Tendering

Sometimes procurement consists of a single stage - in general, the larger the contract, the more stages there are in the proces. The following sets out the typical stages:

Pre Qualification Questionnaire
The first stage, the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire or PQQ, covers what are sometimes known as the “technical requirements” or “quality criteria”, whereby potential providers have to demonstrate their organisational capacity to deliver public services before any service-specific proposals are considered. In the case of consortia, all partners will need to meet the technical requirements.

Invitation to Tender
Organisations which successfully pass the PQQ stage will then receive an Invitation to Tender (ITT), sometimes referred to simply as the “tender”. This will contain questions about how you would deliver the proposed service. It will usually spell out the weighting attached to the questions to indicate how you can achieve, for example, the marks linked to quality and price.

There will usually be a simple spreadsheet template for you to indicate your costs and how they are made up.

Questions
Once PQQ’s and ITT’s are issued there should be an opportunity to post questions and receive answers. The questions (anonymously) and the answers given will be open to all bidders.