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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.

Joinery Tenders Explained

Posted on by John Hudson

Everything you need to know when applying for joinery tenders

Joinery tenders can be a great way to secure a consistent workload for your business. You may often find both carpentry and joinery tenders together.

Advantages of tendering as an SME

There are multiple benefits to tendering that you might be unaware of. If you’re new to the tendering world, it can be daunting. If you’re a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) it is a great way to secure a pipeline of work.

You might be thinking that tenders only go to large corporations, but that it isn’t the case. The UK government have actually implemented a scheme to award more SMEs tendering contracts. Their target is to spend at least £1 in £3 with SMEs. This means that public organisations are actively looking to award contracts to smaller businesses.

Below are some examples of joinery services that go out to tender:

  • First fix joinery
  • Second fix joinery
  • Internal joinery
  • External joinery
  • Door and window renovation
  • Stair installations
  • Replacements
  • Hardwood fittings
  • Metal joinery

Tendering not only opens the door to a greater number of joinery tenders, but it can bring more lucrative leads. Sole-traders and SMEs can bid for work on large joinery contracts as part of a framework agreement. These large contracts may enable you to work on a number of different projects in serval areas.

Public sector procurement

The public sector use tendering as their main way of outsourcing. Public sector businesses must put contracts out to tender if they meet or exceed the OJEU thresholds. Brexit has not changed these thresholds and they are set in place until 1st January 2022. Afterwards, a re-evaluation will take place by the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). Most of the joinery tenders available are for public sector organisations. These could range from educational institutions such as universities, to councils and domestic housing. There are joinery tenders in the private sector, but they’re more difficult to find. This is because they don’t have to go out to tender, unlike in the public sector.

When a business is looking to procure goods or services, they may put a contract out to tender. When the tender documents are released, a supplier can then apply. They can usually do this by completing the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). PQQs cover the status of your organisation. You’ll often be required to provide your companies finances, quality management and environmental, social and health and safety policies. A buyer may want you to provide additional case studies and testimonials. This is to ensure that potential suppliers are used to carrying out similar contracts and work.

Typically, the majority of joinery tenders can be found as part of framework agreements or Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS).

Framework agreements

Framework agreements are commonly used for joinery tenders. A framework agreement is simply a contract agreement between one or more organisations. Tenders often focus on a single supplier delivering the required services or goods. However, frameworks aim to establish a multi-supplier agreement. This is good news if you’re and SME because there are more places available.

Joinery tenders on framework agreements are often for longer term contracts that could last multiple years. Buyers release a framework opportunity and award places to the best suppliers. The majority of frameworks include ‘Lots’. This means a supplier doesn’t have to deliver every aspect of the contract. They need only apply for the relevant section.

For example, a large framework may entail the refurbishment of council housing across the UK. The contracting authority would set out the specifications of the framework and assign different Lots for the different services required. Each Lot could refer to a different area in the UK or subcategory. For example:

  • Lot 1 – London
  • Lot 2 – West Midlands
  • Lot 3 – East Midlands

Or:

  • Lot 1 – Plumbing
  • Lot 2 – Flooring
  • Lot 3 – Joinery

You can tender for one or multiple Lots, depending on where you’re based and the services your organisation offers.

DPS

A Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is essentially a supply chain list where tenders or other bid opportunities are published. These bidding opportunities are only published to specific members that have been successful in winning a place on the list.

They do this via completing a PQQ or SQ (selection questionnaire), similar to a framework agreement. This helps buyer narrow down the suppliers they are then going to give invitations to tenders to (ITTs). The supplier has to get into the DPS in order to be invited to tender. Once a place is secured, a supplier doesn’t have to keep doing the PQQ each time a tendering opportunity arises. Every time a new tender is published relating to joinery, if you’re on the DPS, you’re automatically invited to tender. This saves time for both the supplier and the buyer.

