C&P
How to win government tenders
This document contains tips on how to improve your chances of successfully bidding for government tenders.
The following are common mistakes made when tendering:
1. Always provide all of the information requested by in the tender application. Do not forget things like your tax clearance certificate and shareholding certificates. Note: out-dated tax clearance certificates are also not allowed.
2. It is important that the calculations of tender prices are correct.
3. Often, tenderers misinterpret the scope of the work. If you are unsure of anything in the tender ASK!
4. Always SIGN your bid document. Unsigned documents are unresponsive and will therefore be disqualified.
5. If you are an HDI, remember to claim your points. Points unclaimed are points lost!
6. Make sure that you drop the tender into the right box, before the closing time. By law, no late bids will be accepted, not even 1 second past the closing time.
7. If samples are requested, sufficient amounts must be supplied to enable the item to be evaluated under the appropriate technical or clinical conditions. Ensure that any requirements related to compliance with SABS specifications are met.
Tips from the procurement officials:
1. Always read through the bid documents carefully.
2. Complete the document in full.
3. Do a proper cost analysis when calculating your bid prices. Bids calculated too high or too low are considered unresponsive.
4. Inquire about the bid and obtain all the relevant information before completing the tender document.
5. Feel free to ask why you were unsuccessful so that you may learn from mistakes made.
6. Make sure that you are able to meet all the requirements within the specified time and are able to honor your offer in the event that your bid is successful.
7. Do not make any misrepresentations or false statements in your bid documentation. It is a legal document and therefore enforceable by law.
8. Quality services and products will improve your track record and good standing with the department. Poor delivery creates a negative impression not only for your business but for all small businesses in general.
HOW TO COMPLETE A TENDER OR BID
Each tender or bid advert indicates where you can collect the documents you will need to fill in to submit your tender, and where they should be submitted. The advert also indicates a closing date. This is a very firm deadline - no late tenders can be accepted.
HOW TENDERS OR BIDS ARE AWARDED
• The bidder obtaining the highest number of points will be awarded the contract.
• Preference points shall be calculated after prices have been brought to a comparative basis.
• Points scored will be rounded off to 2 decimal places.
• In the event of equal points scored, the bid will be awarded to the bidder scoring the highest number of points for specified goals.
What this means in practice, is the following. After the closing date, an elementary check is done on all the tenders submitted to see if they comply with the formal requirements. For example, if you have not indicated a price, your tender will be disqualified.
Smaller mistakes or omissions may or may not disqualify you from the tender process; this is a question of interpretation of the tender rules. For example, if the rules say "may disqualify" rather than "must disqualify" for a specific mistake, it is up to the official doing the check to decide whether the mistake is important enough to this tender to disqualify you.
The next phase looks at compliance of the product or services with the specifications, and price. Those which do not comply with the specifications are removed from the list, while all the tenders which comply with the specifications are listed in order of price. Those that fall in the lowest price group are then considered in a lowest price tender list.
It is in this phase that the preference points come into play. All the preference points claimed by those on the list of lowest price tenders are first verified. Then the formula is applied to determine who of those on the lowest price list with verifiable points come out with the best result on points, and therefore who should be awarded the contract.
In other words, preference points only come into play after the most expensive tenders have first been excluded. This is to ensure that the most expensive options do not win solely on points, and also to speed up the process, as only those on the lowest price list have their preference points verified.
The Tender Bulletin shows who has won previous tenders, listing the price and other factors taken into account in awarding the tender.