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A Guide to Construction Tenders Online

Posted on by John Hudson

Opportunities for construction tenders online

There are thousands of opportunities for finding construction tenders online. However, it can be hard knowing where to start. We appreciate, all the information out there can be overwhelming. We put this guide together to help you understand construction tenders and the opportunities out there.

Construction tenders are essentially public contract opportunities. In construction, an invitation to tender (ITT) may be issued to procure:

  • Services
  • Goods
  • Works
  • Utilities.

When you’ve been searching for construction tenders online you’ve probably noticed how diverse the opportunities are. Tenders are often published for services including:

  • Roofing
  • Demolition
  • Plumbing
  • Electrical
  • Groundworks
  • Design and build
  • Repairs and maintenance
  • Project management and many more.

What is the process of winning a construction tender?

The construction industry can be quite savvy when it comes to tendering. So, we’ve broken down the process to help you make sense of it.

The standard process is as follows:

  • PAS91 or PQQ

A PAS91 is essentially the construction sector’s answer to a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). This process is simply to shortlist the suppliers who qualify to deliver the contract. Be prepared to provide company details, compliance information and financial information.

  • Invitation to tender

Once you pass this initial stage, the buyer will usually release the invitation to tender. This allows you to respond to the tender and submit a final bid.

An invitation to tender may include:

  • The form of a tender
  • Preliminaries (including pre-construction information and site waste management plan)
  • Contract or contract conditions
  • Employer’s information requirements
  • A tender pricing document
  • A drawing schedule
  • Design drawings
  • Specifications.

  • Clarification

Clarification questions can be asked via the portal the tender will be submitted through.

You can remain anonymous when asking clarification questions, so your competitors don’t know it is you. Staying up to date with answers is important as it could change the way you respond to the bids. Remember to make a note of the clarification deadline as it could be weeks before the final submission date.  

  • Submission 

Once the bid is complete, it’s time to submit it. Your response will include methods, the price for supplying goods/services, and responses to how you meet the requirements. You will often also be required to submit supporting documents such as case studies, policies and procedures.

What to expect when bidding for construction contracts in the UK?

You’ve probably found hundreds of construction tenders online. This is because they are constantly being uploaded. Thanks to the billions of pounds invested in the construction industry across the UK. Recently, more businesses are turning towards tendering as a way of growing their business due to the impact of COVID-19.

Financial standing and health and safety procedures are some examples of what is to be expected in construction contracts.

What to look for in construction bid sites

We still have more information about construction tenders online. What should you be looking for to find the best construction bid site for your organisation? We’ve put together 7 things you should be checking for:

  1. The portal doesn’t rely on CPV codes

Common procurement vocabulary (CPV). An 8-digit code that allows buyers to classify what they are procuring. They are often used incorrectly, leading to extra time being wasted, wading through irrelevant tenders.

  1. The portal manually tracks construction contracts

At Construction Tenders, our opportunity trackers manually search thousands of sources each day. Instead of relying on CPV codes, they read and upload each tender manually, ensuring maximum relevance.

  1. The system focuses on your industry 

Most bid sites source tenders for all industries so there’s a chance you will see opportunities that aren’t irrelevant.  Construction Tenders is dedicated to the construction industry, therefore, cutting out irrelevant information.

  1. Allows for remote working in teams

Remote working has changed the way businesses operate in many ways. Especially since lockdown as most businesses have had to adapt to remote working. Our portal can be accessed anywhere anytime. 

  1. You’re supported by an account manager

You will have a dedicated account manager to offer support and guidance and answer any queries you may have.

  1. You have access to virtual learning

Our Tender VLE service is free and offers your business expert advice about tendering. We offer video masterclasses, fact sheets, blogs and templates to help with the tender process.

  1. You can outsource bid writing if needed

Some people struggle with writing. If you want to win a bid, you need a good writer to help you. We have developed Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division. This service helps our clients through the bidding process every step of the way. Our team are exceptional Bid Writers who assist businesses in multiple sectors to write compelling and technical narratives. Our bid writers are highly experienced with over 60 years of experience collectively and an 87% success rate. We have an extensive range of experience in the construction industry.

We source Construction Tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK. Our goal is to save you both time and money manually searching for new construction leads. Our clients receive daily alerts when tenders are released. They also have 24hr access to our Construction Tenders portal.

Need help with construction tenders online?

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, log in 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 free bid management consultancy each month.

Get in touch today to book a free live demo.

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.

Topographical Survey Tenders Explained

Posted on by John Hudson

Topographical survey tenders and how to succeed

Any large-scale planning project will require a topographical surveying tender in order to procure a suitable surveyor. Even if you have submitted tenders in the past, you may have been unsuccessful. We understand that this can be disheartening. However, there are often a few simple improvements that can be made, which increase your chances of success.

The requirements for a topographical survey tender vary depending on the buyer’s needs or the reason for commissioning the survey. For example, they may publish topographical surveying tenders to procure a:

  • Survey to ascertain the boundary of a property
  • 3D mapped survey
  • General land survey
  • Construction project layout.

Each one is unique to the project at hand. So, you will need to read the tender documents carefully if you’re thinking about applying.

A typographical survey tender will typically detail the following as a bare minimum:

  • The purpose of the survey
  • A plan outlining the area of land to be surveyed
  • Scope of work and specification
  • How the survey will be presented
  • How the survey will be delivered
  • Mobility plan and other practicalities including access and security.

You will likely need to pass a pre-qualification stage to establish that you meet the minimum eligibility criteria. This could be referred to as a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), a PAS91 or selection questionnaire (SQ). You will often need to disclose and attach your company’s:

How is a topographical survey tender evaluated?

A topographical survey tender is typically split into three sections (when tendering in the public sector). These are:

  • Quality

The quality of your response always matters. Buyers will be expecting a high-quality response when tendering for construction contracts in the UK. Persuasion is key here. You should be convincing the contractor that you’re the best surveyor for the job. Demonstrate how you are professional, qualified and able to perform the contract on time and within budget.

  • Price

Pricing your construction bid right is important, and you should keep it realistic. A contractor won’t be best pleased if you quote one price, then go significantly over budget. Don’t try to undercut your competitors, as it may lead to a buyer questioning your legitimacy. You will be expected to include both the direct and indirect costs of the project and your services.

  • Social value

Social value has become an ever-important aspect of tendering. You should consider the environmental, economic and social aspects while performing the contract. Remember that the promises you may at this stage is contractually binding. Buyers will be expecting you to make promises you can keep. These should have the aim of:

  • Creating new jobs and promoting skills
  • Supporting COVID-19 recovery
  • Encouraging economic growth
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Tackling unemployment
  • Reducing environmental impact
  • Levelling up the UK.

The weightings of these sections can vary. However, for public sector contracts, there will be a minimum mandatory weighting of 10% on social value. It’s important to remember that although the price might be weighted more, the quality of your response matters.

When formulating your tender response, you should remember to be:

  • Clear and concise
  • Hit as close to the word or page counts as possible
  • Avoid overly technical jargon
  • Don’t allow the buyer to make any assumptions about your business or anything in your answer. Leaving room for assumptions and allow for the wrong assumptions to be made.

Need assistance when writing your next topographical survey tenders?

If you’re still unsure about how to complete your tender response we can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offers four levels of bid writing support services. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bid writing experience. Whether you’re completely new to tendering, or need your response proofread before you submit, we can help.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect topographical survey tender for your business, why not send it over to us? 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 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.

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.

Where can I find topographical survey tenders for my business?

It’s worth noting that when searching for topographical survey tenders that you should also search for groundworks tenders. This is because topographical survey services may be included within a groundworks framework.

Finding the right tender for your business can take a large amount of time out of your busy day. You already have enough on your plate to be trawling through thousands of websites a day looking for tendering opportunities. Keeping track of the various portals, logins and passwords can turn into a full-time job! Luckily for you, we have a solution.