Qualifications and Accreditations

There are some qualifications and accreditations that are worth having when applying for joinery tenders. Some examples of these are:

  • ISO 9001; 14001
  • Construction industry Training Board (CITB)
  • Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS)
  • British Woodworking Federation (BWF)

3 questions to consider before you begin writing joinery tenders

  1. Can deliver the contract of work?

This may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many businesses don’t consider their resources prior to bidding. Although, in most cases, the buyer will be able to assess your capabilities in the PQQ stage. You need to ask yourself if you are able to deliver the contract if you are successful. Do you have enough resources? There’s no point wasting time and money on crafting a response if you can’t deliver. 

  1. Do you meet the financial thresholds?

Is there a minimum turnover threshold that you have to meet? Buyers will often set a minimum financial threshold in order to ensure the supplier can deliver the work. When writing your joinery tenders, you need to check if the financial threshold is outlined. If it is, do you meet it?

If it isn’t outlined, you are still able to determine whether you will meet the requirements. You shouldn’t bid for projects with a budget that’s greater than half your annual turnover. For example, if the buyer states that the contract budget is £200k, your business should turnover more than £400k. This is an easy way for you to work out if you can meet the financial threshold.

  1. Do you have the relevant experience and evidence?

You will most likely be asked to provide relevant case studies of past work that’s of a similar calibre. These examples are usually required in the PQQ stage. You’ll often be asked for up to three previous examples of contracts you’ve completed that are of a similar nature. Buyers want you to demonstrate that you can carry out the project at hand. You want to make sure that your examples relate to the specification. As a general rule of thumb, you should choose examples within the last five years.

How we can help you win your next joinery tender

Here at Hudson, we are tender writing experts. Our Bid Writers at sister company, Hudson Succeed, have an 87% success rate and over 40-years bid writing experience. If you are completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing any success in your own tendering efforts – we can help!

We have created four bid writing services that can help you win your next construction contract.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for businesses who are completely new to tendering. This programme works with you, ensuring that you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve already been tendering for work but aren’t seeing success, our Tender Improvement programme is for you. During the course of the programme, we’ll assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. Our Bid Writers will provide feedback and then make any amendments that will increase your chances of winning.

Tender Writing

Have you found a joinery tender you want to go for, but don’t have the time? Send it over to our Bid Team and they will write your response for you. They can also ask any clarification questions and let you know if they need any additional information from you. They’ll even submit the bid on your behalf!

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own joinery tender and want someone to double-check for errors, then Tender Mentor is for you. Our Bid Writers will assess your work in line with the spec. They’ll proofread it and point out any grammar errors, spelling mistakes or inconsistences within your bid.

Both our Tender Ready and Tender Improvement packages include a 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders.

Book a Demo with Construction Tenders

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

At Construction Tenders, we source construction leads and opportunities for;

Below are some past joinery tenders sourced on our Construction Tenders portal:

18 Otley Road, Keswick – Lot 2 Internal joinery, first fix and services

Allerdale Borough Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

22-12-2020

18 Otley Road, Keswick – Lot 3 External works, second fix M&E and joinery finishes

Allerdale Borough Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

22-12-2020

GB-Middlesbrough: ERDF – Presentation Portal and Integration Software for ERW Joinery

Teesside University- North East- Budget: £50,000

06-01-2021

Joinery repair and minor works for Mid Ulster District Council

Mid Ulster District Council- Northern Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

24-08-2020

Why not contact us today to find out more about how Construction Tenders can benefit your business.

How To Find Painting Contracts Available Near You.

Posted on by John Hudson

There are plenty of painting contracts available! Here’s how to find them.

Are there many painting contracts available right now? You might have found yourself asking this question recently.

It can feel like a rocky time for businesses across the board. But tradespeople and construction companies are continuing to work throughout the second national lockdown. This includes the 112,800 painters and decorators employed across the UK, whether they’re sole traders, business owners, or self-employed sub-contractors. What does this mean for painting contracts?

Updated guidance regarding painting contracts.

Further Government guidance has been added recently on the closure of non-essential businesses. This doesn’t affect construction sites or painting and decorating merchants without showrooms. It does, however, involve public showrooms for products used in painting and glazing. It also affects painting and decorating sub-contractors who work in people’s homes.

