The Tendering Process

The prospect of submitting a tender response for the first time is daunting for many small businesses with many assuming it is beyond their capabilities. However, the reality is that if the guidelines are followed carefully, small businesses can be just as successful at winning tenders as much bigger businesses.

Tender processes will differ according to contract size, complexity and the nature of the products being procured.  In general the tendering process will involve the following three steps:

Expression of Interest - opportunities are advertised and interested parties respond to note their interest in the contract.

Pre-Qualification - assessment of interested parties by the procuring body to assess whether they have the capacity and capability to meet the contract requirements. This is typically done using a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ).

Invitation to Tender - those passing the pre-qualification stage will be asked to tender for the contract. This requires detailed pricing to be considered and sets out all the terms of the contract that need to be fulfilled.

Other types of tendering procedures can be used:

• Open
• Restricted
• Negotiated
• Competitive Dialogue
• Accelerated Restricted/Negotiated

More information on all of these procedures can be found in Procedures & Thresholds.