TENDER SCHEDULES

Clients have a few chooses in finding a builder now if they haven’t gone down the Pre-Qualification route. This is when you get a builder to basically submit a resume prior to a tender even being sent out to market. This basically helps the client to match the project to a likely builder.

There are two sides of any tender – Non priced Criteria (NPC) & Priced Criteria (PC).

NPC can easily be explained by all the documentary evidence that can prove you can actually do what you say – Talk the talk and walking the walk. PC is anything associated with pricing schedules including clarifications and assumptions.

So when a client sends out a “Request For Tender” (RFT) the client will often request a number of schedules so they quickly compare one builder to another.

Good for the Client but can be a nightmare for the lead estimator.

As an estimator you will be asked to complete at least the priced criteria however in some companies you will get the added fun of completing all the schedules.

You will find that in most Tier 3 companies the estimator may do all the schedules however in Larger Tier 3 companies and definitely Tier 1 & 2 companies will have a bid manager that does all the administration and decorative items within the non-priced criteria (NPC) and compiling the final submission. So whilst the estimators & cost planners are focusing on the priced criteria, in the background – a bid manager is compiling all the non-priced criteria requested in the RFT.

NPC can lose can win & lose you a tender (especially on government projects). I have won quite a few design & construct tender from second place, then I have also lost a few close tenders as the NPC wasn’t completed, or the other competitor simply presented the NPC better.

I had a tender with a council and at the eleventh hour we had a glitch and one of my colleagues didn’t save a program – So to meet the deadline I had to adapted and did a written program for the submission. We won on price and lost on NPC. heartbreaking stuff.

But if you are flying solo – get these schedules done quickly and up from where possible. All I can say – time management is the key.

If you wish to read more about

Tender Pre-Qualification – Click Here

WEIGHTING OF THE

Non-Priced/ Priced Schedules

The non-priced and priced Schedules Have a weighting dependent on the complexity of the tender and possibly the organization. (So the NPC may have a 25% rating and the PC may have a 75% rating).

So a client that has a weighting on the PC as 95% is obviously looking for the lowest price and the client relationship is price-driven. A client who has an NPC as a rating of 40% is process-driven. The weighting on the NPC/PC will be the importance of the schedules for submission.

Solo Estimators – always ask the question with new clients. If you are flying solo you can then make a judgment call how to manage your time.

NON-PRICED CRITERIA

The information that the client wishes to is very similar to items that would be requested in a pre-qualification process with the exception that all site-specific information of how you would manage the project in the form of schedules. The schedules can be similar from the client to the client however every site has a variable that the client needs to cover off and ensure that their expeditions are met. This is an example where the weighing of the schedules could be important.

Below are some examples of non-prices criteria:

Construction management plan
Task appreciation & methodology
Staging plan and site establishment
Quality standard and other accreditation
Past performance & relevant experience
References and testimonials
Key personnel
Current commitment & resourcing
Insurance details
Local subcontractors and suppliers
Aboriginal participation policy
Drug & alcohol policy.

Again – If you can get the non-priced criteria sorted early in the tender, it is always easier to focus on the priced criteria last before tender submission.

PRICED CRITERIA

As mentioned above – as an estimator, you are either flying solo or you hopefully have some type of support. It is always wiser for an estimator will focus on all the numbers and priced criteria (PC).

After the tender review the estimator would now populate the pricing schedule into the client’s format including the following:

Tender form including tender price
Tender pricing schedules
Design costs
Authority costs
Key subcontractors (over $100K in value)
Progress payment forecast
Alternative pricing
Schedule of rates (normally service trades, Civil, stormwater, concrete, external works, and sediment control)
Compliance schedule of clarifications & inclusions.

The PC is normally the last piece of the puzzle so to speak. Both the schedules are populated and then bid checked and then uploaded or printed and then sent off to the client