Buyers want to know that you’re qualified, practised and experienced in delivering contracts similar in scale and scope.  

Contractors will ask for you to provide previous case studies of contracts you have completed within the last five years. They should be tailored to exhibit your business capabilities and skillset. Depending on the word count, you could also detail any challenges you overcame, demonstrating your problem-solving skills and flexibility. Remember, keep them relevant to the contract at hand, including examples that are similar in complexity and location if possible. 

A useful way to structure your building surveying tenders case studies is by using the STAR format:

  • Situation – provide a brief context
  • Task – the work you faced
  • Action – what have you done?
  • Results – what were the results?

Will there be an opportunity to participate in a site visit?

You may be able to go on an optional or mandatory site visit prior to your tender submission. If this is an option, it’s highly recommended that you participate. Site visits give you an opportunity to see the proposed working environment with your own eyes. They can help you pick up on things you otherwise wouldn’t know and improve your tender response. They may even allow you to give more accurate pricing, gaining an insight into the buyer. 

Do contractors care about the quality of my written response?

In short, yes. Even if the quality section is weighted less than cost buyers want to see a high-quality written response. You want your tender response to be persuasive. You need to convince the buyer that you’re the best business for the job. A stellar written response will also help you stand out from your competitors. You should aim for your response to be clear and concise. You should try and get your written response to meet as close to the word or page counts as possible. 

Can I get help writing my next building surveying tenders?

Not every business has the time, resources or experience to write a winning response in-house. If that’s the case, outsourcing your next bid to tender writing specialists can help you secure your next construction contract. 

Our sister company Hudson Succeed, are bid writing experts. They have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. They offer four bid writing support services that can help with your next tender response. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or need your bid response proofread before you submit – they can help.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect building surveying tender for your business, why not send it over to them? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf. 

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need someone to double-check it for errors, Tender Mentor can help. Our Bid Team will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also ensure that it’s in line with the specification before you submit. 

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is perfect for those who have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything you need in place to tender successfully. The 4-week programme offers your business:

  • A 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders
  • Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding professionals 
  • An organisation-wide Bid Library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies
  • Additional flexible benefit options.  

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. The Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders and additional tendering development services.

Where can I find building surveying tenders for my business?

Finding the right building surveying tenders for your business can take up a lot of your time. You already have enough on your plate running a business to worry about trawling through various websites. Each website or portal may require its own login and password and keeping track can turn into a full-time job. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was one, easy-to-navigate centralised portal that posts construction sector specific opportunities? 

Enter…Construction Tenders!

Construction Tenders hosts all the live construction leads and tenders from across the construction industry. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload tenders from thousands of websites in the UK. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes that often results in missed opportunities. You’re able to search and filter the results by location, budget, keyword and more. This allows you to find the perfect building surveying tenders to suit your business needs.

Below are previous building surveying tenders sourced on our portal:

1733/MR Building Surveying (Project) Estates and Facilities Management Consultancy Framework 

University of Sheffield- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

Building Surveying Consultancy Framework 

St.Helens Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Building Surveying Consultancy Services 

University of Ulster- Northern Ireland- Budget: £600,000

Building Surveying Services 

Bath and North East Somerset Council- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

Building Surveying Services for St Helens Council 

St.Helens Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

What’s included in a subscription to Construction Tenders?

A 12-month subscription to our Construction Tenders portal offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, public and private sector opportunities across the construction sector. 
  • An on-hand Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about building surveying tenders. 
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new construction tenders are uploaded that day.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.

The best way to venture into the tendering world is through booking a live demo of Construction Tenders.

We also source opportunities for services including;

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Upgrade to Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can save you even more time, optimising your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for building surveying tenders.

The Ultimate Time Saver package includes:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option best suits a business that overlaps two industries such as Construction and Logistics for example.
  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid.
  • Weekly phone calls with your on-hand Account Manager to discuss viable building surveying tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package includes:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

Cost Consultancy Tenders Explained

Posted on by John Hudson

Cost consultancy tenders: 3 things to expect

Cost consultancy tenders can be a difficult field to navigate if you’re new to the process. However, tendering for work can have multiple benefits for your business, helping it to grow. Cost consultancy tenders are released within the construction industry by public and private businesses looking to procure cost consultancy services. 

Below are 3 things you can expect with cost consultancy tenders

1. An open tendering procedure

An open tendering procedure is often used for cost consultancy tenders within the public sector. This process is commonly used to procure services that are deemed to be straightforward. It allows any business to bid for their contract. An invitation to tender (ITT) is published and any prospective supplier can respond. An ITT will often be split into two sections consisting of price and quality. The quality response often requires you to detail:

The ITT also usually includes details of the:

  • Award criteria
  • Terms and conditions

2. Framework Agreements

You can often find cost consultancy tenders as part of framework agreements. Framework agreements are multi-supplier contracts that can run for years at a time. They may even have the possibility of an extension and can be lucrative opportunities for your business. Frameworks are often used within the public sector to procure multiple suppliers for different services, good or works.

They are typically split into lots with each lot representing a specific good, service, work or geographical location. Lots allow suppliers to apply to the specific lots they specialise in or specific region they operate in. Depending on the agreement, a supplier may be eligible to apply for more than one lot. This will be stated within the cost consultancy tender documents. A buyer will require you to supply evidential proof that they’re able to carry out the contract. They must have the appropriate capacity and resources to undertake the works across all selected lots.

3. Case studies 

Cost consultancy tenders will require you to include a maximum of three previous case studies of previous contract examples. You should aim to keep these relevant. Include examples that are similar in scope, scale and location to the contract at hand. They should be tailored to demonstrate your business capabilities and include any challenges you overcame. Including unexpected challenges will allow you to demonstrate your problem-solving skills and flexibility. 

Need assistance when writing your next cost consultancy tenders?

All buyers care about the quality of your written bid response, even if the quality is weighted less than price. You may not always have the time or resources to write winning cost consultancy tenders. If that’s the case, outsourcing it to bid writing specialists can help you secure your construction contract. 

Our sister company Hudson Succeed, are bid writing experts. They have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. They offer four bid writing support services that can help with your next tender response. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or need your bid response proofread before you submit – they can help.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect cost consultancy tender for your business, why not send it over to them? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf. 

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need someone to double-check it for errors, Tender Mentor can help. Our Bid Team will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also ensure that it’s in line with the specification before you submit. 

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is perfect for those who have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything you need in place to tender successfully. The 4-week programme offers your business:

  • A 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders
  • Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding professionals 
  • An organisation-wide Bid Library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies
  • Additional flexible benefit options.  

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. The Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders and additional tendering development services.

Where can I find cost consultancy tenders for my business?

Finding the right cost consultancy tenders for your business can take hours out of your busy day. Searching multiple websites and portals can end up feeling like a full-time job! Luckily, we have a solution. 

Construction Tenders is one centralised easy-to-navigate portal that hosts all live construction leads and tenders from across the construction industry. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload tenders from thousands of websites in the UK. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes that often results in missed opportunities. You’re able to search and filter the results by location, budget, keyword and more. This allows you to find the perfect cost consultancy tenders to suit your business needs. 

