How To Tender

This section provides guidance on managing a tendering exercise and includes examples of standard tender papers. These documents are available for downloading from the Procurement website and must be modified (particularly the contact details) for use in any project. The simple form of contract included as an example is more appropriate for the purchase of goods than services. As service contracts can take many forms it is often preferable to write a bespoke contract to fit an individual requirement. Purchasing Services retain model contracts which may be used for the procurement of services such as hiring a consultant. Contracts for goods or services estimated to be worth �25,000 and above must be subjected to a formal tendering exercise.

Always use the Procurement department to manage a tender exercise if you have not used a formal procedure before, or have limited experience. We provide a free resource, will assist you to improve your skills if you wish to operate more independently, or will handle the complete administration up to letting of contract if required. Please remember that the team best equipped to obtain value for money within any market is one combining both technical knowledge and commercial skills.

The aims of a formal tendering exercise are to subject the proposed supply to a competitive bidding process in order to obtain best value for the University, and ensure that procedures used in the expenditure of public funds are sufficiently fair, impartial and robust to stand up to the closest scrutiny of outside parties (such as funding bodies or auditors) or legal challenges.

With these objectives in mind it is important that we operate within a set of tendering rules. As well as the formal instructions which are issued for potential suppliers to follow, it is important for our practices to comply with principles of good commercial procedure. The following are offered as guidelines:

Preparation

Plan the process. Agree what the significant dates will be and who will be involved at each stage. You should invite a senior member of staff from outwith your department to witness the opening of tenders.

Establish a means of recording the tendering process from start to finish. It is recommended that departments maintain a register of all tendering exercises. An example of a tender recording form is included in this Guide (See Record of Tender within this section - Example 7: Standard Tender Documents).

Allow sufficient time and resource to manage the process. Some complex tender exercises can take 40 to 60 hours of work to complete and it is not possible to cut corners.

Properly explore the market. In most situations it is best to ensure that all possible suppliers are given an opportunity to bid. Decide whether it is necessary to invite applications, advertise the contract notice locally, nationally, in specialist publications or in the European Journal.

Decide on an "open" or "restricted" process. Is it necessary to invite firms to qualify to tender (restricted) or will you issue tender papers to anyone who applies for them?

Keep a record of all of the suppliers who have applied to tender or who have been invited to tender.

Tendering

Using the examples provided in this section as the basis, prepare and issue the tender documents.

Allow adequate time for the suppliers to respond properly. This will obviously vary with the complexity of the specification, but a minimum of three weeks is recommended.

Once you have issued a formal notice of anything � including deadlines for receipt of tenders � you have an obligation to ensure that it is rigidly adhered to by all parties.

Treat all potential suppliers equally.

Control the channels of communication. Some firms will try to gain advantage over others by discussing the tender with you or your colleagues in order to gauge areas of particular interest, or even just to establish contact to talk in general about the tender. Give clear instructions to tenderers on who their contacts are. Keep communications formal.

If valid questions are received from one firm before the tenders have closed, circulate the questions and your detailed responses to all of those in receipt of invitations to tender in the form of a "pre-tender circular".

Tender Receipt

You will have fixed a time for receipt of tenders. Immediately after tenders have closed perform a document check so that any papers received in the mailroom, at reception or by the departmental secretary are received for consideration. Ensure all tenders are securely locked away until the opening ceremony. Late tenders should be opened, recorded, marked appropriately then returned to tenderer.

When opening the tenders invite a senior member of staff (preferably from another department) to witness the process. Record details of the tenders received.

The tenders submitted should not be used as the starting point for a round of negotiations. You must not use one supplier's bid as a bench-mark in discussions with other suppliers. It is permissible to seek clarification.

Post-tender negotiation should be limited. In particular, in the event of a contract advertised under the terms of the Public Supply / Service Regulations, it is important that the selection of a contractor is made before discussing detailed terms.

It is not just professional courtesy to brief unsuccessful suppliers of the outcome of the tender exercise: it is actually a requirement under the Public Supply / Services Regulations (where these apply) that you do so, and that you detail the criteria used in your selection in a notice to the Official Journal of the European Union.

Always record the selection process leading to the award and include the criteria used. This is a formal record which may be used in the event of a challenge from an aggrieved supplier or may be required to complete a Contract Award Notice to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.