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

Below are previous topographical survey tenders and groundworks tenders sourced on our portal:

Wavendon SLA Ground Works and Natural Turf Sports Pitch

Milton Keynes Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

CHARM – Groundworks

Accord Housing Association Ltd- West Midlands- Budget: £197,281 

Multi Party Civil/Groundworks Framework for Projects from 100k up to €1m for AIT

Athlone Institute of Technology- Republic of Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

Ballinasloe Flood Relief Scheme Topographical Survey

Office of Public Works (OPW)- Republic of Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

Area 10 A56 Woodcliffe Cutting Topographical Survey

Highways England- North West- Budget: £11,000

A 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders offers your business all unique, public and private sector opportunities. A dedicated Account Manager will be on hand. They can answer any questions you may have about topographical survey tenders or the procurement process in general.

A daily email bulletin will be sent straight to your inbox when new tenders are uploaded that day. Moreover, you will receive discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division. You are also entitled to 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Consultants each month.

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, helping you identify 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 topographical survey 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 construction 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.

Open Tendering in Construction

Posted on by John Hudson

Open tendering in construction: answering your FAQs

You may be wondering, what open tendering in construction is, and you wouldn’t be the only one. The procurement process, in general, can seem daunting if you’ve never tendered before. This blog will answer some frequently asked questions you may have about open tendering in construction.

What is open tendering in construction?

Open tendering in construction is a tendering procedure used within the public sector. Open tendering allows anyone to submit a tender to supply the goods, works or services that are required.

What is the open tendering procedure in construction?

The open tendering procedure in construction is a very simple, two-stage process:

  1. An ITT is released

A contractor will release their invitation to tender (ITT) when they want to procure something. An interested potential supplier can then respond to the specification with their tender response. Each tender response will be trying to persuade the buyer that they are the best business for the job. Their ITT response will detail how they intend to carry out the work at hand.

  1. The contract is awarded

After evaluating each bidder’s response, the buyer will then award the contract to the most economically advantageous tender. This is known as the MEAT and is the way in which the public sector award contracts. They seek the tenders that will provide the most value for money while performing the contract. MEAT evaluation means that the buyer is evaluating tender responses based on more than just cost. They will also be looking at a range of factors which can include:

  • Quality
  • Cost
  • Technical ability
  • Social value
  • Accessibility
  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
  • Environmental benefits
  • Customer service
  • Ability to deliver on time.

A contractor will note what each tender will be evaluated on within the tender documents and specification. Each aspect can be evaluated by the buyer on its own or combined, depending on the buyer’s needs. Open tendering can also be referred to as a single-stage tender process (discounting the contract award as a stage).

Why is open tendering used in construction?

Open tendering is used in construction in order for a buyer to procure simple goods or services. For more complex and larger projects, a pre-qualification process will likely be used. Pre-qualifications can come in a variety of forms such as pre-qualification questionnaires, selection questionnaires (SQ) or a PAS91.

What are the advantages of open tendering in construction?

Each tendering process has its own benefits and advantages. Open tendering in construction offers the greatest competition and allows smaller businesses to throw their hat in the ring. This encourages innovation and allows a buyer to view a greater range of proposals.

Need assistance when open tendering in construction?

If you’re still unsure about where to start with open tendering in construction, we can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offers four tender writing support packages. They have an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. Whether you’re completely new to tendering, or simply need your response proofread before you submit – we can help.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect construction contract for your business, why not send it over to us? 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 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.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your 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.

Where can I find open tendering opportunities in construction?

Finding the right tender for your business can take hours out of your day. There are various portals and websites that require different login details and passwords. Keeping track of them all can turn into a full-time job! We have a time-saving tool that can optimise your tendering efforts allowing you time to focus on your business.

Construction Tenders is a portal that hosts all the live construction leads and tendering opportunities within the construction industry. Gone are the days of relying on inaccurate CPV codes! Our Opportunity Trackers source and upload exclusive, public and private sector opportunities from across the UK. You’re able to filter and search the results by keyword, budget, location and more, streamlining the process.

Below are previous construction tenders sourced on our portal:

GB-London: Refurbishment Works – Aston Street

Newlon Housing Trust- London- Budget: £500,000

Whole House Improvements – Beaumont Estate Lancaster

Lancaster City Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Rothienorman Kinbroom New Build Housing – 12 Units

Bancon Construction Limited- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

CFT: SE3490532B – Refurbishment of Kelly House Phase 2, UHD

CPD – Construction Health Projects- Northern Ireland- Budget: £400,000

Northfield Park Renovations

Blaby Parish Council- East Midlands- Budget: £60,000

A subscription to Construction Tenders offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, private and public sector opportunities in the construction industry.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new tenders are uploaded that day.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Consultants each month.

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, helping you identify 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 construction 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 construction 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.

3 Things to Expect from Refurbishment Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Refurbishment tenders and where to find them

Refurbishment tenders can be confusing if you’ve never tendered for construction contracts before. They are used by both private and public sector buyers when they require refurbishment works. Refurbishment tenders may be used for works in residential buildings, offices, village halls or conference centres to name a few.

The award criteria for refurbishment tenders varies from buyer to buyer as each will have different needs and requirements. An example award criterion for refurbishment tenders may look like:

  • Price 60% 
  • Quality 30% Comprising of:
  1. Method statement, site waste management plan and site setup
  2. Programme and completion timescales
  3. Quality management systems
  4. Health and safety
  5. Sustainability
  6. Company experience and capability
  7. Technical compliance
  8. Commercial compliance.

3 things you can expect from refurbishment tenders

  1. Site visits

Refurbishment tenders often offer an optional or mandatory site visit. This enables a potential supplier to go and view the worksite environment in person. If this is an option, it’s highly encouraged that you attend. This is because site visits can help with your tender response.

They allow you to be able to see the site with your own eyes. You may be able to pick up on something you otherwise wouldn’t be able to. They may even lead you to produce more accurate pricing for your services. Site visits for refurbishment tenders also allow you to gain insight into the buyer.

  1. Health and safety

Health and safety are important aspects of any tender. Buyers want to be reassured that you upkeep and hold best practice while performing a contract. They want to know that both your employees and any general public will be out of harm’s way. They’re also crucial due to the dangerous nature of construction jobs, accidents can happen, after all. Due to this, buyers will ask for a copy of your health and safety policies and regulations for refurbishment tenders. Some examples that are relevant are:

  • Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
  • Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
  • CDM Regulations 2015
  • Managing Contractors – Health and Safety Executive
  • CHAS
  • SafeContractor
  • ConstructionLine
  • RIDDOR.

  1. Previous contract examples

Refurbishment tenders will likely require you to provide previous contract examples you have completed. They should be similar in complexity and scope and style. You may be asked for up to three examples within the last five years. They are often referred to as case studies and can strengthen your bid.

Depending on the word count, positive testimonials from previous clients will result in gained trust from the buyer. You want to convey and assert yourself to the buyer, demonstrating the quality of your work. A glowing testimonial can also help you gain an edge over your competitors.

Case studies should:

  • Be relevant
  • Detail your experience of a project of a similar scale
  • Include the challenges you encountered and overcame, demonstrating problem-solving skills and flexibility
  • Note whether you completed the contract on time and in budget.

Need assistance writing your next refurbishment tenders?

If writing isn’t your strong suit that’s ok. There’s no denying that contractors for refurbishment tenders care about the quality of your written response. You may not have the resources, time or experience to write a winning response in-house. If that’s the case outsourcing to bid writing experts can help you win your next tender.

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 you win your next refurbishment tenders. 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 refurbishment tender for your business, why not send it over to us? 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 refurbishment tenders?

Sourcing the right refurbishment tenders for your business can take hours out of your busy day. There are thousands of sites posting multi-sector tendering opportunities daily. Keeping track of various logins, portals and passwords can turn into a full-time job. Luckily for you, we have a time-saving tool that can help simplify and optimise your search.