What’s included in a subscription to Construction Tenders?

A 12-month subscription to our Construction Tenders portal offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, public and private sector opportunities across the construction sector. 
  • A dedicated Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about cost consultancy tenders. 
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new construction tenders are uploaded that day.
  • 20-minutes of free bid management consultancy each month.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.

Below are previous cost consultancy tenders sourced on our portal:

Professional Services Framework for Project Management and Cost Consultancy Services 

Radius Housing Association- Northern Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Cost Consultancy & Employers Agent Services 

Niche Procurement Limited- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Cost Consultancy Services 

Niche Procurement Limited- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Quantity Surveyor and Cost Consultancy Services 

National Museums Scotland- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

SADC ITT for the Provision of Cost Consultancy ‘Holyrood Crescent Project’ 

Supply Hertfordshire- Eastern- Budget: Undisclosed

The best way to venture into the tendering world is through booking a live demo of Construction Tenders.

We also source opportunities for services including;

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Upgrade to Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can save you even more time, optimising your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for cost consultancy tenders.

The Ultimate Time Saver package includes:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option best suits a business that overlaps two industries such as Construction and Logistics for example.
  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid.
  • Weekly phone calls with your on-hand Account Manager to discuss viable cost consultancy tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package includes:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

Planning Tenders – Everything You Need to Know About Construction Planning Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Planning tenders – what are they and where to find them

Planning tenders is critical in construction and should be the first phase of any project. The planning phase is arguably the most important because it’s where you realise if you can materialise a project.

The general construction process can be broken down into four essential phases:

  • Planning
  • Pre-construction
  • Construction
  • Close out

What you need for planning tenders:

Communication

While planning tenders in pre-construction, the owner, architect and construction manager typically have a discussion about what they’re building. Then, they see if it is doable via the scope and quality assumptions. This is what architects usually refer to as the Conceptual Design phase. A robust communication strategy is essential for the success of the project. Collaboration and communication with stakeholders is paramount. Clear and precise communication throughout all levels of the project team is essential for the successful completion of any project.

Detail

It is imperative not to rush this planning stage. You will want to have as detailed a plan as possible as the devil is in the detail. The most successful construction projects start with a meticulously detailed and carefully conceived plan. Often people are eager to brush over it. If you do this, it may come back to bite you later.

Pre-construction and Design Management

When planning tenders and pre-construction, design management is a crucial step. The Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA) has a clear four-stage framework. This is a good place to start.

It includes:

  1. Preparation and brief
  2. Concept design
  3. Detailed design
  4. Technical design

A buyer will often state their Building Information Modelling (BIM) requirements. This is typically done in the pre-construction planning stage of a project. It’s at this point that you should mention any ISO accreditations you may have. You want to make sure that you’re conveying how you can deliver this.

What is a tender?

A tender is a submission made by a prospective supplier in response to an invitation to tender (ITT). It’s how many public and private sector organisations procure goods and services.

The ITT may follow the completion of the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) in response to an advert posted by the client. In construction, they are used by buyers as the first stage of selection. PQQs enable a buyer to create a shortlist of suppliers that are most suitable for the particular project in hand. It’s basically where you put down company information and check statements that you aren’t involved in collusion. The point of doing this is that it helps reduce inefficiency within the tendering process.

In the construction industry, it’s likely that you’ll come across a PAS-91. The PAS-91 has been developed by the British Standards Institute to save companies from filling out multiple PQQs. It’s a type of PQQ that’s slightly longer but has the same basic ‘what have you done’ approach.

There are two main benefits of the PAS-91:

  • For core modules, questions are standardised. Due to this, you can then develop standard responses to use every time.
  • If you hold the required accreditations, exemption is granted from some core sections. This will save you time in the long run.

The advantages of tendering:

There are many advantages to tendering, but it can seem a daunting process if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Here are just a few advantages:

  • Guaranteed pay (public sector)
  • Sustainability
  • Gain experience
  • Make contacts

6 things to consider when tendering

  1. How long you’ve been trading for can make a big difference

It has been known for new businesses to win construction bids tenders. However, in our experience, it seems that three years or more experience is best. This is because buyers can sometimes ask to see three years, or more, worth of accounts. So that’s something to bear in mind. It’s worth noting that these accounts often have to be presented in the name that your business currently trades under.

  1. Can you deliver the contract?

This might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many businesses apply for tenders without checking the requirements. In most cases, the buyer will be able to assess your capabilities based on the PQQ. So, it’s unlikely that you would be awarded a construction contract that you can’t deliver. It’s worth bearing this in mind. You don’t want to waste money, time and resources only to be eliminated down the line. If you read what is expected from you, it can be avoided all together.

  1. You must be competitively priced

Your proposed pricing must remain competitive. Although typically pricing is weighted less than quality on construction tenders, if your pricing is too high, you may lose out. When planning tenders, you want to aim for the lowest price, that still makes a profit. If you over charge for your services, then there’s little point in investing the time for your written response.

  1. Required financial threshold

Buyers tend to assess your economic financial standing during the initial stages of a tender. It’s primarily made up of three things:

  • Annual turnover

Buyers assess this via your latest financial accounts. You may be asked to attach these as part of the tender. It’s important to note that you should only apply to tenders that are 40 – 50% of your annual turnover.

  • Financial ratios

Asset test ratios might be assessed automatically through your attached accounts as part of your tender submission. You may be asked to input this separately within the document. Your accountant should be able to support you with this.

  • Insurance

You want to make sure you are aligned with the requirement set for insurance. Buyers will usually allow you to increase your levels of insurance if you don’t have these at the time.

  1. The buyer cares about the quality of your writing

No matter what industry you are in, the quality of your writing counts. Three things to keep in mind when writing your responses are:

  • Keep it concise.
  • Be assertive.
  • Utilise the word count.

By following these three simple tips, your quality of writing will be well on the way to scoring well. If the word count is 1,000, then the buyer is expecting you to provide a detailed response. The more detailed the better. The best way to achieve this is to plan your responses. The use of subheadings is a good way to get going on planning tender responses.

If you’re not a natural-born writer and you need a little help, take a look at our Tender Writing service. With this service, our Bid Writers will:

Call or email us for a free quote.

  1. You must have experience and evidence to back it up

Strong examples and experiences of delivering projects in the past is crucial. The buyers want to know that you have handled a project like this before and that you can deliver. A few things that can help you on your way are:

  • Three relevant past contract example case studies.
  • Good references from past clients.
  • CCS reports.
  • National awards and nominations are beneficial.
  • Before, during and after photos from previous projects.
  • Fully completed risk assessments and method statements.
  • Site audits and completed reports.

Preparing a selection of previous examples of your past work will result in a stronger bid.

Where can I find planning tenders?

Once you’ve taken all of this information into account, you might be asking yourself where you can find such opportunities. You likely don’t have the time to look through 1000+ websites every day but luckily for you, we have the solution.

