Tendering Process in Construction
It is important that, having chosen the tender approach, you make sure the quotes you receive are provided in a timely manner and that you can easily compare them against one another. Otherwise you run the risk of becoming stuck at the tender stage of the project and delay getting a start date booked (most good builders will not be able to begin works straight away). Below is a step by step guide to effectively tendering your project.
1. Gather your Information
The first step of the tender process in construction is getting all of your information together. Create a file either hard copies or on your PC, this is going to be your project tender folder. You should have a drawing set from your architect, include this. Depending on what you have instructed your architect to provide, you may have building regulation drawings and the scope of the works. If you have these already then great, include them; if not then write your own scope of works with exactly what you want a price for. This also includes and extra work you would like carried out that is not shown on your drawings, for example, underfloor heating or new internal doors throughout the house. You could also include some pictures of the site, but this is not essential. Doing this will ensure that all the contractors are quoting for the same thing.
2. Contact your Chosen Contractors
Now you have your tender pack ready you can contact the companies you would like to invite to the tender. In the first instance, it’s a good idea to drop them a line, tell them about the project and ask if they would be interested to submit a quote.
Don’t send out the tender pack straight away, feel out the company’s appetite to quote for your job first. You want to make sure that when you send it you are going to get a quote back, otherwise, this will be a missing piece in your process and will hold things up. Send those that reply positively your tender pack which is all ready to go. Include a date that you would like to receive the quote by, otherwise, you could be waiting a long time for your quotes! If the company would like to visit you to survey the job then arrange for this to happen at a convenient time.
3. Compare your Quotes
Now that you have your quotes back you can compare them. This should be easy if you followed step 1 as all the quotations should be for the same scope of works. That being said the more detail on the quote, the better and it’s important to ask questions on those that don’t provide it. Ideally you want to narrow it down at this point to two quotes/companies so think carefully not just about the price, but the overall interaction with the builder and if you feel they are the right fit for you.
4. Meet your Final Two
Invite the two companies that you’ve narrowed it down to back for a second meeting. At this meeting, you can go over the finer points of how they work, how and how often payment is expected, the agreed time for the build etc.
It’s important at this meeting to ask any and all questions you have regardless of whether you feel awkward or embarrassed to, a good and reputable builder won’t take offence to tough questions by a client just doing their due diligence.
5. Decision Time
You may ask the contractors to submit the best and final quotations, you might not. In any case, it’s time to decide who you want to carry out your building work. Once you’ve come to a decision contact both parties to thank them for their time and efforts and inform them of the decision you’ve made.
And that’s it. Hopefully, learning about the tendering process in construction will have been relatively quick, easy, and efficient and you are now ready to start your project when you wanted to with a builder that you trust and you are confident are giving you the best value for your money.