The key points include:

  • Each business should assess whether they are required to close having considered the guidance and regulations.
  • Tradespersons may continue to visit people’s homes for their work and should follow the safer working guidance. The government has released guidance on safe practices for both outdoor construction work and work in people’s homes.
  • Hardware stores and builders’ merchants can remain open for the supply of paint and paintwork tools. Where these stores contain showrooms in distinct sections, these areas should be closed to the public.
  • Showrooms for products used in home decoration should be closed to the public.
  • These premises are not closed to staff or other authorised personnel needed to maintain, secure, or prepare them to reopen.

While the guidance sets stricter boundaries, it still actively encourages painting and decorating sub-contractors to operate their businesses. And there’s great value in continuing to operate and source painting contracts right now. Alok Sharma, the Business Secretary, recently thanked the constructor sector directly for staying open. He stated: You are making an invaluable contribution in supporting the economy.

But what now?

This sentiment is all well and good if painting and decorating sub-contractors are able to find suitable painting contracts. And we’re here to tell you – there are painting contracts available! You just need to be smart with how you go about finding and securing opportunities when you can.

If you’re currently relying on word of mouth or local advertising, a tendering portal will open up more business opportunities. If you’ve tendered before, are you certain you’re tendering in the most effective way possible? You could, in fact, be wasting a lot of time and energy and still be missing out on opportunities. We’ll break down the best (and worst) tendering methods to assure you’re taking the correct steps towards finding painting contracts.

Why should I be tendering?

Tendering not only opens the door to a greater number of painting contracts, but it also brings more lucrative leads. For instance, SMEs and sole-traders can bid for work on large painting contracts as part of a framework agreement. Within a large contract, your work may cover a number of different areas and services.

For example, a large framework may entail painting work across a range of communal housing facilities across the UK. The contracting authority would set out the specifications of the framework and assign different ‘lots’ for different service providers. Each lot could refer to a different area of the UK, for example:

  • Lot 1 – London
  • Lot 2 – East Midlands
  • Lots 3 – West Midlands

You can tender for one or multiple lots, depending on where you are based and how far you’re willing to travel. The painting work required within this framework might also cover a broader range of services than smaller contracts, for example:

  • the complete redecoration of external surfaces and internal common parts to blocks and houses as detailed in the property list,
  • renewal of fascia and soffits where required (to match existing),
  • renewal of timber canopies where required,
  • pre-paint repairs,
  • timber window repairs/renewals,
  • renewal of communal floor finishes where required.

This kind of work gives you valuable experience and reliability through working with other service providers. Frameworks are therefore a great stepping stone to larger, sole supplier painting contracts to grow your business in the future.

So, how do I find available painting contracts?

Whether you are brand new to tendering for construction contracts or looking for tips to improve, we can help. Finding leads and tenders doesn’t need to be difficult. Certain methods of finding painting contracts for your business, however, can be a big waste of time and resources.

The following advice will demystify the process, and ensure you put your best foot forward on your tendering journey!

Trying to find painting contracts via CPV codes? Bad news…

Firstly, are you aware of Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes? Bear with us with this, we promise this is not as dry as it sounds. (Okay, maybe it is, but it’s important, so we’ll make it quick!)

All tenders in the UK are tagged via CPV codes. These are essentially 8-digit signifiers, followed by a classification number. CPV codes are used to classify the tender and make it searchable. If you’ve tendered before, you will have seen them on every tender. Any painting contracts available for tender should, in theory, be tagged with one of the following codes for painting work:

  • 45442100-8 – Painting work
  • 45442110-1 – Painting work of buildings
  • 45442120-4 – Painting and protective-coating work of structures
  • 45442180-2 – Repainting work
  • 45442190-5 – Paint-stripping work
  • 45442121-1 – Painting work of structures

However, painting work may also fall under several other umbrellas within the CPV code library. For instance, these CPV codes all fall under construction work:

  • 44800000-8 – Paints, varnishes and mastics
  • 45400000-1 – Building completion work
  • 45440000-3 – Painting and glazing work
  • 45442000-7 – Application work of protective coatings
  • 44800000-8 – Paints, varnishes and mastics
  • 45453000-7 – Overhaul and refurbishment work
  • 45451000-3 – Decoration work

And the following codes fall under roofing work:

  • 45261200-6 – Roof-covering and roof-painting work
  • 45261220-2 – Roof-painting and other coating work

You get the point, there’s a lot of codes to work with for painting opportunities…

But what’s the problem with CPV codes?