Construction Tenders is an opportunity tracking platform where we source all the construction leads and tenders from across the UK. We then upload them in one convenient place to save you countless hours.

A subscription with Construction Tenders offers your business:

  • A team of opportunity trackers sourcing planning tenders from 1000’s of sites.
  • Access to all private and public sector opportunities in the UK.
  • A dedicated account manager on-hand to answer any queries or questions you may have.
  • The ability to filter opportunities by keyword, location, budget and more.
  • No reliance on CPV codes or algorithms. Our team manually upload each tender making sure that you have access to 100% of planning tenders.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy every month with our bid experts. 

Here are just a few examples of planning tenders we sourced recently:

The Production of a Masterplan for West Bromwich Town Centre

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council- West Midlands- Budget: £200,000

14-09-2020

Masterplanning Consultancy Services

National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway)- International- Budget: £1,200,000

07-09-2020

Multiversity Campus Blackpool: Masterplan and Delivery Plan

Blackpool Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

02-09-2020

Yateley Town Council Neighbourhood Plan

Yateley Town Council- South East- Budget: £12,000

21-08-2020

Urban Design and Regeneration Masterplanning Consultancy Services for Regeneration and Development of lands at Canal Avenue, Mullingar Co. Westmeath.

Westmeath County Council- International- budget: £300,000

10-09-2020

Book a Demo with Construction Tenders

The best way to venture into the tendering world is through booking a free live demo of Construction Tenders. Why not contact us today to find out more about how Construction Tenders can benefit your business.

At Construction Tenders, we source opportunities for;

5 Benefits of eTenders Construction Businesses Should Know About

Posted on by John Hudson

Why are eTenders construction’s best friend?

In construction, eTenders are simply procurement processes which occur entirely online, through online documentation and communication.

In short, a buyer posts details of a construction job online and uploads any documents needed. Relevant suppliers register on an online portal, such as Construction Tenders, to express their interest and download documents. Suppliers can submit bids for the work digitally, without needing to print or post any documentation. Construction bids can be submitted either directly to the buyer via email or via an online portal.

We’ve looked at the benefits and shortfalls of eTendering in general and how to build construction contracts for tender. Now, we’d like to take a sector-specific approach and ask: What are the ramifications of using eTenders in construction bids? And how can the features of eTendering help make a construction bid as strong as possible?

eTenders: Construction’s new normal?

Firstly, you might be thinking: eTendering sounds a lot like ‘normal’ tendering, doesn’t it? You’d be right – these days, eTenders are very much the norm across all industries.

Now, the vast majority of construction tenders are carried out almost entirely online. This includes the Invitation to Tender (ITT) at the start of the process, right through to the final stages of completion. Generally, pen, paper and postage are becoming a thing of the past in tendering. Perhaps the procurement manager will print out tender documentation for their own ease of reading. You can consider formatting bids with print or branding in mind, as our design masterclass on Tender VLE explains. However, design is rarely an important factor in construction bids, where strict formats are stuck to.

Here at Hudson Succeed, the percentage of requests we get for postal submissions is less than 5%. Obviously, this is a small fraction. The majority of our tendering work is carried out online. Because of this, we’re always looking at how to make the process of eTendering more efficient at every stage.

The benefits of eTenders that construction workers should know about:

When it comes to the rise of eTenders, construction is one of the industries that benefit the most. The Government recognised the importance of eTenders in construction as part of their Construction 2025 report, back in 2013. They predicted eTenders would deliver much greater productivity by 2025 and major efficiency gains from the earlier engagement of supply chains. This has certainly come true in recent years.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of an eTender in construction can be defined by how well the procurement process is completed. Also, whether the specification and response accurately reflect the intentions of the contracting parties. All of this is a lot easier with eTenders.

So, how exactly has eTendering revolutionised construction contracts?

  1. It allows for Dynamic Purchasing Systems and online portals.

A Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is a supply chain list where tenders are published to specific members. A DPS is a completely electronic process.

We’ve streamlined eTendering through our 11 sector-specific tendering portals, including Construction Tenders. Opportunities on our portals can be filtered according to the needs of the user. This makes sure users only see tenders that are relevant to their specific industry and sector. Ultimately, the user avoids having to trawl through irrelevant tenders. The process for buyers is also streamlined, as they can publish competitive opportunities to actively engaged suppliers.

  1. You can collaborate effectively with your team.

Having a secure online platform where tender documents can be distributed, amended and submitted helps streamline the procurement process further. This saves time, money and resources and allows for ongoing collaboration as you create your construction eTender.

The ‘Tasks’ function on our portal allows multiple users to work on a tender simultaneously. You can set tasks for different team members regarding different elements of the tender, such as pricing or quality. You can then view each member’s progress, whenever you need to, and when milestones are hit, you can alert participants.

  1. It allows for clearer, more accessible contracts and terms.

Construction tenders are highly complex. There are often multiple buyers, multi-tier supply chains, and very detailed specifications to think about. With eTenders, constructions bids and proposals are a much clearer and more accessible process, for both buyers and suppliers.

A construction tender is often a very large document. For instance, we’ve talked about the trials of setting out tender rates in construction, which can be a long process. The schedule of rates (SOR) alone may contain 100+ pages, 50+ headings and countless sub-sections and pricing units. eTenders allow construction contractors to use software to properly price their works and boost the chances of effective tender management.

eTendering also allows for early engagement between buyer and supplier and encourages ongoing communication. If something needs to be clarified or negotiated, it can be done so fairly easily. This helps reduces tender cycle times and lowers transactional costs.

Easy and streamlined communication between contractor and sub-contractor is an often-overlooked blessing of eTendering compared to past methods (postage). Good communication is always essential when it comes to multiple companies collaborating effectively!

  1. There’s less room for errors (and more time to fix them…)

Eliminating the need for pen, paper and postage also removes the need for a lot of extraneous physical processes. This, in turn, leaves a lot less room for human error.

Imagine, for instance, you’ve filled out the 100-page SOR document and made a mistake on page 56. Previously, it could have been printed and sealed inside an envelope in time for postage. Now, however, multiple team members can have online access to a digital document, 24 hours a day. This is a lot more likely to be spotted and changed before submission. The eTender can also be checked over and amended right up until the deadline for submission.

In turn, staff members who would be burdened with extraneous jobs can focus on more important tasks. For instance, knowing the ‘scope of works’ is perhaps the most important aspect of the procurement process in construction. eTenders give the buyer more time to define the contract terms, and the supplier more time to understand and negotiate them. Extra time to make the contract and tender documentation more accurate is valuable and will reduce the risk of errors.

If you need any support with construction eTenders, our Hudson Succeed team is happy to help. We can give expert writing support to maximise your success. 

  1. eTenders in construction allow for automation.

eTendering allows for automation which drastically speeds up elements of the tendering process. For instance, the automatic submission of a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ). The PAS 91 is the construction industry’s answer to the PQQ. Sites like ConstructionLine can be used to prove you are PAS 91 compliant. Essentially, once suppliers have completed one PAS 91 questionnaire, the same set of standard responses can be used again.

