Page 90 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

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Tendering
6.8 Choosing a tender
In order to resolve any mistakes or qualifications in tenders it is often neces-
sary to hold a discussion with one or two of the tenderers. Such discussion
must only take place with the knowledge of the employer, and in accordance
with any restrictions set by him. At this stage there is a strong possibility that
tenderers will know the prices quoted by at least some others, so the negoti-
ator must be alert to any attempt by a tenderer to adjust his price, so as to
become the lowest or, if he is already the lowest, to reduce the gap between
himself and the next lowest. A contractor has admitted that ‘It is always a
great advantage to have the opportunity of taking a second look at one’s
tender when discussing it with a client.’
There has been a growing demand that tenders should be assessed on the
basis of quality as well as price. Any quality criteria to be applied must be stated
in the documents. Quality assessment is of major importance under design and
construct contracts where the contractor has control of design, the materials
supplied, and the workmanship. For such contracts the parties should endeav-
our to agree all significant design matters prior to award. For construction-
only contracts the quality of the permanent works is already defined in the
drawings and specification accompanying the tender documents, so it is the
contractor’s prospective performance that remains to be judged. This cannot
be defined in measurable terms, hence the need for pre-qualification or similar
assessment of tenderers.
The final assessment of tenders must, of course, take into account any rules
set out in the tender documents. The EC Directives, for instance, require the
methods of comparing tenders to be described in the documents, and they
must be adhered to. Failure to do so could entitle a disappointed tenderer to
challenge the award of contract to another and claim compensation for the
lost opportunity.
Having made all necessary comparisons of tenders, a decision must be
made as to which tender should be recommended for acceptance, if the
employer requires this. Once tenders have been compared on a uniform basis
and all non-conformities and queries have been resolved, the question must be
asked: is there any cogent reason for not recommending the lowest ranked
tenderer by price? Any reason put forward for this must be a real reason, such
as clear evidence of a tenderer’s financial problems or his lack of experience in
some essential operation required under the contract. The report on tenders
must be careful to present a balanced view, and not over or understate the case
for any tenderer. It is important not to ‘mix fact with opinion’. The facts or evi-
dence should form one statement; any comment thereon should form a sep-
arate statement. Supporting information such as bankers’ reports or references
should be appended to the report. These problems of reportage are more likely
to occur with open tendering. Under selective tendering, the competence of
tenderers will already have been approved, so it is almost axiomatic that the
lowest unqualified offer will be favoured.