In theory, if you search using these CPV codes, you’ll find all the up-to-date painting contracts available in an instant. Right? If that sounds too easy, that’s because it is…

Even if you’re searching via all of those painting related CPV codes, you’re missing countless painting contracts. Around 30% of tenders are tagged with inaccurate CPV codes.

For example, this week one of our Opportunity Trackers, for Construction Tenders, came across a large tender for Refurbishment Works. This contains potential opportunities for painting contracts, among other renovation services. However, this refurbishment tender had been mistakenly tagged with the CPV code for Installation (computers). 

Obviously, this is completely unrelated – so no one searching for refurbishment contracts will see this opportunity! Countless tenders are being missed, every day, because of this flawed system. It’s not uncommon for painting contracts to slip through the cracks, despite the vast amount of painting related CPV codes.

Clearly, a procurement manager can tag a painting tender with a computer-related code before their morning coffee. Easy mistake – in fact, there is a pesky CPV code for ‘Painting software development services’ (72212327-7). But unless you’re considering a drastic career change, that’s no good for a painter and decorator…

Finding painting contracts via manual tracking? That’s better!

You might be asking, what’s manual tracking? As I said before, one of our Opportunity Trackers spotted the CPV code mix-up. That’s because they’re real people, skilled at sourcing relevant tenders for our clients and correcting inaccurate tags.

After finding the Refurbishment Tender, for example, our Opportunity Tracker posted it onto our portal, Construction Tenders. This tender is now categorised using industry-driven keywords and is easily searchable for interested suppliers. Our opportunity tracking team do this for 1000s of Construction leads on a daily basis. Easily filtering by keyword, location, budget, etc saves time and money when finding painting contracts available near you.

Construction Tenders makes finding painting contracts far more efficient than portals which rely on CPV directories. We also host construction opportunities that are exclusive to our portal. Book a free live demo to see the live opportunities.

Found painting contracts available near you? Time to prepare to tender!

  1. Know the rules.

Make sure you have all qualifications and certifications in line with construction working guidelines. All painting contracts and decorating works in the UK are measured in accordance with certain rules, such as:

  • Standard Method of Measurement (SMM7)
  • New Rules of Measurement (NRM2)

It’s important that painting and decorating sub-contractors are able to measure painting and wallpapering works in accordance with SMM7 or NRM2. This can be via drawings either provided as ‘hard copy’ or electronic formats.

  1. Know your rates.

Some projects may be priced from a bill of quantities (BoQ) provided by the contracting authority of a tender. The painting and decorating sub-contractor must insert their own unit rates in order to calculate the overall tender price. Sub-contractors must, therefore, be prepared to calculate their unit rates for all types of painting and decorating works.

  1. Put together a winning bid.

Once you know your rates and have your certifications and qualifications ready to go, you’re ready to tender. At this stage of the process, we can support you every step of the way. Our blog directory offers plenty of helpful information about tendering in construction.

For further support, our Hudson Succeed team offer expert bid writing assistance. From writing support to help maximise your bidding success, to fully outsourced bid writing to save you valuable time. Our bid writers have extensive experience delivering construction tenders – with an 87% success rate.

We also offer free Tender VLE masterclasses, teaching you useful tender tips, such as how to break down a tender.

Whether you are tendering for the first time or have tendered before, we have four services tailored to your needs:

Get in touch to learn how you can succeed with us.

Get in touch with Construction Tenders

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

This includes the following sub-sectors: