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Excavation Tenders: Checklist for Bids

Posted on by John Hudson

Finding Excavation Tenders

Excavation tenders can help your excavation company grow to new heights (or should we say new depths?). Do you want to win work on shorter contracts, boost your experience, and get reputable credentials under your belt? An excavation contract out for tender may run for 2 months and look great as experience for future projects. Or, are you looking to secure work on sizeable, ongoing projects for years at a time? Framework agreements may comprise of multiple lots and run for 1 – 4 years or more! Either way, tendering for work is a no-brainer when it comes to winning a steady stream of construction work.

How can we help?

If you’re looking for tendering opportunities or advice on how to bid for excavation contracts, you’re in the right place. At Hudson, we’ve got expertise in both. Construction Tenders, one of our 11 Hudson Discover tendering portals, can save you time when sourcing relevant excavation tenders. And the bid writers at Hudson Succeed offer tailored levels of expert support to produce successful construction bids for your company.

So, what do our opportunity trackers and bid writers advise? Here’s a quick rundown of what type of excavation tenders your business could be sourcing, right now. We’ll cover how you can put your best foot forward and dig up brand new opportunities to grow your business. (That’s the last of the excavation puns, we promise…) 

What kind of excavation contracts are up for grabs?

Are you aware of the range of work available through excavation tenders? Excavation contracts can include many different techniques using various machinery, tools, equipment and explosives.

Excavation tenders may pertain to a number of processes, for instance:

  • Groundwork
  • Trenching
  • Wall Shafts
  • Tunnelling
  • Mining
  • Environmental restoration.

Most commonly in construction, excavation refers to the groundwork prior to a construction project. Groundwork essentially ensures the site foundations are prepared for building work, enabling the construction project to go ahead smoothly.

Examples of excavation tenders:

Excavation or groundwork may be defined by the type of material it involves. For example:

  • Topsoil excavation – This removes the surface layer of earth, including vegetation or decaying matter. Depth varies from site to site, but is usually between 150-300 mm. For example, a tender hosted on our platform sought topsoil excavation for a pervasive weed: Enabling works including groundworks and Japanese Knotweed removal for Cluid Housing Association.
  • Earth excavation – This involves removing the layer of soil beneath the topsoil. The removed material is often referred to as ‘spoil’ and can be re-used to construct embankments and foundations. For example, a tender hosted on our platform pertained to: Removal and proper disposal of spoil at the Menai Science Park for Bangor University.
  • Rock excavation – This involves using special excavation methods such as drilling or blasting with explosives. For example, a tender hosted on our platform sought contractors for: Quarry Drill and Blast Works and Explosives Supply for Forestry and Land Scotland.

Excavation can also be classified according to the purpose of the work. Here are few classifications along with examples:

  • Trench excavation is when an excavation’s length greatly exceeds its depth. Shallow trenches are usually considered to be less than 6 m deep, and deep trenches more than 6 m. For example, our Opportunity Trackers sourced a tender for: Trenching and base excavations for a new power supply – St James Car Park Cheltenham for Publica Group.
  • Road excavation involves preparation for roadworks. For example, Highways England recently signed a £35m contract with Wessex Archaeology Ltd for archaeology and excavation work. This is in advance of the main construction works on the A303, including a tunnel to divert traffic from Stonehenge.
  • Dredging involves excavating and removing material from below water level, commonly from the bottom of lakes, rivers, or harbours. For example, we hosted an excavation tender for: Crescent Quay – Dredging works for Wrexford County Council.
  • Basement excavation tenders may require auditing and assessment work prior to the building works. For example: Multi-Party Framework Agreement for the Provision of Basement Impact Assessment Auditor Services for Dublin City Council.
  • Bridge excavation involves the removal of material for the footing of bridges. Underwater excavations may require special methods of drill and blast. For example: Bracky Bridge Replacement including excavation adjacent to and in the river for the Department of Infrastructure

This is just a few examples of the types of construction contracts available for excavation workers. On Construction Tenders, we also host tenders for other excavation requirements, including the supply of plants (machinery), such as:

  • Archaeological excavation
  • Mains water excavation repairs
  • Proposed and post excavation assessments
  • Excavation, gritting and road sweeping
  • Supply of grave digging excavators
  • Supply of hydraulic excavators
  • Supply of compact mechanical excavators, and more!

How can excavation contractors boost their chances of success with a bid?

Much like excavation, the tendering process is all about evening the playing field for suppliers and creating fair, regulated competition. Also, at its core, tendering allows buyers to assess market pricing and find the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT). So, when it comes to tendering, your company needs to prepare to be directly compared to competitors.

Who offers the best price? Who has the most competent workforce? Who has demonstrated the most past experience that is relevant to the project? And, ultimately, who has produced the best bid?