Construction Tenders is a portal that hosts all the live construction leads and tendering opportunities within the construction industry. Gone are the days of relying on inaccurate CPV codes! Our Opportunity Trackers source and upload exclusive, public and private sector opportunities from across the UK. You’re able to filter and search the results by keyword, budget, location and more. This streamlines the process, allowing you to find the perfect refurbishment tenders for your business.

Below are previous refurbishment tenders sourced on our portal:

Central Region Refurbishment Programme Projects

Ministry of Defence- Eastern- Budget: £4,500,000

Flat Roof Refurbishment Works to Scoil Padraig Naofa (Boys NS) & St. Joseph’s (GNS)

Scoil Phadraig Naofa BNS (Mountmellick)- Republic of Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

GoJ-HCS JGH – Maternity Refurbishment – Builders Work

States of Jersey- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Manipulator refurbishment for the area, WEP and MEP Reference number: 35/09712.30

Sellafield- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Refurbishment of Existing School Building to Provide Community Facilities

Ceide Coast- Republic of Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

What’s included in a subscription to Construction Tenders?

A subscription to our Construction Tenders portal offers your business:

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

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 refurbishment 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 refurbishment 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.

Lower Thames Crossing Tender Worth a Combined £1.9 Million

Posted on by John Hudson

Two Lower Thames Crossing Tender Opportunities

 Two Lower Thames Crossing tender opportunities are being released by Highways England. The routes are worth a combined £1.9 million, building roads north and south of the Thames. It’s known as the Lower Thames Crossing project.

The project will build a total of 14.2 miles of new roads that’ll connect to the longest road tunnel in the UK. The works will improve journeys by almost doubling road capacity across the River Thames east of London.

The two roads are the final of the three main works contracts to be procured for the scheme by Highways England. The £2 billion Tunnels and Approaches contract is currently out for tender. The £162.5 million Integration Partner contract was awarded earlier in the year.

The two Lower Thames Crossing tender opportunities:

  1. The Kent Roads contract

This will be a two-stage design and build contract worth £600 million. The works will be part of the route from the A2/M2 corridor to 1km south of the southern tunnel entrance. It will include strategic utilities and environmental interfaces within the contract. It comprises of:

  • 6km of new road, including a multi-level junction connecting the A2 to the Lower Thames Crossing.
  • A road designed to minimise impact. It will need extensive landscaping with new and upgraded structures, embankments, cuttings and retaining walls.
  • Environmental mitigation is at the heart of the scheme. Two “Green Bridges” at Thong Lane and Brewers Road. They will combine green spaces with cycling, walking and vehicle access. Brewers Road will cater for horse riders.
  • Ecological works for species protection and habitat enhancement along the route.
  • The diversion of utilities including strategic gas mains, electricity cables. Water and telecoms. 

  1. The Roads North of the Thames contract

This is also a two-stage design and build contract worth £1.3 billion. It will deliver the route from 1km north of the northern tunnel entrance to Junction 29 of the M25. New link roads are required to connect to the route with the M25, A13 and A1089. It will involve:

  • 16km of new road with over 30 proposed new or upgraded structures, cuttings, embankments, retaining walls and under bridges. These will take the route through the A13 to join the M25 at Junction 29.
  • Environmental mitigation with the roads screened with 5 “Green Bridges”.
  • Two viaducts at Tilbury over Tilbury Loop Railway and across Orsett Fenn over the Mardyke flood plain. Both should be designed to enhance connectivity under the crossing supporting local community access.
  • Diversion of utilities including gas mains, electric cables and towers.
  • Ecological works along the route for species protection and habitat enhancement.

Matt Palmer, Lower Thames Crossing Executive Director, said:

Our roads connect us – we rely on them, and they are a critical part of our economic recovery and low-carbon future. The Lower Thames Crossing is the most ambitious road project this country has seen since the M25 was completed 35 years ago. These contracts show our commitment to this project, which will support 22,000 jobs during its construction and provide a huge economic boost to the UK economy when it opens for traffic.

“Our challenge is to build the new crossing in a way that not only supports the next generation of low carbon vehicles, but minimises our footprint, and allows us to enhance the natural environment and leave a positive legacy for our neighbours and users.”

Need help writing your next construction tender?

If tis construction contract in the UK sounds like something you want to get involved in, we can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offer four bid writing support packages. They have an 87% success rate and have 60 years of collective bid writing experience.

Looking for more tender opportunities like this?

Here at Construction Tenders, you’ll never miss out on a construction tendering opportunity again. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload construction leads and tender opportunities from thousands of websites daily. You’re able to filter and search for construction tenders by keyword, budget, location and more. Gone are the days of relying on inaccurate CPV codes. This allows you to find the perfect tendering opportunity for your business.

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

We also source opportunities for services including;

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 bidding success rate and competitor awareness. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for construction 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 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.

Irish Water Tenders: 3 Tips for Success

Posted on by John Hudson

What to Expect from Irish Water Tenders

Irish water tenders can be a tricky ground to navigate if you’re new to tendering for construction contracts. They can cover a diverse range of goods, services and works. Such Irish Water tenders are not limited to just the Construction industry. They can also be found in others such as Technology, Logistics and Facilities.

Irish Water tenders could be released to procure a number of works and services such as:

  • Waste Water Control
  • Mobility Management Services
  • Managed Security
  • Construction and design of a new pumping station
  • Analytical technology lab equipment.

Water Supply Schemes

The Kilrickle Water Supply Scheme is set to open in April 2021. The tender period is thought to be over six weeks. The evaluation of the tender is then expected to take a further four weeks. The Irish Water tenders will benefit local Galway residents. It will help them gain access to a more reliable water supply than their current wells and rainwater tanks.

The Department of Housing and Local Government announced funding of €3.1million for the project. It has the aim of establishing a connection with the neighbouring Cappataggle Group Water Scheme.

What is the typical tender process for Irish Water tenders?

The typical tendering procedure for Irish Water tenders is as follows:

PQQ or SQ

The initial stage of any Irish Water tender is the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), also known as a selection questionnaire (SQ). Depending on the tender, and within construction, this initial stage could also come in the form of a PAS91. You will be expected to provide company information, usually in the form of a box-ticking exercise. They are designed to ensure that your business:

  • Meets the buyer’s minimum eligibility requirements.
  • Is financially stable to carry out the contract.
  • Possess the adequate amount of experience and technical capabilities to deliver the works.

Typically, you can expect to detail your business’:

If your business passes this stage, they will then be given an invitation to tender.

 ITT

An invitation to tender, known as an ITT, is the second stage of the tender process. When a buyer releases an ITT, a prospective supplier can respond. Each supplier should read carefully through the tender documents and specification before applying.

3 Tips for success with Irish Water tenders

  1. Price isn’t the only award criteria

It is important to remember when writing your response for Irish Water tenders that price isn’t the only award criteria. Buyers will be looking for tenders that present the most value for money. They will assess your tender response based on a number of criteria. These could range from accessibility to innovation and quality to sustainability. Reading the tender documents carefully will help as buyers will often state what they are looking for in the specification.

It’s important to remember that the cheapest price doesn’t guarantee a win. Once you have given a price for your services in your tender response, remember that it’s then firm and fixed. A buyer won’t be best pleased if you present a low cost for your services and then go over budget. There is normally no room for negotiation after the contract is awarded.

  1. Experience is key

Having a bank of case studies ready to use can save you a lot of time. Asking current and past clients for testimonials can strengthen your response and impress the buyer. A contractor may ask for up to three case studies within the last five years. Responses should be tailored to demonstrate your businesses capabilities in relation to the project at hand.

The STAR format is good to use when developing your case study responses for Irish Water tenders:

  • Situation – give a brief context
  • Task – the work
  • Action – what you’ve done
  • Results – what the result were

This can help strengthen your response leading to increased success in securing your next Irish Water tenders.

  1. Present a high-quality written response

Buyers care about the quality of your written response, no matter what industry you’re in. This means that although the quality may be weighted less than cost, buyers still expect high quality. A response for Irish Water tenders should be clear and concise. You want to be persuasive in your response, convincing them that you’re the best business for the job.