But is automation always the best method?

While moving online has simplified many stages of the tendering process, this comes with a major issue, seen in CPV codes. Automation doesn’t always provide the best outcome. A major downfall with eTendering and online portals is the widespread dependence on CPV codes to source tenders. Up to a third of CPV codes are used inaccurately, causing many businesses to miss relevant tenders.

To avoid this, all opportunities on Construction Tenders are sourced and tagged manually. In this area, it’s clear that humans are still beating robots! 

Get in touch with Construction Tenders

Book a free live demo of Construction Tenders today and receive a daily construction leads bulletin straight to your inbox. The bulletin contains all the relevant construction tenders that we have uploaded that day.

This includes the following sub-sectors:

Finding Construction Job Leads – What’s the Best Method?

Posted on by John Hudson

Evaluating Methods of Finding Construction Job Leads for Your Business 

Finding the best construction job leads for your SME, or as a sole trader, can be tricky. In an ideal world, you’d always be able to find good leads as often and as quickly as you needed. Ideally, the perfect construction job leads would find their own way to you!

In reality, tradespeople and construction SMEs often waste a lot of time searching for construction contracts in the UK. Does this sound like you? Maybe you’ve struggled to find relevant construction job leads and worried that you’re looking in the wrong place. Or are you simply waiting for leads to come to you? A surprising percentage of tradesmen (75%!) say word of mouth is their top strategy for finding construction job leads. This strategy looks a lot like waiting around and wasting time, once you know what you could be doing.

How to find construction job leads.

Here are three ways to increase the amount of construction job leads you find. We’ve evaluated each method based on how much it can help SMEs and sole traders to grow their businesses.

  1. Get construction job leads via a tendering portal.

Searching online for construction job leads in your sector will provide you with opportunities. You might find hundreds of construction job leads this way. But, as you probably know, it’s never that simple. Very often, the construction job leads you come across don’t suit your business. Once you’ve looked at the specification, there’s a number of ways a lead might not be right. The contract’s size, budget, location, length, requirements, or sector could all be the wrong fit, for instance. Frustrating, we know. 

But tendering portals make finding construction job leads that are sector-specific and relevant to your business easy. So, if you want to save time and resources that could be focused on growing your business – start tendering.

How do you tender effectively?

Access a sector-specific portal.

  • Construction Tenders sources public and private sector opportunities across the UK, in a range of sub-sectors. At any time, you’ll find 900+ live construction tenders in one central portal. You can rest assured that 1000+ sources across the web have been manually searched for you. Our opportunity trackers will send the relevant results straight to your inbox.

Filter by keywords.

  • Our unique method of manual keyword tracking allows you to search for results accurately by keywords. You can filter tenders by:
  • Budget
  • Location
  • Services
  • Sector

Access an account manager.

  • You will always have on-hand advice and guidance to help you find relevant construction job leads.

Access tender writing support.

  • We also have free tender-writing master classes or four levels of personalised tender-writing support from on-hand bid writers.

Is tendering worth it?

Absolutely. Not only do you find relevant construction job leads, but you access a wider variety of leads than other methods. Construction Tenders connects you with buyers you couldn’t connect with organically and tenders you never would have found searching yourself.

Especially important for sole traders or SMEs, tendering can secure ongoing work on large construction frameworks. For instance, a relevant roofing contract that’s part of a much larger build can be a stepping-stone for smaller traders. This experience increases the roofing company’s chances of winning larger, more rewarding projects with future construction bids.

You’ll only see new construction job leads that are relevant to you on Construction Tenders. This sets us apart from other portals which rely on inaccurate CPV codes to track opportunities. Ultimately, tendering in this way ensures the best results for your business, and helps you reclaim valuable time.

  1. Get construction job leads via referrals.

Improving your customer service to get more referrals is an often-touted method of getting more construction job leads. How does it work?

Boost your customer service.

  • Go above and beyond with your customer service to secure great reviews. Show you care about your work. Ways to improve your customer service include:
  • Always be reliable and punctual with work and calls
  • Always be polite and professional with customers
  • Operate a tidy and organised workspace

Ask for reviews.

  • Always ask for reviews when a job is complete, so you’ll have testimonials to prove the value of your work. Improving your customer service will make this much more fruitful. You can request reviews on Google My Business by sending an URL to customers after a job is complete. Google also promotes local business by showing them on Google maps results, voice search, and normal searches. For instance, anyone searching for a bricklayer will see local bricklayer business pages at the top of the search results. This is a great place to procure your strongest reviews.

Incentivise referrals.

  • Incentivise referrals by offering rewards to those who refer you.

Are referrals worth it?

Improving your service will, in turn, generate better reviews and future referrals for your company. Nothing bad will come of improving your services and caring more about your customers. However, this is a slow-burning strategy for finding new construction job leads and depends heavily on others supporting you.

  1. Generate construction leads via an online presence

Building your online presence is a popular method of generating construction job leads in the digital age. You can do this in the following ways:

Create a website for your business.

  • Make sure your construction business’ information is accessible to others at all times. Be sure to include:
  • Contact information;
  • A personal touch, i.e. images of you and your team, images with clients, if permitted.
  • Case studies and high-quality images of past projects that you’re proud of, including before and afters, if possible;
  • Testimonials from past clients;
  • Your credentials and accreditations.

Set up email marketing for your business.

  • Set up an email newsletter for customers to get the word out there about your business. You can include the following:
  • Reminders of your company and the work you do;
  • News and updates on your business;
  • Share tips, ideas, and trends that are related to your specialised trade – i.e. DIY projects.

Set up social media pages for your business.

  • Gone are the days of the yellow pages, and word of mouth simply doesn’t cut it anymore. You can instead boost your online presence through social media.
  • Create your own Facebook or Twitter page.
  • Engage with potential customers.
  • Network with other construction companies who are non-competitors. For example, connect with a roofing company as a bricklaying business and share your customer base.

Is online marketing worth it?

Creating an online presence for your company can be great for exposure and might score you small and relevant jobs. However, a snazzy website won’t do the legwork for securing work on large projects, frameworks or ongoing jobs. Implementing the above strategies in your company can also be time-consuming and expensive. You’re looking for construction job leads after all, not a career in digital marketing…

So, which strategy generates the best construction job leads?

Overall, referrals and online marketing are both valuable strategies, but they only go so far. They still largely depend on construction job leads finding you. Also, they don’t ensure you find the maximum number of leads possible, nor do they advance you onto bigger projects. Ultimately, this isn’t the best way to grow your company.

So, scrap waiting around for referrals, or website clicks, and don’t waste time searching for construction job leads manually. With the vastness of online results, this can essentially be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. If you want to grow your business sustainably, rather than depending on reputation or self-marketing, tendering is the best method.

What’s the current climate for construction job leads?

Despite the recent impact of Covid-19 on the construction industry, there is a bounce-back and ongoing investment.

