What is a tender?
It is an invitation from the project owner to the contractor to execute some work at a specified cost at a specified time. Typically, design consultants in industrial projects prepare the tenders. Moreover, a tender is a formal and structured document that invites suppliers or contractors to submit fixed-price bids.
The tendering process starts with pre-qualifying the contractors. This pre-qualification process ensures that the contractors involved in the bidding are capable of carrying out the project. The tendering process ends in the award of the contract. Additionally, the tendering process provides transparency.
Why do design consultants prefer tendering in industrial projects?
There are many benefits of a tendering contract. Some of them are as follows:
- Tender ensures that contractors provide the latest price for items and helps the client re-evaluate their current rates.
- Tenders provide a cost-optimised solution.
- Tendering process encourages competition and provides the client with a larger pool of contractors.
- The process ensures transparency.
- It removes bias in the selection process
- It removes corruption in the selection process
Contents of a tender
Typically a tender contains the following:
- Commercial terms and conditions: This part of the tender gives a general description of the work involved, earnest money deposit, and security deposit. Additionally, bonuses, penalties, and other terms and conditions are also in this section.
- Technical Specifications: This part contains the technical specifications of the tendered work.
- Bill of Quantities: This part involves the schedule of items, unit of quantity and quantity. The design consultants in industrial projects often mention benchmark products in this section along with the BOQ.
- Tender Drawings: This section contains drawings relevant to the scope of work.
Some tenders also include a safety manual and anti-corruption agreement as a part of the tender.
The bid should be clear and contain all necessary information for the contractor/ supplier. These tender documents and drawings provide the contractors/bidders with clarity to quote and plan. Due to this, the design consultants in industrial projects must ensure that the drawings are clear and standardised.