Avoid technical jargon and don’t assume the buyer knows anything. Leaving room for assumptions can result in the wrong assumptions being made. Word and page counts are there for a reason. If a contractor has stated a response should be 500 words, simply writing three sentences won’t be a satisfactory response.

How can we help?

We understand that writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit – and that’s ok. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, are bid writing experts. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They can help you succeed with your next Irish Water tenders. Hudson Succeed offers four bid writing support services.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect Irish Water tender for your business, why not send it our way? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you if you’re a little overwhelmed by it all. 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. The 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 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready 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 result you want our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions.

Where can I find Irish Water tenders?

So now you know what’s required from Irish Water tenders and how to get assistance in writing your response. You may now be wondering where you can find them? Searching for the right Irish Water tenders can turn into quite a headache, checking daily for any updates. It can end up turning into a full-time job! Luckily, we have a solution…

Enter…Construction Tenders!

Our Construction Tenders portal can take the pressure off your daily pursuit of finding Irish Water tenders for your business. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload construction leads from thousands of sources across the UK.

You are able to filter the results by location, keyword, budget and more. This means no more reliance on frequently mislabelled CPV codes. This streamlines the process, saving you time that can be used to focus on your business.

Below are previous Irish Water tenders sourced on our portal:

20/125 – 20/125 – Waste Water Source Control and Trade Effluent

Irish Water- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Client Partner Services for the Water Supply Project – East and Midlands Region (WSP)

Irish Water- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Enterprise Mobile Application Platform and Mobility Management Service

Irish Water- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Irish Water Managed Security and Monitoring Service

UISCE- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Irish Water National Laboratory Project: Procurement, Installation, IQ, OQ and FAT of Analytical Equipment for a new Laboratory

UISCE- International- Budget: Undisclosed

A subscription to Construction Tenders offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, public and private sector opportunities.
  • An on-hand Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about Irish Water 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.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy each month with our Bid Experts.

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 bidding success rate and competitor awareness. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for Irish water 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 Irish water 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.

Fabrication Tenders in The Public Sector

Posted on by John Hudson

3 advantages of securing fabrication tenders

Fabrication tenders are published by both private and public sector buyers. Fabrication tenders are used within the construction industry to procure fabrication services including metal fabrication and raw material fabrication.

Navigating your way around fabrication tenders can be a tricky business if you’ve never done it before. However, making the effort is worthwhile as securing fabrication tenders can be lucrative for your business.

3 advantages of tendering for work

  1. Guaranteed pay (in the public sector)

One of the biggest advantages of tendering for work in the public sector is that of guaranteed pay. Fabrication suppliers on public tenders benefit from a guarantee of pay if winning a contract. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) must pay contractors within 60-days of invoicing. This is to comply with the Prompt Payment Code, which can give suppliers peace of mind.

Bear in mind that this does not apply to private sector contracts. Private buyers are not bound by the same regulations as public sector organisations.

  1. Gain experience

All construction contracts in the UK will required proof of experience. This is typically done via case studies. In order to progress to larger contracts, you need a bank of experience. Securing work on a framework agreement or Dynamic Purchasing System can secure a steady pipeline of work. These will enable you to carry out contracts, build experience, and allow your business to thrive.

A useful way to structure your 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?

  1. Sustainability

Securing fabrication tenders can allow you to secure a pipeline of work for your business. Winning a place on a long-term contract can benefit the sustainability of your business. Here at Hudson Succeed, we have helped clients secure upwards of four years of income – from one bid. It’s not surprising that this is an attractive prospect to any business owner.

Find more information and results shared by our previous clients on our testimonials page.

Framework agreements

Framework agreements are commonly used within fabrication tenders. There will sometimes be a Lot within a construction framework agreement for fabrication. Framework agreements are used by buyers to establish multi-supplier agreements whereas other tenders may require a single supplier.

They often benefit SMEs as there are more places available for businesses to supply a good or service. Fabrication tenders on framework agreements run for longer than single supplier contracts. They can be a great way for your business to secure a pipeline of work, allowing your business to grow.

Framework agreements are separated by Lots. This means a supplier doesn’t have to deliver the whole contract. They can apply to the relevant Lot(s) that they specialise in. For example, a large framework for construction work may entail the following Lots:

  • Lot 1 – Joinery
  • Lot 2 – Fabrication
  • Lot 3 – Landscaping
  • Lot 4 – Painting and Decorating
  • Lot 5 – Roofing Works

Lots can also refer to a different geographical location for works such as:

  • Lot 1 – Worcestershire
  • Lot 2 – Herefordshire
  • Lot 3 – Gloucestershire

Depending on the framework agreement and the buyer, you may be able to apply for multiple Lots. If you are able to provide services for multiple Lots, you’ll be required to provide evidential proof of your capabilities. If you are able to apply for multiple Lots, you can usually apply to three, maximum. Just make sure you have the resources to deliver all three if successful.

Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS)

Another way you can find fabrication tenders, is as part of a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). A DPS is fairly similar to a framework agreement and is another type of tendering procedure. It is essentially a supply chain list where bidding opportunities are published. Businesses can apply to be a part of the list. If successful in their application, which is usually a PQQ, PAS91 or SQ, they are then able to compete for tenders.

You are able to apply to be a part of a DPS at any point while it is open. Once a potential supplier has passed the initial stage, they will then be given an invitation to tender (ITT). Once a place is secured, when the next fabrication tenders are released, a supplier doesn’t have to redo the PQQ. A supplier is automatically invited to tender. This saves time for both the buyer and supplier.

Need assistance?

We understand that not every business has the resources or time to produce a winning fabrication tender response. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They can help you write a quality response giving you an edge over your competitors. There are four bid writing support services that can help you win your next safety tender.

Tender Ready

Our 4-week, Tender Ready programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. Our Bid Writers work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. This option includes:

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

Tender Improvement

Our Tender Improvement package can help if you’re tendering for work and aren’t seeing success from your efforts. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions.

Tender Writing

Have you found the perfect tender for your business, but don’t have the time to complete a winning response in-house? Don’t give up! You can send it to our Bid Writers and they’ll provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll take care of everything for you, even submitting it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve already written a safety tender response and need it double-checked for errors, send it over to us. One of our team will proof it, checking it’s in line with the specification. Our Tender Mentor service can make sure your response is free of grammar and spelling mistakes before you submit.

Where can I find fabrication tenders?

Searching for fabrication tenders can take a large amount of time out of your busy day. There are thousands of sites posting construction leads daily and it can take hours searching through them. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Construction Tenders saves you time when searching for the right fabrication tenders for your business. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload from thousands of sources across the UK. By manually uploading each tender opportunity, you’ll never miss a tender again due to unreliable CPV codes. You are able to filter and search for fabrication tenders by keyword, location, budget and more. This allows you to find the perfect opportunity, fit for your business.

What’s included in a subscription to Construction Tenders?

A subscription to our Construction Tenders portal offers your business:

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

Below are previous fabrication tenders sourced on our portal:

A Practical and Convenient 3D Printer for our Laboratory whose Research is Focused on the Fabrication of 3D Regenerative Biomaterial ‘scaffolds’

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland- Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

21-01-2021

Chassis Fabrication of Parts

SparkFund- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £2,000

18-12-2020

Container Freight Station (CFS) Building – Design and Fabrication of Steel Frame Warehouse and Offices Container Freight Station (CFS) Building – Design and Fabrication of Steel Frame Warehouse and Offices

Saint Helena Government- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

26-02-2021

Contract 71 – Metal Works and Fabrications including Repairs 2021 – 2024

North Tyneside Council- North East- Budget: £400,000

10-03-2021

Fabrication & Installation of New Fire Escape at Dolgellau & Barmouth Hospital and Lla

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust)- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

01-02-2021

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 our new time-saving tools

Upgrading to Discover Elite allows you to optimise your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two new packages can improve your bidding success rate and competitor awareness. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for the right fabrication tenders for your business.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option suits businesses that overlap two industries such as Construction and Facilities, for example.
  • 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 dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable construction tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers:

  • 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 grow.