For instance, the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund Forward Funding (HIF FF) offers some good news to the industry. After surpassing £1.8bn of investment in early November 2020, it will deliver another £1bn of investment in construction, country wide. These investments, delivered by Homes England, will help to deliver up to 300,000 new homes across England. It provides local authorities with funding for new infrastructure and brings new construction jobs leads to offset the pandemic’s impact.

Robert Jenrick, the Housing Secretary, described the scope of the investments:

“In order to build more homes, we need to provide the infrastructure and public services to match. This investment will help to build homes where we need them the most. It also supports existing communities by ensuring they get the new roads, schools and other public services that are needed.”

Case studies of the HIF funding scheme include:

– Cambridge City Council was allocated £227m to deliver around 8,000 homes and 20,000 new jobs over the next 20 years.

– Greater Manchester Combined Authority received approval for £51.6m to unlock the first phase of 5,557 new homes.

– Cumbria County Council was awarded £134m to build new infrastructure to unlock land on which to build 10,325 new homes.

Get in touch with Construction Tenders

If you want to start receiving construction job leads, straight to your inbox, we can help. Book a free live demo of Construction Tenders. When you sign up, you’ll receive a daily bulletin when new construction jobs are uploaded. The bulletin contains all the relevant opportunities that we have sourced that day.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Contact us today and allow us to help you grow your business with Construction Tenders.

The Future of Carpentry Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

What Will Brexit Mean for Carpentry Tenders?

Securing work through carpentry tenders is a great way to get diverse experience in a specialised trade. If your business specialises in a sub-sector of construction, you need to consider the implications of Brexit while tendering. Do you import materials from countries in the European Union (EU), or employ EU nationals? Or are you simply concerned about business prospects post-Brexit, and going forward into 2021?

Here’s a guide on what you should be doing (right now!) to secure carpentry tenders as we head towards Brexit.

When is Brexit?

You’re likely aware that Brexit is fast approaching. But when actually is it?

Currently, the UK is in a transition period until the end of the year while we negotiate new arrangements with the European Union (EU). January 1st, 2021 is the official date that the transition period ends. This is regardless of whether we reach a trade deal with the EU. Businesses must prepare for changes as we leave the customs union and single market.

Over the past month, business secretary, Alok Sharma, has urged businesses to prepare. He advised: “Businesses must act now to ensure they are ready for the UK’s new start come January … There will be no extension to the transition period, so there is no time to waste. Businesses have a crucial role to play in ensuring a smooth transition, and we will be there to support them.”

It’s understandable to be concerned as a business owner as we head towards the uncertainties of Brexit. Not to mention we’re in the middle of a second national lockdown. But, thankfully, we have some reassuring news regarding carpentry tenders.

Is now a good time to find carpentry tenders?

As long as you’re up to date on changing regulations – yes!

Construction will stay open for business during the second national lockdown and over the threshold of Brexit into 2021. The Construction Leadership Council has advised that construction sites should remain in operation. Sites should review their social distancing measures and remind their workforce to comply with Site Operating Procedures at all times. This means new carpentry tenders will be available.

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) also confirmed that training courses will continue, and test centres will remain open. Should they need to, workers can still undertake their Health, Safety and Environment assessments, for instance.

Looking beyond Brexit, the CITB also announced a detailed strategic plan to invest in and incentivise the construction industry. Going forward, the CITB will fund ‘hubs’ to train and develop new labourers. This will help relieve the immediate problem of replacing labourers who previously came from the EU.

What are the figures?

As of November 2020, the number and value of construction contracts overall are increasing. Here’s how carpentry tenders are bouncing back after the devastating closures of Spring 2020:

  • October 2020 saw 482 construction contracts awarded, worth £6.8 billion. This is a 10% increase from September 2020 and the highest figures since April 2020.
  • Construction tender opportunities in October were spread more widely across the UK in comparison to September. While a third of expenditure was in London (£2.3 billion), regions right across the nation saw large spends. For example, Scotland (£635 million), West Midlands (£534 million) and the South West (£515 million).

So, as we head into a post-Brexit 2021, it’s a promising time to seek carpentry tenders and secure business opportunities.

How do I find carpentry tenders?

To speed up the process of finding relevant carpentry tenders that can grow your business, try our Construction Tenders portal. We source construction contract opportunities on a daily basis, from thousands of buyers. We manually search for business opportunities in the public and private sector, across the UK, so you don’t have to. All you need to do is filter by relevant keywords, budgets, industry sectors and locations.

You’ll receive daily alerts when tenders are released for relevant services. Private buyers also post projects direct to our portal to source suitable suppliers from our subscribers. Book a free live demo today and see how we can help you find and secure carpentry tenders.

Will I need to adjust my business to win carpentry tenders post-Brexit?

Potentially, yes. And the sooner the better.

On January 1st, changes will be made to the way businesses do the following:

  • Import and export goods
  • Hire workers from the EU
  • Provide services in EU markets.

But don’t fret. We’ve compiled the main points highlighted by the latest government advice and the latest weekly industry report from Build UK. The following points should be relevant to your business if you’re interested in carpentry tenders. You should, however, also seek personalised advice on how your business will be affected by Brexit. To do this, use the governments ‘Check, Change, Go’ tool on www.gov.uk.

You may need to reconsider the following things to meet regulations and secure future carpentry tenders.

  1. Importing goods

Your business risks not being able to bring or receive goods or materials from EU countries if you don’t prepare. You should take the following steps to prepare for 1st January:

  • Check the new rules on importing and exporting goods from the EU. For example, timber imported into the UK is currently governed by the European Timber Regulations (EUTR). From 1st January 2021, it will be governed by the UK Timber Regulations (UKTR) in England, Scotland and Wales. If your carpentry business imports timber from the EU, it will incur the responsibilities of an ‘Operator’ under the new regulations. In 2021, your company will have to undertake due diligence to show that there is ‘negligible risk’ that the timber was illegally harvested.
  • Get an EORI number that starts with GB to move your goods into or out of the EU. This can take up to a week to receive. It is essential for moving goods, going forward.
  • Check the UK Global Tariff that will apply to imported goods and decide how you will make customs declarations. Will you need to get someone to deal with customs for you?
  • Check the rules for reporting unfair trade practices using the UK’s new trade remedies service.

  1. Employing workers from the EU

You risk not being able to employ workers from outside the UK if you do not take the following steps:

  • If you plan to recruit workers from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you will need to obtain a sponsor licence, which can take up to eight weeks. (This does not apply to workers from Ireland or people with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.)
  • Encourage your employees to check if they need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
  • If you have workers from the EU who wish to continue living and working in the UK after 30 June 2021, advise them to apply for settled and pre‐settled status.
  • If you have workers who travel to the EU for work purposes, they may need to apply for a visa or work permit from 1 January.
  • Familiarise yourself with the new points‐based immigration system.

How can I increase my chances of securing carpentry tenders?

When tendering, it’s very important to keep up to date with changing regulations in regard to Brexit and COVID-19. Carpentry tender opportunities may be more difficult to secure in a changing climate. |t’s therefore important that you put your best foot forward with all tenders that are available and suitable for you!