All of these things – and more – may be considered in your tender response, so you must demonstrate your competency clearly. It’s always worth considering – what steps could be taken to put our business in better stead against the competition? Here are a few steps you could take right now to increase your success rate with excavation tenders… 

  1. Use a sector-specific portal with a variety of opportunities.

Use a tendering portal that offers a variety of opportunities, while still being accurate and specific to your industry. Also, make sure you’re investing in a tendering service that supports you.

  • Accuracy.

A time-saving way to find excavation tenders is through a sector-specific tendering portal which offers keyword tracking and customer support. Construction Tenders focuses on opportunities in construction – and doesn’t rely on inaccurate CPV codes. Our Opportunity Trackers are real people who manually source contracts for our clients, who can then filter opportunities by:

    • Keywords
    • Sector
    • Budget
    • Location

Construction Tenders sources contracts both big and small, from Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) to single supplier contracts. When there’s a range of work to be won, you have a higher chance of finding something suitable for your services.

For example, we host opportunities for excavation work on framework agreements. If you’re a smaller company, this may be more suited to your needs. A framework agreement for a building project may be made up of ten lots. Lot 1 could be the groundwork, requiring excavation of site and preparation for the foundations. This experience could provide a manageable workload for your company and act as a stepping stone to bigger projects. 

  • Bid writing support.

Once you’ve found an excavation tender that’s perfect for your business, you’re not on your own! We have a bid writing division, Hudson Succeed, who can support with every step of the tendering process. They have a range support packages to help you see success in your tendering efforts:

  1. Prepare to tender with Tender Ready.
  2. Outsource a bid with Tender Writing.
  3. Improve your success rate with Tender Improvement.
  4. Get feedback on your current bid with Tender Mentor.

Get in touch for more information about our bid management consultancy services.

  1. Tighten up your bid with the relevant qualifications.

Getting your business ready to tender includes preparing any relevant documentation to prove your qualifications and competency. Excavation work can be highly dangerous. Large plants (machinery) are bound to be on site to excavate and remove heavy loads of materials. It’s not uncommon for accidents to occur, so watertight accreditations and health and safety regulations are paramount.

How can you demonstrate competence effectively?

  • PAS91 and accreditations.

Any construction tender will generally always require a PAS91. This is essentially a standardised Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) for the construction industry in the UK. Its purpose is to ensure that buyers only engage ethical companies with safe practices. Our blog on the PQQ and PAS91 can shed more light on this stage of the tender.

A Constructionline Gold membership will exempt you from most sections of a PAS91. Other accreditations – such as ISO or CHAS – allow you to bypass certain sections, too. Consider obtaining these relevant accreditations if you want to streamline the bidding process for future excavation tenders.

  • CPCS cards.

Another method of improving site practices and boosting your reputation is investing in the Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS). This scheme is devised to prove the competence of plant operators and improve safety awareness. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) website hosts a range of excavation training courses to gain CPCS cards. The National Construction College (NCC) offers the following courses to gain a CPCS card for excavation machinery, for instance:

  • CPCS Excavator 180° Wheeled A10 and A12
  • CPCS Excavator 360° Tracked A59
  • CPCS Excavator 180˚ Wheeled and 360˚ Tracked Combined A12 and A59
  • CPCS Forward Tipping Dumpers A09
  • CPCS Lifting with Excavators A59C
  • CPCS Mini Excavator A58
  • Applicants can take the courses for up to 14 days if they have no prior experience. Or, if they have experience operating machinery but need a formal qualification, they can take condensed courses for as short as 2 days. Each course requires you have a CITB health, safety and environment test prior to attending. It’s worth considering if investing in further qualifications will put your company and employees in a better bidding position.

Need support preparing tender documents? The Tender Ready package helps your company prepare all the relevant documentation needed for a bid. Hudson Succeed works with your excavation experts to ensure your tenders are precise, concise and well-presented. Get in touch today to see how they can help. 

  1. Don’t skip social value.

Social value is becoming increasingly important in tender responses. Some things you can ask yourself in regard to this are:

  • Have you considered the environmental implications?

Excavation projects can be damaging to the scenery and landscapes. Can you demonstrate how you’ll minimise damage, and use environmentally friendly techniques and supplies? Always consider the local community and promote sustainability in your practices.

  • Can you make use of apprenticeship schemes and government initiatives?

Employing local people, apprentices, and relieving unemployment are all strong ways of demonstrating social value in a contract.

If you’re a company who specialises in excavation, you could be benefiting from apprenticeship incentives. The government currently offers payments to companies who hire new apprentices. For instance, gov.uk recently spotlighted excavation company C. Bamford Excavators Limited and their use of the apprenticeship scheme. They won The BT Award for Advanced Apprentice of the Year.

Also, the government’s sector-based work academy programme (SWAP) gives recently unemployed or redundant people new skills. Gov.uk also highlighted how the scheme is giving learners up-to-date experience and knowledge in groundworks. For example, through college tutoring and work placements with Highways England. 

What are you waiting for? Start winning excavation tenders today!

Excavation tenders can open the door to a range of work, and buyers seek contractors for a wide variety of projects. Tendering can help you improve and evolve your practices and workforce, as long as you’re well-prepared and well-informed. So, now’s the time to unearth new opportunities and start growing your business! (Sorry – we couldn’t help ourselves!)

Why use Construction Tenders?

If you’re searching for excavation tenders, Construction Tenders, powered by Hudson Discover, will save you time and get you results. When you sign up, you’ll receive an email bulletin when new excavation tenders and construction leads are published, plus 24-hour portal access. Browse all the available excavation tenders, large and small, as often as you need!

At Construction Tenders, we source opportunities for;

Book a free live demo for a quick tour of our service. See how we can help your business grow!

Health and Safety Tenders – Everything you Need to Know

Posted on by John Hudson

A Guide to Health and Safety Tenders

The UK construction sector 

The construction industry in the UK is enormous. According to the Office for National Statistics, there are over 325,000 registered construction businesses. This covers categories including not only construction but also civil engineering and specialist works. With that, comes a wide range of health and safety requirements which must be met. 

The health and safety industry

Effective health and safety is absolutely crucial for any construction business to operate. Fortunately, there is a wide range of rules, legislation and guidance available from, for example:

  • The UK Government
  • CDM Regulations 2015
  • CHAS and SSIP
  • Constructionline
  • The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
  • The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
  • Building Regulations
  • Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)
  • The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)

A heavily regulated industry, opportunities are available within both the public and private construction sector. These may include individual contract opportunities, Dynamic Purchasing Systems and Framework Agreements. 

What kind of Health and safety tenders are available?

There are health and safety tenders available in the following categories:

  • Training
  • Consultancy
  • Management

Sub-sectors that you might find health and safety tenders include:

How can professional health and safety services benefit buyers in the construction industry?

Buyers seek professional consultancy, training and management services for many reasons:

  • To optimise the health and safety of their staff and customers
  • Compliance with current legislation
  • To provide evidence of health and safety protocols
  • They are seeking to expand their business and must establish better management systems and structures

Therefore, procurement through health and safety tenders may provide them with the following benefits:

  • Increasing staff morale and leadership within the workplace
  • Developing an organisation’s culture centred around health and safety
  • Improved staff confidence and retention in the organisation
  • Lower insurance costs
  • Overall reduction of health and safety risks and incidents on a daily basis 

What experience should you have? 

Within the construction sector, buyers will seek a supplier who can provide a comprehensive range of services. This includes proven experience and ability in the following areas:

Review and development of health and safety policies

In consultancy and management roles, you may be expected to know which health and safety requirements are essential. Examples include:

  • Training records
  • Accident reporting and investigations
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  • First Aid
  • Audits
  • Monitoring and surveillance
  • Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
  • Fire Safety
  • CDM regulations
  • Working at height

As a supplier, you must demonstrate that you thoroughly understand workplace health and safety in context. This includes how these processes are implemented, improved and communicated in the workplace.

Health and safety training

In health and safety training roles, you must demonstrate a similar knowledge. Additionally, having experience delivering training in a range of contexts is beneficial.

For example, this could include training delivered through seminars, digital learning platforms, and on-site groups. You must be capable of training individuals at all levels, from operatives to directors.

Developing case studies is an excellent way to demonstrate health and safety training in context. A useful and effective tool is the STAR method. STAR means Situation, Task, Action and Result. Writing your health and safety training experience under these headings will ensure you demonstrate your skills with clarity. Developing a good bank of persuasive, clear case studies will give your organisation a competitive edge.

ISO 45001 Health and Safety Management System

Some buyers may seek external support for their own organisation to gain accreditation. This is suitable for larger organisations who already implement many formal processes and procedures. It may also benefit smaller organisations.

For example, those who may struggle to fully understand the requirements of a health and safety management system. This is where high-quality health and safety consultation services can shine.

ISO 45001 has replaced OHSAS 18001 as an international standard. The focus of this management system is to create working conditions which are safe. The ISO 45001 system was designed for integration with other ISO systems. For example, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. Therefore, organisations who are already accredited with these ISOs may find the accreditation process for ISO 45001 easier.