Drilling Tenders: The Fundamentals

Posted on by John Hudson

Drilling tenders: 4 things to consider

Drilling tenders can be quite a minefield if you have never completed them before. There can be a lot of procurement terminology and acronyms involved. However, tendering for business can offer multiple advantages to your business. Winning tenders can help you gain more experience, allowing your business to grow.

Drilling tenders may be released to procure the following services:

  • Geothermal drilling
  • Drilling Well
  • Drilling Work
  • Offshore Drilling
  • Tender Assist Drilling (TAD) Units
  • Deepwater Drilling.

The typical format of drilling tenders is as follows:

Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)

At the initial stage of drilling tenders, known as the PQQ, you will be asked to provide your company information. Typically, this is comprised of the following eight aspects:

  1. Equality and Diversity
  2. Insurances
  3. Legal Matter and Disputes
  4. Grounds for Mandatory Exclusion
  5. Other Grounds for Exclusion
  6. Economic and Financial Standing
  7. Health and Safety
  8. Quality Assurance and Environmental Management Systems.

The information you provide here is pass or fail. If you meet the minimum eligibility criteria and pass, you will then proceed onto the technical evaluation. Once you have passed this, you will then be given an invitation to tender, known as an the ITT.

Invitation to Tender (ITT)

The technical evaluation for drilling tenders is likely to include your businesses proposed methodology and approach. This could include:

  • Service equipment and software to be used.
  • Support offered in case of technical failure.
  • How technical personnel on the project are trained.
  • Pricing.

You should consider the following when writing your responses to drilling tenders:

  1. Value for Money

Buyers want to see the most value for their money, or taxpayer’s money, depending if they’re public or private sector. Either way, neither wants to see money wasted. They want to get the most bang for their buck. Thus, for a successful drilling tender, you want to present them with the most value for money.

You must proceed with caution though, because pricing can be tricky. Within the public sector, buyers will look to award the most economically advantageous tender. This is known as the MEAT. A buyer will look at a combination of factors throughout your proposal. These can range from accessibility and innovation to environmental considerations and quality.

  1. Weightings

The weightings for construction tenders vary greatly. Some will have a greater weighting on price and less on quality, or visa versa. It ultimately depends on the buyer’s needs. However, despite the weightings, the buyer will care about the quality of your response. Bear in mind the following:

  • Get as close to the word or page count as possible – they’re there for a reason.
  • Keep your responses clear and concise.
  • Be persuasive. Sell your business and justify why you are the best business for the job.
  • Avoid unnecessary and overly technical jargon.
  • Explain everything and don’t leave room for the buyer to make any assumptions.

If you price your services too low to outprice your competitors, it could come back to sting you. Price your drilling tenders too low and a buyer might question the legitimacy of your services. If you present a low-cost bid, then run over budget on the project, a buyer won’t be best pleased. You must take into consideration the direct costs and indirect costs of the project and be realistic. Once you have set your tender rates, you must carry out the work as required.

  1. Experience

Your experience matters when tendering for work. Buyers like to be reassured that those commissioned know what they’re doing and work to a high standard. They want to be encouraged that your business works to and complies with best practice. Within drilling tenders, you may be asked to provide up to three case studies from within the last five years.

These case studies must demonstrate and be tailored to reflect work you have completed that’s similar in scope and calibre. Depending on the required word count, you could include how you overcame any unexpected challenges. This can strengthen your response, allowing you to demonstrate flexibility and problem-solving skills. Both of which are key to any construction project.

  1. Site visits

Do not underestimate the benefits that a site visit can give your tender response. It is strongly recommended that you attend a site visit if possible. They allow you to see the environment you will be working in, if successful. Seeing the site with your own eyes can help you pick up on things you otherwise wouldn’t know about.

Site visits can help you produce better quality responses and may even allow you to give more accurate pricing. You are able to gain insight into the buyer, gathering more information you otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

Need assistance with your drilling tenders?

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They can help give you an edge over your competitors. They offer four bid writing support services that can help you win drilling tenders.

  1. Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect drilling tender, but don’t know where to start – send it our way. Our Bid Writing Team will take care of it for you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll let you know what they need from you and they’ll even submit it on your behalf.

  1. Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can help if you’ve written a drilling tender response and need it double-checked for errors. Our Bid Writers will check it’s free of grammar and spelling mistakes before you submit.

  1. Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. Our Bid Writers work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. This option includes:

  • 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.

  1. Tender Improvement

If you aren’t seeing success from your current drilling tender efforts, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions.

How can I find drilling tenders?

Searching for the right drilling tenders for your business can turn into a bit of a headache. It can turn into a full-time job, spending hours trawling through thousands of tendering websites. Often, they have other industry opportunities and inaccurate CPV codes leading to missed opportunities. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a central portal that hosted industry-specific construction leads?

Enter… Construction Tenders!

Construction Tenders is a time-saving tool that helps you find the perfect drilling tenders for your business. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload construction tenders from thousands of sources across the UK. You are able to search and filter results by budget, keyword, location and more. This allows you to find the right tenders for your business, streamlining the process.

What’s included in a subscription to Construction Tenders?

A 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders will offer your access to all unique, public and private sector opportunities. You will receive a dedicated Account Manager that’s on-hand to answer any questions you may have about drilling tenders. They can help you understand the tendering process if you’ve never tendered before.

You will also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox when new tenders are uploaded. If that wasn’t enough, you will also receive discounted bid writing support from Hudson Succeed.

Below are previous drilling tenders sourced on our portal:

Cementing Services for Drilling and Completing a Geothermal Well

Eden Geothermal Ltd- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

Contract for Drilling an Abstraction and Separate Re-injection Well

South Tyneside Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Directional Drilling Services and Rental Items for Geothermal Drilling

Eden Geothermal Ltd- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

Morlais Horizontal Directional Drilling Work Package

Menter Môn Cyf- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

The best way to venture into the tendering world is through booking a live demo of Construction Tenders. We source opportunities for services including;

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

Upgrade to our new time-saving tools:

Upgrading to Discover Elite allows you to optimise your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two new packages can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for the right drilling tenders for your business.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Construction and Facilities, for example.
  • 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 dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable construction tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also 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 grow.

7 Things you can Expect in Construction Tenders in the UK

Posted on by John Hudson

Construction Tenders in the UK: 7 things to expect

Construction tenders in the UK are constant. That’s thanks to the billions of pounds that are invested in the construction industry across the UK. The UK government is focused on building the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently more businesses are turning towards tendering as a viable and lucrative way to grow their business. COVID-19 has changed the way many companies do business. Tendering is a contact-free way of growing your business, and you can do it from home. This has led to increased competition, so it’s best to be prepared when writing your response. You want to stand out from the crowd and persuade the buyer that you’re the best company for the job.

7 things you can expect to find in a PAS91 or PQQ for construction tenders in the UK

Below are seven things you can expect to find within the initial stages of construction tenders in the UK. They can often be found within the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) and PAS91 in construction. Below highlights the main areas that will be covered and what questions you can expect to answer. It is predominantly a box-ticking exercise to make sure you pass the minimum criteria for the work at hand.

  1. Supplier identity and contact information

  1. Financial standing

  • Accounts and financial statements
  • Insurance statements and certificates.

  1. Business and professional standing

  • Any criminal convictions.

  1. Health and safety

  • Health and Safety management policies
  • How you obtain health and safety advice
  • Health and safety workforce training
  • Workforce health and safety qualifications
  • RIDDOR
  • Health and safety implementation
  • Risk assessment
  • Suitable workforce welfare facilities
  • Arrangements for co-operation and or-ordination with suppliers and sub-contractors.
  • CDM co-ordinators and designers.