A successful carpentry bid requires in-depth knowledge about tendering and procurement processes. Alongside our Construction Tenders portal, we also offer dedicated bid writing support via Hudson Succeed. The Succeed team has supported and secured construction bids for many clients in the industry. They’re on hand to help you complete carpentry tenders if you don’t have in-house the resources to do so.

There are four levels of tender writing support depending on your needs:

Send the tender specification to our bid writers. They will write the carpentry tender response and submit the bid on your behalf.

Our bid writers will assess your previous tender responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Our team will analyse your content and check for any errors before you submit your tender response.

The 4-week programme consists of creating and branding your corporate literature and helping you to identify opportunities.

Get in touch with Construction Tenders

Book a free live demo of Construction Tenders today. Clients receive a daily bulletin straight to their inbox when new tenders are uploaded. The bulletin contains all the relevant construction leads that we have sourced that day.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Contact us today and allow us to help you grow your business with Construction Tenders.

Building Tenders for SMEs

Posted on by John Hudson

Building Tenders: How to Prepare and Win as an SME

Building tenders aren’t the most traditional route that SMEs take to grow their building businesses. Instead, tradesmen often rely heavily on their reputation, local community, and word of mouth. In fact, a Constructionline survey looked at how construction SMEs expected to grow their business. They found that 75% of respondents expected future opportunities to come from their business’ reputation for producing high-quality work.

If this sounds like you, we think you need to hear this: reputation won’t cut it! If you aren’t utilising building tenders, then you’re missing out on countless opportunities that could grow your SME, right now. Especially when it comes to larger projects or ongoing jobs.

Should I stick to small construction projects as an SME?

No – you’re not too small to pitch for larger jobs. There are big opportunities available for smaller businesses, especially when it comes to frameworks and ‘partnering up.’

In fact, the legal framework of public sector procurement actively encourages free and open competition and value for money. This means there will always be opportunities for businesses of all sizes. The UK government has a target to ensure the growth of SMEs, giving those smaller companies a fair chance at winning building tenders.

Public sector buyers will look for MEAT (The Most Economically Advantageous Tender), regardless of your size. And often, the personal touch of an SME is what clients are looking for. SMEs can specialise in ways that larger firms can’t while maintaining high levels of flexibility. Plenty of larger clients are seeking smaller contractors in their building tenders for these reasons.

Many public sector bodies appoint a framework of contractors to construct a package of projects. This is often on a Design & Build basis, and there will often be design repetition here. So, if your service makes a positive impression, it is likely to be used repeatedly. This is a great way to secure ongoing work for longer periods, often with numerous high-value contract lots.

Larger projects? Ongoing work? What are you waiting for!?

Too many SME’s aren’t utilising building tenders because they don’t understand the process, or don’t think it’s right for them. We’ll explain why that’s not true. Building tenders are absolutely the right route for small businesses in construction.

So, here’s how you can prepare for building tenders and succeed as an SME.

Preparing for building tenders

Preparation is the key to success when tendering for a construction contract in the UK. Once you’re prepared and have the correct information ready, completing your building tender will feel much more straightforward.

Let’s take a look at the common stages of a building tender, and how your SME can prepare for them.

A PAS 91 – What is it?

– The PAS 91 is simply a standardised Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) for construction bids. You must pass this in order for the rest of your tender to be considered. You must provide policies and answer questions regarding;

  1. Quality assurance;
  2. Health and safety;
  3. Environmental considerations;
  4. Equal opportunities & diversity and more.

– Good news – the PAS 91 is designed with SME’s in mind. It simplifies the tendering process in order to encourage more suppliers (particularly SMEs) to apply for work. Overall, it helps buyers identify suitably qualified contractors with less time and resources. It essentially ensures that suppliers fit the minimum standards of a job and helps buyers achieve more sustainable procurement.
– If you are a Constructionline member, you are automatically PAS 91 compliant for some questions, however, you may still need to complete a few sections.

How can I succeed as an SME?

– It helps to be prepared when completing a PAS 91. It’s important that you can attach relevant and up-to-date evidence and accreditations wherever you are prompted to do so. Make sure you have carefully constructed your policies and answers to the cover all the areas mentioned above. Having these common areas pre-prepared will save you a lot of time in the long run. In tender-writing, we call pre-prepared aspects of a tender “boilerplates”. For more information on the dos and don’ts of boilerplates, please watch our free masterclass on Tender VLE.

– When bidding for building tenders, in particular, you can assume that the buyer will always require certain information from you. Some preparation can therefore be done before you even find the building tender. For instance, how do you plan to minimise health and safety risks on the building site? This will always be an aspect of any building tender. Having a pre-prepared health and safety response will save you time. You can then focus this valuable time elsewhere in your building tender.

– However, be careful when it comes to creating boilerplates and copy and pasting content. There are areas where this won’t suffice, when the content must be up to date and purposeful. This is especially important now as your health and safety response, for instance, must consider the management of coronavirus. Government advice and regulations on coronavirus are continually changing and updating. You may need to continually adjust aspects of the build to ensure you comply with the most recent advice. For instance, managing staff schedules differently, or reducing delivery frequencies to the build site.

A method statement – What is it?

– This is where you explain and answer questions on how you plan to deliver your services. You must detail how you will meet the buyer’s requirements. Think of this as your chance to sell your services in the best light possible. It’s a detailed section of the tender: you need to consider every aspect of the job and how you fit the bill.

– As part of these method statements, you may need to submit supporting documentation, such as policies, procedures, and accreditations. You may also need to provide the qualifications and certifications of your staff to prove their competency.

How can I succeed as an SME?

– You should not make false claims in your method statements. Some or all of the content could become legally binding once you win the contract, so it’s important to be honest and realistic. So, how can you prove your value as an SME when you’re up against boastful statistics from larger companies?

– This is where a good reputation can come into play. Do you have all the relevant TrustMarks for your trade? Showing the buyer that you adhere to government standards can bolster your building tender and prove your reliability.

– Branding is another way in which you can utilise your reputation as an SME. Watch our free masterclass on branding on Tender VLE and make sure you’re presenting your business effectively.

A pricing schedule – What is it?

– You will have to complete a pricing schedule as part of your tender response. Make sure you price your services competitively without making a loss.

How can I succeed as an SME?

– Most buyers have preferred contract forms – for example, Durham County Council may only use NEC4 contracts. You can use this to your advantage by researching which contract forms buyers use. Bid for those with which you already have experience where possible. You can then use this as a selling point in your building tender.

Further support

Even if you’re highly prepared, you may lack the corporate literature or writing skills to tackle building tenders or you may be at capacity with your existing team. In addition, there are so many benefits to having a friend critically review your bid before submission, ensuring responses are directly answering the criteria. It’s imperative that a tender represents your business in the best possible light with no room for error. A quality SME can often be overlooked purely because it lacks a quality submission on paper. This can be highly frustrating. Especially when you know you have the capabilities to complete a contract in practice. Investing in building tenders via professional bid writing is a great method of growing your SME.

Need support?

If you want support with building tenders to grow your business, contact the Hudson Helpline. Our experts can give you bespoke advice regarding any queries you may have.

If you aren’t sure where to start with building tenders, we can support you through every step of the process. Our professional bid writers at Hudson Succeed can transform the way buyers view your business. They will ensure you’re putting your best foot forward in every bid. We have four support packages to help you win any building tender that is right for you. With an 87% success rate, our team can help you to win big and small building tenders, in any form. Contact us today to learn more about the options available to you.

If you simply need help finding building tenders, our Construction Tenders portal can solve this for you.

What are the benefits of using Construction Tenders?

– We are an industry-specific portal and we source both public and private sector opportunities across the UK.

– Our opportunity trackers search numerous portals every day. They then upload all new public and private construction tenders to our site and send them directly to you. You’ll receive all the current building tenders, directly to your inbox. These tenders have been manually sourced by real people – not CPV codes, which are often inaccurate. This guarantees accuracy and relevancy when using the portal, saving you valuable time.

– Multiple users can access the portal to make remote working with your team easier and more effective. You can access our popular ‘Tasks’ function in the portal. Important tasks can be split up and assigned to different members of your team as you form your tender. For instance, one team member may be assigned to focus on pricing, and another to quality, and so on. All of this can be tracked and evaluated succinctly as you form your tender remotely.

Below are previous building tenders sourced on our portal:

SSE Substation Building Construction – Carfax Close, Swindon

Swindon Borough Council- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

Thames Water Tenders £18m Building Construction Work Contract

Thames Water- London- Budget: £17,900,000

UK-London: Building Construction Work

Hyde Housing Association- London- Budget: £2,000,000,000

York Global Initiative for Safe Autonomy Building Construction

University of York- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £10,000,000

General Building Construction Framework Civils

Dublin Bus / Bus Atha Cliath- International- Budget: Undisclosed

See how our improved methods of tendering can win you building tenders and grow your business. Book a free live demo today.

Get in Touch

The construction industry has a wide range of building tenders on offer. If you need support in your tendering efforts, contact us today. Sign up to Construction Tenders and receive a daily construction leads bulletin of relevant tenders straight to your inbox.

This includes the following:

What Does Tendering Mean to the Construction Sector?

Posted on by John Hudson

What is tendering in construction?

Tendering is a vital business development strategy for most construction firms. Why? Because tendering is an effective way of securing new contracts from buyers you may not have had access previously to or even be aware of.

So, what is tendering? As in all industries, tendering is an approach that is ultimately deemed to be the fairest way of procuring works, goods and services. The tendering process, however, can vary slightly depending on your industry sector. It is normally a formal process, aimed at procuring the most economically advantageous option.

In order to secure the work, businesses have to demonstrate why they are the most appropriate supplier for the construction contract. You must answer the buyer’s specification and evidence how you will meet the criteria of the contract.

What is the process?

Pre-qualifying stages

Initially, buyers may request that suppliers complete and submit a PAS-91. This method of pre-qualifying suppliers is becoming increasingly popular in the construction sector. It was developed by the British Standards Institute to save suppliers time filling out multiple types of PQQs.

In a nutshell, the PAS-91 takes the same ‘what have you done’ approach as the PQQ. The main purpose is to ensure that suppliers who bid for the contract, have the capability to deliver the services/goods if successful.

Requests

Depending on the contract, the buyer can ask for this information by publishing various different requests. For example, buyers can publish:

  • An RFQ (request for quote)
  • An RFP (request for proposal)
  • or an RFI (request for information) and more besides.

If buyers require more than just a quote, they will divide their evaluation weighting into pricing and quality. For example, the buyer may mark the tender responses based on 60% price and a 40% quality. We have also seen this the other way around in a variety of different ratios.

When quality is required, this means that the buyer is assessing your written responses to their questions. They may also request to see three previous, relevant, contract examples and potentially turnover evidence in the form of accounts.

Evaluation

Once you have completed the tender and submitted your bid, the buyer will then evaluate the submissions against the specification.

The highest-scoring supplier will be awarded the contract and the work will commence on the contract start date. 

Why do businesses tender for work?  

Securing contracts through tendering is a proactive approach to your business development strategy. When asking yourself, ‘what is tendering in construction?’ the answer is simply, being practical about growing your business.

It’s great when you get inbound leads through marketing or word-of-mouth. However, to really grow your business sustainably, you need to invest in self-generation.

Tendering opens up a new world of possibilities. If you’re a smaller business, relying on word-of-mouth, imagine the difference that securing a construction contract with the council could make to your pipeline of work. You can secure long-term, 10+ year contracts with local authorities and know that the work is guaranteed for the future.

As well as this, the Prompt Payment Code means that you are guaranteed to be paid on time. All too often we hear of businesses who have been caught in difficult situations when clients miss payments. The Prompt Payment Code means that government authorities have 30 days to pay invoices. 

What if you’re an SME? 

If you’re an SME business and you’re asking yourself ‘what is tendering in construction?’ you can think of it as a way of opening doors.

We have been supporting businesses with their tendering efforts for almost two decades. In this time, we have realised that SMEs are often under the impression that they are too small to tender.

Under this impression, you could potentially be losing out on multiple opportunities for business growth.

In terms of government construction contracts, the UK government has a target to spend every £1 in £3 with SMEs. This means that public sector buyers want to award contracts to SMEs in order to meet this target.

Of course, there will be contracts that are simply too big for SME businesses to deliver. However, for businesses that are new to tendering, we always recommend starting small and working your way up. It is likely that with smaller contracts, you won’t be competing against the “big players”. They will be bidding for the larger projects. By building a portfolio of contracts, you are preparing your business for winning big construction bids in the future.

Where do I find tendering opportunities in construction? 

By simply Googling ‘Construction Tenders’ you will be confronted with a plethora of platforms who will source these opportunities.

However, if you’re looking to save time when sourcing these tenders, you should be aware of issues with CPV codes.

CPV codes (or common procurement vocabulary) are how buyers categorise their tenders. In theory, each industry has its own code and buyers simply select the service with the correct code when publishing a tendering opportunity.

However, when we conducted research, we found that a third of tenders were tagged with incorrect codes. The problem is that these opportunity tracking platforms rely on algorithms to collect their data and the algorithms track CPV codes.

That’s why our Construction Tenders platform is different. We don’t rely on codes or algorithms to source our tenders. We have a dedicated team of Opportunity Trackers who manually search thousands of sources, daily. They read the buyer’s requirements and tag each tender with industry-driven keywords.

What does this mean for you?

When signing up to Construction Tenders, you will simply be able to enter the keywords that represent your services and instantly find construction leads. The tenders you see will be relevant to your service offering and ultimately, this will save countless hours, searching through hundreds of irrelevant contracts.

Below are previous construction tenders sourced on our portal:

Provision of Scaffolding to Weetwood, Wooler

Advance Northumberland Limited- North East- Budget: Undisclosed

Minor Works Framework Agreement Daresbury Laboratory & UK Astronomy Technology Centre

UK Shared Business Services Limited- South West- Budget: £9,500,000

Mechanical Upgrade Works at Ballyheada N.S.

Ballyheada National School- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Freemans Park B Block Campus Mechanical Works

Leicester College- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

Flat Roof Replacement & Parapet Repairs at Clacton Police Station

7 Forces Procurement- Eastern- Budget: £380,000

We source tenders for services including;

Book a free live demo of the portal to see the current opportunities and see how the system can help your business.

How do I win?

When you find the perfect contract, it’s easy to get excited and imagine winning the tender. Then, you look at the requirements and see that the buyer has asked for quality responses totalling 10,000+ words. How will you complete this to a high-standard whilst delivering your current contracts?

That’s why we developed our sister company, Hudson Succeed. This is our bid writing division. Our Bid Writers have vast experience supporting construction businesses with their tendering efforts. The team proudly holds an 87% bid success rate and they are trusted by over 700 businesses, globally.

Get in touch with the team for a free consultation. Our consultants will be happy to discuss your current tendering strategy or how to get started with your first bid. Call 0203 051 2217 or email hi@tenderconsultants.co.uk.

The North London Heat and Power Project

Posted on by John Hudson

The £600million North London Heat and Power Project 

The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has called for bids to develop a world-class Energy Recovery Facility (ERF). The work comes as part of the North London Heat and Power Project (NLHPP) to modernise Edmonton EcoPark.

The government originally granted development consent for the project in 2017, with work consisting of a new energy recovery plant to replace the incinerator which has been in place for almost 50 years. During this time, the park has diverted over 21 tonnes of waste from going to landfill.

The impact of the project will have the same carbon impact as removing 110,000 cars off the road each year.

For workers in the construction industry, this contract offers an array of opportunities due to the various services required.

The Chair of the NLWA, Councillor Clyde Loakes, said: “The procurement of the ERF is our biggest contract to date and marks a crucial step forward in delivering this nationally significant infrastructure project for our two million residents.

“In the first phase of construction we’re also investing £100m in flagship recycling facilities which are vital for boosting North London’s recycling rates.”

What does the contract involve?

The modernisation work will take place over the next 10 years. The project is to develop a sustainable waste hub, involving substantial investment in state-of-the-art recycling facilities.

The North London Heat and Power Project requires the construction of an Energy Recovery Facility. The successful supplier will be responsible for all risk for;

  • Design;
  • Engineering;
  • Procurement;
  • Construction;
  • Commissioning;
  • Testing;
  • And operator training.

The new development will utilise the most up-to-date technology to control emissions. This means that the facility will be capable of using 60% less than the current limits for nitrogen oxides.

The site will have the capacity to treat up to 700,000 tonnes of household waste every year. The radius will cover the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest.

The process

The project is divided into four stages.

Stage 1 – The preparatory works which are due to end in 2021.

Stage 2 – The building works which will continue until 2023.

Stage 3 – The Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) construction and commissioning. This work is due to begin in 2023 and end in 2025

Stage 4 – Post-ERF works consisting of the decommissioning and demolition of the existing facility. This stage is due to begin in 2027 and finish in 2031.

Creating jobs

The NLWA has committed to boosting local employment by 25%. Throughout the development, the project will provide approximately 100 apprenticeships. At least 90 of these opportunities will be directly associated with the Energy Recovery Facility.

NLHPP’s Programme Director, David Cullen, has claimed: “Overall, the construction of the NLHPP will generate 2,500 jobs.

“We’re working with the constituent boroughs of the NLWA and education providers to ensure that job opportunities and wider project benefits reach the local community where they are most needed.”

Why is the project important?

The facility will be part of NLWA’s efforts to raise awareness of the need for waste reduction and improvements to recycling. The North London Heat and Power Project forms the wider plan which includes Low Plastic Zones, clothing swaps and the London Upcycling Show.

The new development will be crucial to managing non-recyclable waste in the area sustainably. When the project is complete, the ERF will ensure that increasing waste levels can be managed responsibly for years to come. For the first time ever, residents will be allowed to bring their household waste to the EcoPark. The items will then be processed through the facility, lowering the usage of landfill sites.

Overall, the NLHPP project will see the development of;

  • The Energy Recovery Facility;
  • A Resource Recovery Facility;
  • A Reuse and Recycle Centre;
  • And EcoPark House which will include a visitor and education centre.

Finding construction opportunities

Are you looking for new construction contracts to help your business grow? Our Construction Tenders portal is dedicated to your industry.

Construction Tenders is our opportunity tracking portal. We know that opportunity tracking for tenders is a full-time job because we have a team who is solely responsible for this every day. They source new contract opportunities from thousands of sites to ensure that you never miss out.

Once the tenders have been sourced, they are then uploaded to our portal and categorised with industry-led keywords. This allows you to log into the system, select the services you provide and instantly find all the relevant opportunities. You can also filter the results by location, budget and sector.

Below are previous heat and power tenders sourced on our portal:

GB-Colchester: Planned Renewal of Heating Systems

Colchester Borough Council- Eastern- Budget: £1,000,000

CAT1 Gas Works: Heating Upgrade Works – Rosary College, Armagh Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12

Rosary College (Crumlin)- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Emergency heating works to Mary Queen of Ireland

Mary Queen of Ireland National School (Toberburr)- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Upgrade of LV Panels at Solihull Hospital

Sunderland City Council- North East- Budget: Undisclosed

Heating Installation and Associated Works

South Tyneside Council- North East- Budget: Undisclosed

Book a free live demo of our portal. The demo will allow you to access the system, see the current tenders and understand how the portal can help your business with construction leads.

We source tenders for services including;

Construction sector bid writing services

Once you have sourced the perfect tendering opportunity, you may need support with writing the bid. Bid writing requires a set of specialist skills, not to mention time and resources.

Our team at sister company, Hudson Succeed, have experience with writing and winning tenders in the construction sector. They have been helping business to see success from their tendering efforts for almost two decades and they support over 700 businesses globally. The team proudly holds a bid success rate of 87%, so you can rest assured that your bid is in safe hands.

No matter the size of your organisation or experience with tendering, Hudson Succeed can support you with your construction bids. The team offer five dedicated bid writing services;

  • Tender Writing: A fully managed bid writing service. The team will handle everything from writing your tender responses to submitting the final bid.
  • Tender Ready: A full preparation service for businesses who are new to tendering. This service involves the creation and branding of your corporate literature, support to find your first tender opportunity and the option of a bid writing service or guide and review support.
  • Tender Improvement: The perfect solution for increasing your success rate. During this service, our consultants will assess your previous tender submissions and advise on areas of improvement.
  • Tender Mentor: An expert second pair of eyes. This is the perfect final stage before submitting the bid. Let our experts review your responses and provide guidance to ensure you submit an error-free bid.

Call or email the team for a free consultation.

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: