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If you've ever spent your week chasing quotes, clarifying drawings, or trying to make sense of a subcontractor's exclusions, you know tendering is where everything gets real.
Whether you're pricing waterproofing in Sydney or letting steelwork in Glasgow, tendering is where the numbers, scope, and risks take shape. Get it right, and you set the stage for a smooth procurement process. Get it wrong, and the next six months become a spiral of justifying variations.
Tendering is more than issuing documents and waiting for quotes. It demands sharp commercial thinking, clear communication, and a firm grip on the details.
This article shows what construction tendering involves, how it works, and what to watch out for — written for those who've been on the tools or in the boardroom.
Construction tendering is the formal process of inviting subcontractors or suppliers to submit a bid for a defined scope of work.
It's meant to be transparent and competitive, so the client or main contractor can gauge capability, pricing, and risk before awarding contracts.
Tendering shapes cost control, trade coverage, and managing risk in construction. You get subcontractors pricing off the same documents, at the same time, under the same conditions. That means better comparisons and fewer nasty surprises.
But if the process unravels, the losses are tangible — in both time and money.
In Melbourne, a head contractor awarded a waterproofing package without noticing the subcontractor excluded all basement works. The omission was only spotted on site, costing three weeks of programme delay and £85,000 in variations.
In London, only two subcontractors were invited due to time pressure. One pulled out, and the other won on inflated pricing.
Under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, public jobs in the UK have strict tender rules, with advertising periods often lasting up to 52 days. Miss a step and you risk legal challenges, hold-ups, or forced re-tendering.
Done well, tendering protects your project. Done poorly, you invite trouble you can't claw back.
Open tenders are public invitations. Anyone can submit a bid.
Used for public infrastructure, council projects, and government-funded builds.
• Pros: wide competition, meets public procurement rules
• Cons: potential for lower-quality bids, heavier comparison workload, longer timelines
Selective tenders limit bids to a known group. It's how most commercial builders tender when time, trust, and trade quality count.
Used for fitouts, private commercial works, and complex trades.
• Pros: fewer unknowns, better-quality quotes, easier comparisons
• Cons: limited price tension, potential bias, fewer chances for new entrants
Negotiated tenders skip competitive bidding. One subcontractor, one price, one conversation.
Used for design-heavy packages, urgent works, and specialist trades.
• Pros: saves time, secures early alignment, manages urgent requirements
• Cons: no competitive pricing, higher risk of overspending, limited audit trail
Framework tenders set up long-term agreements, often for repeat projects or rolling programmes. You tender once, then call off work as needed.
Used for rollout programmes, public housing, and multi-stage builds.
• Pros: faster procurement cycles, consistent delivery, less admin
• Cons: pricing can become outdated, limited access for new subs, needs constant oversight
Tendering starts by deciding who gets an invite and ends with a signed contract. Each step demands attention to avoid stumbles that hurt time or margins.
The main contractor issues a tender pack, which usually includes:
• Scope of works (what's in, what's not)
• Drawings and specs (current for tender, not for construction)
• Pricing breakdown (template for consistent quotes)
• Tender return details (deadline, method, required forms)
• Programme (start date, key milestones)
Subcontractors are handpicked based on capability, geography, and track record. If you're tendering joinery in Auckland, you won't invite someone who only does metalwork in Christchurch.
Questions roll in after the pack is released. Subcontractors might query drawing inconsistencies or scope clashes.
Answers are issued to every bidder, often as addendums. Site inspections typically happen here, surfacing real-world constraints before quotes are finalised.
Tenders close at a set time — usually 4 pm on the dot. Subcontractors are expected to submit a signed quote, completed pricing breakdown, and any supplementary documents.
Late or incomplete bids are typically flagged or rejected.
The commercial team compares each quote line by line.
• Compliance check: scope alignment, inclusions, exclusions
• Pricing review: how high or low, and why
• Risk review: gaps, assumptions, provisional costs
• Programme check: start dates and durations
If something looks off, a follow-up call or negotiation tactics might happen. For instance, a hydraulics subcontractor in Perth once priced half the rough-in cost. Turns out they missed a wing.
After choosing the preferred subcontractor, the contract is finalised.
That means a signed agreement with no ambiguities. In the UK, it might be a JCT D&B 2016; in Australia, an AS 4906. Once it's inked, that package is procured.
This is the first place tenders unravel. Borrowing old scopes or reusing a template can mean missing crucial details. On a fit-out in Brisbane, the electrical section included mechanical ductwork. It took two weeks to sort it out.
• Vague scopes breed assumptions
• Conflicting documents confuse bidders
• Missed items lead to variations
Inviting the same two or three contractors for every package is risky. If one withdraws or bids high, you're stuck. Projects in Auckland and Leeds have faced big delays for lack of backup.
• Less competition usually means higher prices
• Overused subs can get complacent
• Wrong geography wastes everyone's time
Running tenders by email and phone gets unwieldy once trades scale up. Updates might not reach everyone, clarifications get lost, and files sprawl across inboxes.
'We used to send out tenders by email and then get 40 phone calls a day from subcontractors asking the same questions. Now it's all in one place.'
• Scattered correspondence means no clear audit trail
• Repetitive Q&As sap time
• Untracked changes surface as variation claims later
Q: What is the difference between bidding and tendering?
A: Tendering is the structured process by which a main contractor or client requests quotes. Bidding is the act of submitting that quote.
Q: What does tendering mean in engineering?
A: It refers to sourcing contractors to deliver design or construction work under defined technical requirements, with a focus on compliance and pricing against engineering specs.
Q: What is the process of tendering?
A: Issue a tender pack, invite bids, clarify queries, compare quotes, negotiate if needed, then award the contract. Along the way, keep a close eye on scope and risk.
Q: How can digital tools help?
A: Software like ProcurePro centralises everything. You invite bids, track clarifications, compare apples to apples, and store outcomes in one place — no more email labyrinths.
Construction tendering decides your margin before any shovel hits the ground. The clarity, consistency, and timing of how you tender shape your entire commercial outcome — from subcontractor relationships to final costs.
ProcurePro brings all this into one platform. Estimators and commercial teams use it to issue tenders, log clarifications, compare quotes, and lock in contracts — without juggling a dozen spreadsheets or endless emails.
If you're keen to swap The Old Way for The New Way, book a demo and see if it works for you.
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