  1. Equal opportunity and diversity policies and procedures

  • Compliance with anti-discrimination legislation.
  • Any findings of unlawful discrimination.
  • How your company ensures equality and diversity within your organisation.
  • Actively promote good practice by eliminating discrimination.

  1. Environmental management policy and capability

  • Policy and management of construction-related environmental issues.
  • Arrangements to ensure your environmental management procedures effectively reduce and prevent significant impacts on the environment.
  • Check, review and improve your environmental management performance.

  1. Quality management

  • Policy and organisation for quality management.
  • Procedures to periodically review correct and improve quality performance.

Once you have passed the PQQ or PAS91 stage of construction tenders in the UK, you’ll be given an ITT. ITT stands for an invitation to tender and is the next round of the tendering procedure.

3 things you should include in an ITT for construction tenders in the UK

  1. Relevant accreditations and qualifications

Construction tenders in the UK will ask for proof of your business and employee’s relevant qualifications and accreditations. Construction sites can be hazardous environments, leaving plenty of opportunities for accidents to arise.

You should demonstrate your business is prepared, in keeping with relevant health and safety regulations and best practice. A buyer may ask what relevant accreditations and qualifications you have, asking you to attach proof to your tender documents. These could include, but aren’t limited to, the following:

  • OHSAS 18001:2007
  • CHAS
  • RIDDOR
  • ISO 9001; 14001; 18001; 45001:2018
  • CDM 2015
  • Constructionline
  • Subcontractor
  • SSIP
  • BIM
  • IOSH.

  1. Evidence of your professional capability

Carrying on from relevant accreditations and qualifications, you will need to demonstrate and evidence your professional capability. You can expect to be asked to provide up to three relevant case studies completed within the last five years.

They should be contracts you have completed similar in complexity and scope to the current contract. Positive testimonials from past clients are a bonus. They can help you assert yourself to the buyer of the quality of your services.

Preparing a selection of previous examples of your work can help strengthen your bid. Having a well-prepared bank of evidence can help save time with future submissions too.

When applying for construction tenders in the UK, it’s a good idea to prepare any:

  • CCS reports.
  • National awards and nominations.
  • Fully completed risk assessments and method statements.
  • Site audits and completed reports.
  • Before, during and after photos from previous contracts.
  • The contact information and testimonials from previous satisfied clients.

  1. Social Value

The updated government Construction Playbook has an emphasis on practising sustainable construction to the best of one’s ability. Public sector construction tenders in the UK have a mandatory minimum weighting of 10% on social value. Buyers want to see how your business will give back during the course of the contract.

Social value has an emphasis on the economic, social and environmental aspects within the community and across the UK. Your sustainable development goals should maximise social values such as:

  • COVID-19 recovery.
  • Environmental considerations such as reducing waste and encouraging recycling, practising sustainable construction.
  • Promoting and creating new skills and jobs, tackling unemployment.
  • The equal opportunity and diversity policies you implement.

Need assistance?

We understand that the tendering process can be quite confusing. If you’re feeling a little perplexed about bidding for construction contracts UK we can help.

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% bid success rate. They have over 60 years of collective experience and are well versed in writing construction tender responses. They offer four levels of bid writing support that can cater to your bid writing response needs.

Tender Writing

Have you found the perfect construction tender for your business but don’t know where to start? You can send the specification over to our Bid Writers and they’ll take care of it all for you. They’ll write the response and even submit it on your behalf! They’ll also provide a full Tender Writing breakdown. This allows you time to focus on the more important things.

Tender Mentor

Our Tender Mentor service can make sure your response is free of grammar and spelling mistakes before you submit. Our Bid Writers will proofread your response, checking it’s in line with the specification.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for businesses who have never tendered for work before. This programme works with you, ensuring you have everything in place to tender successfully. You’ll have access to an expert Bid Consultant who can help your business grow.

Tender Improvement

Have you been tendering for work, but aren’t seeing any success? Our Tender Improvement package can help. During the course of the programme, our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and supporting documents. They’ll provide you with guidance and improve literature where necessary.

Where can I find construction tenders in the UK?

Searching for the right construction tenders for your business can turn into a full-time job. We know this because that’s what our Opportunity Trackers do here at Hudson Discover!

 Thousands of websites across the UK post various opportunities for your business using unreliable CPV codes. If you’re solely relying on them, you could be missing out on the perfect opportunity for your organisation.

Our Opportunity Trackers manually scour and source construction leads from thousands of sources across the UK. They then upload them to our Construction Tenders portal. You are able to filter the results by budget, location, keyword and more. This streamlines the process, allowing you to find the perfect construction tendering opportunity.

Below are past construction tenders in the UK sourced on our portal: 

Building Repair Works Pertaining to The External Fabric of Seacombe Ferry Terminal & Spaceport Building 2020

Merseytravel- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

05-03-2021

Disabled Facilities Grant Property Extension (Great Row Grove)

Stoke-on-Trent City Council- West Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

03-03-2021

External Works

North Star Housing Group LTD- North East- Budget: £2,700,000

02-03-2021

Retender External Door Replacement – St Stephens and St Bartholomew’s

North Tyneside Council- North East- Budget: Undisclosed

08-03-2021

Tipperary County Council – Extension & Refurbishment Works to Traveller Accommodation at No. 4, Wallers Lot, Cashel, Co. Tipperary

Tipperary County Council- Budget: Undisclosed

05-03-2021

A subscription to Construction Tenders offers your business:

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

Book a free live demo of Construction Tenders today.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

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

Upgrading to Discover Elite can save you even more time

Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering opportunities – even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages can improve your bidding success rate and competitor awareness. They are the ultimate time-saving tools that can help your business search and apply for construction tenders in the UK.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

  • 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 Facilities, for example.
  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Buyer portal management including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss the viable tendering opportunities in your industry.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also 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 grow.

Steel Work Tenders: 6 Tips for Success

Posted on by John Hudson

Steel Work Tenders in the Public Sector

Steel work tenders can help your steel company secure a pipeline of construction contracts. There are buyers in both the public and private sectors. Within the public sector, local councils are often commissioning steel work tenders and services. Such services could range from a multitude of buildings including residential, educational and commercial.

Steel work tenders can be released by buyers to procure:

  • Primary Framing
  • Secondary Framing
  • Structural steel work
  • Maintenance painting of steel work
  • Steel work for major projects.

6 tips to succeed when writing your responses for steel work tenders

  1. Plan

You should always plan your response for steel work tenders. Adequate planning can help you avoid any silly errors such as misjudging deadlines, formats and word counts.

Remember to note down all the important dates listed in the tender specification, these are likely to include:

  1. Attend on-site visits 

Site visits can be a great opportunity to strengthen your written responses. It’s strongly advised that you undertake a site visit where possible. Attending one may help you gain an insight into the buyer and help you achieve more accurate pricing.

They also allow prospective suppliers to see the environment they will be working in. This allows you to see things with your own eyes. You might just pick up on something that you otherwise wouldn’t be aware of.

  1. Demonstrate value for money

Steel work tenders in the public sector will award responses that produce the best value for money. Public sector contracts will be looking to award the Most Economically Advantageous Tender, known as the MEAT. The MEAT means the buyer is looking at more than just price. It is important to note that the cheapest bid does not always win.

You should price your services sensibly. Under-pricing your services won’t give you an edge over your competitors in this case. In the most commonly used tendering procedures, negotiating isn’t permitted further down the line. Some steel work tenders will put a larger weighting on price than quality, and visa versa. However, to ensure value for money, you should consider the following, for example:

  • Quality costs and benefits of products
  • Any additional economic benefit that may result from your project
  • Energy and water management
  • Full costs associated with transport and delivery
  • Insurance
  • Maintenance
  • After sale support
  • Waste disposal and reduction of waste
  • Sustainability
  • Supply chain management
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • The costs and benefits to society as a whole.

  1. Don’t gloss over social value

It’s essential for any successful bid, that your business considers the social economic and environmental impacts of fulfilling the contract. Social value now has a mandatory minimum weighting of 10% within government contracts.

It is not something that should be glossed over or treated as an afterthought. The government takes this part seriously and wants to see you making commitments that you can keep. There are qualifications that are relevant for this, such as ISO 14001.

The social value model has the aim of:

  • Encouraging economic growth.
  • Tackling economic and diversity inequality.
  • Creating new jobs.
  • Tackling climate change.

Within your steel work tenders response, you should note how your business is:

  • Supporting COVID-19 recovery.
  • Providing skills and development training, supporting the local community and long term unemployed.
  • Sustainably sourcing.
  • Considering environmental issues and helping to fight climate change.
  • Upholding equal opportunity and diversity policies. 

  1. A high-quality written response

The quality of your written response for steel work tenders is always going to matter. Buyers expect a strong written response, even if there is a larger weighting on price. Your written response is what can help separate you from your competitors.

Your written response is should be persuasive to the buyer. Why should they pick your business? Why are you the best business for the job? What do you offer that your competitors don’t? Sell yourself and your company to the buyer and give them a reason to pick you.

Remember to keep your response clear and concise, writing as close to the word count as possible. Avoid rambling on with overly technical jargon.

  1. Provide evidence

Make sure that you have relevant past experiences that you can evidence in your response.

You will likely be required to provide up to three case studies of previous contracts you have carried out. They should be similar in calibre, scope, scale and tailored to demonstrate your abilities. They should be contracts that you have completed within the last five years.

Need help writing your next steel work tenders?

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% bid success rate. They have over 60 years of collective experience and are well versed in writing construction industry tender responses. They offer four levels of bid writing support.

Tender Ready

The Tender Ready 4-week programme is designed for businesses who are completely new to tendering. Our Bid Writers will work with you to ensure you have everything you need to produce a winning bid.

Tender Improvement

Our Tender Improvement package can help if you aren’t seeing success from your current tendering efforts. Our Bid Team will assess your previous steel work tender responses and tender documents. They’ll then give you guidance and feedback, working with you to improve for future submissions.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect steel work tenders for your business, why not send it over to our team? They’ll provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown, letting you know what they need from you. Our Bid Writers will take care of everything for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

Our Tender Mentor service can make sure your response is free of grammar and spelling mistakes before you submit. One of our Bid Writers will proofread your response, checking it’s in line with the specification.

How can I find the right steel work tenders for my business?

Use a sector specific portal

Finding the right steel work tenders for your business is half the battle. Often tender websites host tenders across multiple sectors and industries which are updated daily. It can take a large amount of time out of your day trying to find suitable tenders. Relying on CPV codes can result in missed opportunities. This is because they are often mislabelled, meaning you could be missing out on the right tenders for your company.

You should use a sector-specific portal to save you time when searching for your next steel work tenders. One that uses keyword tracking and provides good customer service is a plus. Construction Tenders focuses on opportunities in construction. Our Opportunity Trackers manually source contracts for clients who can then filter the results by keyword, location, budget and more.

Below are previous steel work tenders sourced on our portal:

Civil Ground Works & Site Preparation, Including Structural Steel Works and Relocation of Site Offices

Mayo County Council- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Gable Grade11* Listed Prep & Repainting High Level Steel Work

Manchester City Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Mezzanine Steel Works for The Zepher Building Harwell Science & Innovation Campus

Satellite Applications Catapult Limited- South East- Budget: £50,000

Whiffens Avenue, Chatham – Primary Steel Works – Secured Project

Medway Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

The best way to venture into the tendering world is through booking a live demo of Construction Tenders. We source opportunities for services including;

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

  • A team of Opportunity Trackers sourcing steel work tenders from thousands of websites.
  • Access to unique, private and public construction bids from across the UK.
  • An on-hand Account Manager to answer any questions or queries you may have about steel work tenders.
  • The ability to filter search results by keyword, budget, location and more.
  • A daily email bulletin notifying you of all relevant construction leads uploaded that day.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our Bid Writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy each month with our Bid Experts.

Want to save even more time?

Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering opportunities – even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for steel work 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.
  • 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 tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • 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 grow.

Safety Tenders in Construction

Posted on by John Hudson

Safety tenders: answering your FAQs

Safety tenders can cover a wide array of services across various industries. For example, health and safety in construction and fire and gas in facilities management. Safety tenders are often published within the construction industry due to the high-risk nature of the work.

If you’re new to the tendering process, you may have some questions. This blog aims to tackle some of your FAQs.

Has COVID-19 impacted safety tenders in construction?

There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to businesses reassessing their safety. That could be safety in the workplace for their staff or safety for their clients and customers. The pandemic has resulted in companies reviewing the safety and welfare of their business. Due to this, it’s not surprising that health and safety is top priorities for businesses across the board.

Businesses that improve their safety policies could help:

  • Lower insurance costs
  • Increase staff morale
  • Improve staff confidence and retention in the workplace
  • Lead to a reduction in overall risks.

Why are safety tenders published?

Buyers could release safety tenders for a number of reasons:

  • To ensure and optimise the safety and wellbeing of staff, customers and clients.
  • In order to keep up to date with current legislation and best practise.
  • To establish better management systems and structures.

How are safety tenders used?

Buyers often structure Safety tenders within Framework Agreements. You may be wondering what a framework agreement is. A framework agreement is a multi-supplier arrangement that’s often used within the public sector. They are used to procure multiple suppliers to deliver one or more specific goods or services. Buyers will sometimes split framework agreements into lots for multiple locations too. This means you need only apply to the specific location you can work in, or the specific goods or service. They allow businesses to still tender for work even if they can’t fulfil the whole contract.

The length of safety tenders on framework agreements can range from months to years with the possibility of extension.

Framework agreements are often split into Lots. Lots are used to represent specific goods, services or locations. Depending on the contract, businesses are able to apply for a maximum of three Lots at a time. If applying to multiple Lots, you will need substantial evidence that you can deliver the contract.

How do framework agreements work?

Typically, the initial stage will involve either a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ), Selection Questionnaire (SQ) or a PAS91. These are used to gauge whether your business is eligible via assessing your financial standing, for example. Other questions and information will often be required depending on the tender and the buyer’s requirements. Once you pass the initial stage, you will then be sent an Invitation to Tender (ITT).

If you are successful and win a place on the framework, it will save you and the buyer time going forward. When they require goods or service, they’ll host a mini competition, known as call off contracts. Businesses on the agreement won’t have to re-do the PQQ, SQ or PAS91, saving time at both ends.

What are Dynamic Purchasing Systems?

While you’re searching for safety tenders, you may come across Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). A DPS is relatively similar to a framework agreement and just another tendering procedure. However, the main difference is that suppliers can join at any time. This also means you are able to apply in the future if you have been unsuccessful the first time around. Moreover, they often last for years at a time.

Securing a place on a DPS or framework agreement can be a lucrative opportunity for your business. They can be great ways to secure a pipeline of work and can guarantee pay.

How to make your safety tenders stand out

The pandemic has forced organisations to look at alternative ways of doing business. Unable to meet prospective clients in person, tendering as a viable option for new business has never been more important.

There can be many lucrative opportunities for your business if you secure a place on a DPS, for example. This can lead to oversaturation and a competitive landscape when bidding for work.

It’s important that you stand out from your competitors with your written response and buyers care about the quality.

Our top 5 tips to impress the buyer:

  • Meet the word or page count in your response – they’re there for a reason.
  • Keep things clear and concise with attention to detail.
  • Avoid overly technical jargon.
  • Don’t allow the buyer to make any assumptions.
  • Be persuasive, not descriptive.

You want to be confident that you have the time and resources to write a winning response for a construction contract. If you aren’t, then it might be worth looking into outsourcing this.

How can we help?

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They can help you write a stellar response giving you an edge over your competitors. There are four bid writing support services that can help you win your next safety tender.

Tender Writing

Have you found the perfect tender for your business, but don’t have the time to complete a winning response in-house? Don’t give up! You can send it to our Bid Writing Team and they’ll provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll take care of everything for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Ready

Are you completely new to tendering and have no idea where to start? That’s ok, bid writing can be tricky to understand at the best of times. Our Tender Ready programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. Our Bid Writers work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Have you been submitting tender responses, but aren’t seeing success from your efforts? Our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve already written a safety tender response and need it double-checked for errors, send it over to us. Our Bid Writers will proof it, checking it’s in line with the specification. Our Tender Mentor service can make sure your response is free of grammar and spelling mistakes before you submit.

Where can I find safety tenders?

We understand that not every business has the resources or time to produce a winning safety tender response. Even searching for one can take a large amount of time out of your busy day. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Construction Tenders saves you time when searching for the right safety tenders for your business. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload construction leads from thousands of sources across the UK.

By manually uploading each tender opportunity, you’ll never miss a tender again due to unreliable CPV codes. You are able to filter and search for safety tenders by keyword, location, budget and more. This allows you to find the perfect opportunity, fit for your business.

What’s included in a subscription to Construction Tenders?

A subscription to our Construction Tenders portal offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, public and private sector opportunities across the Construction sector.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • A dedicated Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about safety tenders or the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new construction tenders are uploaded that day.

Below are previous safety tenders sourced on our Construction Tenders portal:

Authorising Engineer Services for Fire Safety

Bath and Northeast Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire STP- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

Health and Safety Consultancy

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

Establishment of a Single Source Framework of Health & Safety Consultancy Services for Buildings & Estates Office, UCC

University College Cork (UCC)- International- Budget: Undisclosed

We also source opportunities for services including;

The best way to venture into the tendering world is through booking a live demo of Construction Tenders. Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrade to Discover Elite to optimise your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two upgraded packages can improve your bidding success rate and competitor awareness. Each package can help save you even more time when searching for safety 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.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management. This is including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid
  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Weekly phone calls with your on-hand Account Manager to discuss viable 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 grow.

CDM Tenders: The Fundamentals

Posted on by John Hudson

Answers to your CDM tenders FAQ’s

CDM tenders are published to ensure construction projects are upholding best practice from a health and safety perspective.

CDM are also the main set of regulations for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects. The CDM Regulations can have their own weighting and section within construction tenders.

Often, CDM tenders are looking for a:

  • A CDM Coordinator
  • CDM Coordinator Services
  • A CDM Consultant
  • Or a CDM Advisor.

What is a CDM Coordinator?

A CDM Coordinator is typically required to support the Project Manager. However, most recently they are now often transferred to a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor. The Principal Designer (PD) is responsible for the pre-construction phase. The Principal Contractor is responsible for the construction phase.

They often must provide cost advice and cost management for the project from inception to completion. They may be required to attend client, design, project, site and other meetings while on the project. Depending on the project, they may be expected to review documents including:

  • Drawings
  • Specifications
  • Cost plans
  • Provide a new and updated Health and Safety Plan
  • RIBA Outline Plan of Work.

Some examples of a CDM coordinator’s role could be:

  • Assist and advise the client regarding competence and resource allocation of designers and contractors.
  • Advise the client on matters relating to health and safety during the design process and planning phases of the project.
  • Plan the work, mitigating the risks involved from start to completion of the project.
  • Manage the right people for the right job at the right time.
  • Have the right information about the risks and how they’re being managed.
  • Notify when there are any subsequent changes to the construction phase plan.
  • Facilitate good communication between all those involved on the project.

What Associations and Institutions are related to CDM tenders?

CDM tenders often mention the Royal Institute of Charted Surveyors (RICS) and RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architecture). Another association that is commonly used with CDM tenders is The Association for Project Safety (APS). Construction project and contract work often use the RIBA Outline Plan of Work. This is used as a type of project management and planning.

What type of questions can I expect in CDM tenders?

CDM tenders looking for a CDM Coordinator may ask the following questions:

Example one – Designers may be asked to:

“Please demonstrate that you have, and implement, arrangements for meeting your duties under regulation 11 of CDM2015.”

Example two – a CDM Coordinator may be asked:

“Please demonstrate how you encourage cooperation, coordination and communication between designers (and anyone else). You should be able to demonstrate how you go about encouraging co-operation, co-ordination and communication between designers.”

Who commissions CDM tenders?

CDM tenders can be commissioned by either the public sector or the private sector. Both are constantly looking to invest money into the construction sector, and a CDM Coordinator is essential. If they don’t have one in-house then they will release a tender to procure the service. Within the public sector, it is often Local Councils that are releasing CDM tenders.

They are needed across the construction industry for a multitude of projects such as commercial, residential and public construction.

Social value in CDM tenders

Demonstrating social value within public sector tendering now has a mandatory minimum weighting of 10%. It is increasingly important within the construction industry that your business has a focus on sustainable development. You must consider the social, environmental, economic aspects you intend to meet while carrying out the contract. The new social value model was launched to encourage:

  • The creation of new jobs and promoting skills
  • COVID-19 recovery
  • Tackling climate change
  • Economic growth
  • Equality and diversity within the workplace.

Contractors will be looking for potential suppliers to make promises and pledges that they can actually keep. The introduction of social value helps level the playing field within public procurement. It allows SMEs to be in the running with larger multi-nationals.

Need help writing your CDM tenders?

The quality of your written response matters no matter the industry you’re in when tendering for work. Contractors want to see clear and concise answers that meet word counts and are void of overly technical jargon. We understand that writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and bidding for a construction contract can be tricky. We also understand that you don’t always have the time and resources to write a high-quality written response in-house.

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and has over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They can help you write a quality response that will outshine your competitors. They offer four bid writing support services. Whether you’re new to tendering or have written a response that needs to be proofed before you submit. There’s tendering writing support that can help you secure pipelines of work for your business.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve already written your CDM tender response and just want someone to look over it – send it our way. Our Bid Writers will proofread it checking it’s in line with the specification. As part of Tender Mentor, they’ll also double-check for grammar and spelling errors before you submit.

Tender Writing

Perhaps you’ve found the perfect tender for your business, but don’t have the time or resources to complete it in-house. You can send it to our Bid Writing Team and they’ll provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll write the whole bid for you and even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is perfect for businesses who have never tendered before. We’ll work with you to create an organisation bid library, making sure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who aren’t seeing any success from their current tendering efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve on future submissions.

Where can I find CDM tenders?

Half the challenge is finding the right CDM tenders for your business. Searching for the right opportunities can take a considerable chunk out of your working day. Searching hundreds of sites that host multi-industry tenders can turn into a bit of a headache. Wouldn’t it be great if there was one, central industry-specific portal that hosts construction leads from across the UK?

Enter – our Construction Tenders portal!

Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload construction tender opportunities from across the UK to our Construction Tenders portal. This means no more missed opportunities due to unreliable CPV codes. You can search for CDM tenders filtered by location, keyword, budget and more. This streamlines the process, allowing you to find the perfect CDM tenders for your business.

A subscription to Construction Tenders 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 or queries you may have about CDM tenders or tendering in general.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new tenders are uploaded that day.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.

Below are previous CDM tenders sourced on our portal:

CDM coordinator services

East Midlands Housing Group- East Midlands- Budget: £630,000

Cost & CDM Consultant – Cyclical Painting Contract

Port of Leith Housing Association Ltd- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

DBC (AL) Principal Designer & CDM Advisor Services for the Council’s New Homes Programme

Supply Hertfordshire- Eastern- Budget: £150,000

Framework Agreement for CDMA and Principal Designer Services

The Guinness Partnership Ltd- London- Budget: Undisclosed

Health, Safety and CDM Services Framework

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

We source tendering opportunities for services including;

Book a free live demo.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrade to Discover Elite to optimise your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. The Ultimate Time Saver and Become a Pre-Bid Master packages can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. They can help save you even more time when searching for CDM tenders.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers:

  • 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.
  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • 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

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • 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 grow.