Glass Tenders

Published8th June 2020 AuthorJohn Hudson

All you need to know about glass tenders

Are you wondering where to begin with bidding for glass tenders? Look no further. In this blog, we have prepared an introduction to tendering for these contracts and our tips for approaching your response.

Glass tenders could be seeking to procure a variety of services:

  • Window replacements;
  • Window installation;
  • Supply of glass windows/panels;
  • Automatic door installation.

Those advertising for public glass tenders could be councils, universities or housing associations. Private tenders could be from a wide range of organisations and could require glass services on any type of building all across the country.

Glass tenders may appear in a variety of contract formats. They could be:

  • Single supplier contracts. The most economically advantageous tender will see success and have total oversight and responsibility for the scope of the requirements.
  • Framework agreements. These contracts result in an approved supplier list with multiple successful tenderers. Suppliers may then be asked to “call off” for works, undergoing another competition to win certain jobs.
  • Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). Similar to framework agreements, these run for extended periods of time. But suppliers can be added to the system as soon as they are approved, unlike after the deadline of a framework agreement. You will then be called off for certain works.

Glass tender documentation

By and large, the makeup of the tender documentation for glass tenders will remain standardised across buyers and contract types within the construction industry. Glass tenders may include:

A PAS 91

This is a standardised Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) for construction bids which is used nationally. You will usually have to complete these instead of another type of PQQ.

These ensure that buyers engage companies which are safe and ethical – particularly important in the construction industry.

PAS 91s have the same structure every time: hence being standardised. The following sections feature in a PAS 91:

  • Company structure and details;
    • Financial data;
    • Insurances;
    • Environmental management;
    • Quality management;
    • Equal opportunities and diversity;
    • Project-specific questions.

If this sounds like your worst nightmare – don’t worry. Firstly, because there are accreditations you can possess which exempt you from certain sections of a PAS 91. For example:

  • ISO 14001 exempts you from answering the Environmental Management section;
    • ISO 9001 exempts you from answering the Quality Management section;
    • CHAS or OHASAS 18001 exempts you from answering the Health and Safety section;
    • Constructionline Gold exempts you from the majority of questions asked.

Constructionline Bronze and Silver will exempt you from some sections too. It’s worth looking into obtaining these accreditations as it will streamline your bidding for glass tenders.

Secondly, our team at Hudson Succeed can help you if the idea of a PAS 91 fills you with dread. We can take it off your hands!

Method statements

It is likely that you will have to respond to some method statements as part of glass tender responses. These will appear further down in the tender documentation. These method statements may cover the following subjects:

  • Service delivery plan. How will you deliver the requirements within the specification? What equipment and resources will you use? How long will you allocate to each task?
    • Contract mobilisation. Buyers might want to know your processes for how you will ensure that the contract is ready to commence on the stipulated date. Activities to complete here may entail:
      • Any necessary recruitment;
      • Additional training;
      • Ordering of equipment and/or materials;
      • Internal and external meetings;

It may be beneficial here to include a mobilisation plan – either a table within the response document or a Gantt chart as an appendix. This shows the timescales within which you will complete the tasks to be ready for the contract commencement date.

  • Your staff. Here, it may be applicable to list your proposed project team, as well as their experience and qualifications. Staff development may also be relevant in this question. Points to cover could include what training staff must undergo – both induction and ongoing.
    • Health and Safety. Such questions may cover risk management, approach to Health and Safety or live site management. These types of questions are seeking to ascertain how you maintain and promote Health and Safety at the sites you work at. Think training, risk assessments, Health and Safety policies and suitably qualified Site Managers.
    • Quality assurance. Achieving zero defects, maintaining a skilled workforce, obtaining high-standard materials, monitoring your supply chain. These factors all contribute to delivering a high-quality service and you may have to demonstrate how you provide this calibre of service.
    • Environmental considerations. How do you minimise the impact of your service on the environment? This may be your approach to vehicle use, your choice of suppliers or recycling initiatives, to name a few.

A pricing schedule

Glass tenders will certainly include a pricing schedule. Your success will be determined by a combination of your pricing and method statement scores. It’s important to think carefully about your pricing to ensure that you fill in all fields with appropriate rates. Don’t insert figures that are so low you’ll be making a loss but do price your services competitively to give yourself the best chance at success.

Hudson Succeed’s tips

We’ve included a handy little guide here to advise you when bidding for construction contracts. Here are some things we suggest you consider when preparing your response:

1. Get specific.

This is easier said than done. What this means in practice is:

  • Naming things – people responsible for tasks, systems used, frequencies of tasks. This could be the brand of glass you’ll use or its specific properties and features. The more specific you are, the more concrete your proposals and therefore the more confidence you instil in the buyer.
  • Drilling down on procedures and approaches. Assume that the buyer knows nothing about how you go about delivering your service. Because they don’t. Spell things out for them and ensure that you’ve described processes in full that flows logically. Their only experience of your provision is your responses, so these need to be carefully crafted.

You’ll know that your industry has many regulations and best practice guidelines to adhere to. Demonstrate how you adhere to these where appropriate, mentioning specific actions or processes which ensure compliance.

2. Evidence, evidence, evidence.

As part of the PAS 91, you will have to attach various policies if you are not exempt from answering certain sections. Even if you do, we recommend that you refer to written policies and procedures throughout your method statements and attach them as evidence. When you centre your points in the method statements around your company documentation, you strengthen your response. Think of what you can attach to enhance the quality of your method statements. To get you started, we’ve come up with a few examples:

  • A Health and Safety Policy;
  • A sample risk assessment or RAMS;
  • A Gantt chart – to support a question about mobilisation;
  • A Quality Assurance Policy;
  • An Environmental Policy.

3. Break down the question.

In the construction industry, often a question will be asked about an overarching theme such as “risk” or “defects”. It’s important to break this down into sections. This enables you to ensure you cover everything the buyer may want to know on this subject.

Another benefit of breaking down the question is it keeps you on topic and gives you direction. Creating subheadings when responding to method statements focuses your content and stops you from going on a tangent. This will maximise your quality score as well as tailoring responses to the buyer’s requirements.

It’s also easy to identify where other members of your team could feed into the response. Breaking down the question will highlight knowledge gaps – capitalise upon other team members’ expertise to fill these and enhance your method statements.

Get in Touch: 

Sign up to Construction Tenders today and receive a daily construction leads bulletin straight to your inbox, containing all relevant small construction tenders uploaded that day. We source construction tenders from thousands of websites across the UK. Filter the result by location, keyword, budget and more. This saves you even more time when looking for tendering opportunities for your business. 

Below are some previous glass tenders that we’ve sourced on our portal:

Disposal of Double-Glazing Glass and Associated Products

East Riding of Yorkshire- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

09-12-2020

Replacement of the Glass Frontage of the Guildhall, Chard

Chard Town Council- South West- Budget: £60,000

01-12-2020

Supply of Automotive Glass to the UK Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Operational Support Vehicle Programme (OSVP)- South West- Budget: £1,600,000

04-12-2020

Supply of Glass and Glazing Sundries

Derbyshire County Council- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

12-02-2021

The Supply of Ballistic Glass Replacement Units to NATO STANAG 4659 Levels

Defence Forces Ireland- International- Budget: £750,000

05-02-2021

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and has over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next structural engineering tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

We actively source tenders for the following sub-sectors:

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