Typically, organisations seeking support with their health and safety tenders may require consultation and training with:

  • Carrying out an internal audit
  • Understanding and solidifying what the organisation seeks to achieve, through a safety management system
  • Developing their internal policies and procedures for compliance
  • Carrying out a gap analysis to assess any organisational issues and provide solutions

Health and safety tenders and COVID-19 

It goes without saying – responding to COVID-19 concerns is at the forefront of each organisation’s priorities. This may continue for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the scope for health and safety tenders is rapidly expanding.

The ISO organisation is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by the development of a new ISO: 45003. This is scheduled for publication in 2021 next year. ISO 45003 will build upon ISO 45001, with a focus on psychological health and safety.

Knowledge of new legislation – COVID-19 

Essential to health and safety tenders going forward will be the management of COVID-19 risk. This includes:

  • Construction working and outdoor work
  • Working in people’s homes
  • Working in warehouses and factories
  • Working with vehicles

On 11th May the Government published COVID-19 guidance for the workplace. This provides protocols and steps for businesses to operate safely during the pandemic.

Therefore, you must be able to evidence, for example:

  • How you keep up-to-date with legislation and guidance
  • Knowledge of relevant legislation, acts and guidance to the workplace you will be providing services
  • Your strategies and recommendations for the buyer which will maximise not only health and safety, but also value

Crucial to COVID-19 health and safety legislation is different guidance for different regions. Therefore, it is important to differentiate between guidance for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR)

Many health and safety consultants are registered with the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR). However, this is not a requirement for every health and safety tender. It does provide additional value to your organisation when tendering and a competitive edge.

The OSHCR is recommended by HSE (Health and Safety Executive). It is worth bearing this in mind – when developing specifications, buyers will refer to best practice.

Consultants registered with the OSHCR can provide additional assurances to their clients. Membership demonstrates that you are fully committed to professional standards. It requires chartered status or membership with a professional body. This can include qualifications at degree level. You must also have in place appropriate insurance, relevant to the consultancy services you provide. 

CHAS

Some organisations may seek support with CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) accreditation through health and safety tenders. CHAS accreditation is essential for many construction companies to tender for work. It demonstrates to their own clients that they are fully compliant in a range of modules.

For example:

  • Health and Safety
  • Environment
  • Equality and Diversity
  • Finances and business standing

A key element of accreditation with CHAS is risk management. Suppliers must confirm, demonstrate and provide evidence of a wide range of policies and protocols to qualify. Providing suppliers support with CHAS accreditation can prove beneficial and lucrative for both consultant and supplier. This is because the foundations for good practice are established, long term.

CDM Regulations 2015 

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 are crucial for construction health and safety. Many construction professionals will already be fully familiar with the guidance and its application.

However, some construction organisations may seek external professional guidance during a construction project.

CDM regulations are more than guidelines. They are expected health and safety duties which construction companies must adhere to during all project stages. The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that each project is:

  • completed in a way which ensures the safety of everyone on site
  • ensures that the building, site or land is safe to use
  • providing value for money and longevity following product sign-off

There is a lot to consider when approaching health and safety tenders. Therefore, it is essential to demonstrate appropriate evidence, experience and relevant knowledge. To improve your prospects when tendering for consultancy, management or training bids, reflect on the following key points:

  • Your own bank of evidence is just as essential as those you develop for your clients.

These roles require many of the qualities of tender writing. This includes organising your evidence to ensure it is fully accounted for and relevant to your aims. Insurance, finances, certifications, memberships, CVs and policies are essential.

  • Have a clear company structure in place.

This applies whether you are providing consultancy services as an individual or an organisation. Clarify roles and responsibilities of each person who will provide services. Establish who is accountable for communications and actions.

  • Consider how you can add value to the buyer’s organisation, additional to specification requirements.

For example, do you have particular links to additional health and safety resources that competitors may lack? What processes do you have which will reduce the time spent on a task, whilst increasing quality?

Get in Touch with Construction Tenders:

Sign up to Construction Tenders today and receive a daily construction leads bulletin straight to your inbox, containing all relevant small construction tenders uploaded that day. Our Opportunity Trackers manually scour and upload construction tenders from thousands of websites daily. You’re able to filter the results by keyword, location, budget and more – saving you even more time.

Below are some health and safety tenders sourced on our portal:

Health and Safety Compliance Framework

Central & Cecil Housing Trust- London- Budget: Undisclosed

07-12-2020

Health and Safety Consultancy

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames- South East- Budget: £12,000

15-01-2021

Health and Safety Management System

Citizen- West Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

22-01-2021

Health and Safety Services

Birmingham City Council- West Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

15-01-2021

Health and Safety Support for the Council’s Revitalisation of Health and Safety Programme and Implementation of a Compliance Assurance System

Cheshire West and Chester- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

23-02-2021

Need help writing your next tender?

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

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

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

Tender Mentor

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

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Check out some of our other blogs: