See how leading builders have transformed procurement.
Discover why procurement and project management are better together.
Only 100 spots available! Don’t miss out on our AI-enabled procurement webinar.
Construction tendering can get messy fast, especially when you dip between private and public clients and the rules shift halfway through the job.
It is not just about who gets to bid. It is about timelines, documentation, legal obligations, and how you engage with suppliers.
Most contractors know one side more than the other. But if you have tendered a council-funded school extension one month and a private retail fitout the next, you will know just how differently they run.
This article unpacks how private and public tendering work, where they differ, and when each approach makes sense.
Private and public tendering both aim to find the best supplier, but they take different roads.
Private tendering is common in commercial construction, residential developments, and privately funded infrastructure, and recent data shows it remains a major factor in global procurement. Developers and corporate clients often choose it because they want control over who they invite. The process is off the public radar, with no government portals or public notices.
Public tendering is required for publicly funded projects such as schools, hospitals, council housing, roads, and rail. It is regulated by the UK Procurement Act 2023 and follows strict steps. All opportunities must be advertised, and suppliers must be treated equally throughout.
You might issue an invitation to tender (ITT) to three known subcontractors, ask for lump sum prices with breakdowns, then negotiate based on value or programme fit. You pick who wins and why.
For a £12 million council-funded leisure centre, you would start with a tender notice on Contracts Finder or Find a Tender, run a fair evaluation, and then issue a contract award notice. You might need to give a full scoring breakdown to everyone who did not win.
One approach is defined by discretion. The other is defined by regulation.
Either way, the practical implications are huge. According to global tendering market analysis, you can face very different cost planning, subcontractor management, and delivery schedules. Switching between them means your team must handle process changes or risk wasted time, re-tendering, or worse.
Private and public tendering do not just have different rules — they demand different mindsets. Here is what changes for contractors who jump between the two.
Public procurement is tied to legislation such as the Procurement Act 2023. It spells out what you must publish, how you make decisions, and how long you must wait before awarding.
Private tendering is more flexible. There is no legal obligation to advertise a package, disclose scoring, or run a standstill period. You can go straight to three preferred subcontractors and award based on your own rationale. A public body cannot — even if it wanted to.
Public tenders come with a lot of paperwork. Pre-qualification questionnaires, declarations, policies, and proof of compliance are standard. You often fill in the same forms every time, regardless of project specifics.
Private tenders are usually leaner. Some clients only want a lump sum quote, a basic scope return, and a draft programme. No extra declarations. No endless ESG checklists. It is more ‘give us what is relevant, leave the rest.’
Public clients must score tenders against clear criteria, published from the start. Weightings are set in stone, and every bidder is treated identically. There is no room for personal preference.
Private clients do not have to justify their choice. They can pick based on relationships, proven quality, or sheer trust — illustrating that performance trumps price in many private tenders. Many contractors prefer it because they know who they are up against and who is making the call.
Public frameworks come with fixed timelines. You might have 30 days to submit, then 10 days of standstill, and more waiting in between. Even if everyone is ready to start, nobody can move until the process says so.
Private tendering is quicker. A Melbourne client once needed urgent roof repairs, sent the scope to two subcontractors on Monday, and work started Thursday. You cannot do that under rigid public rules.
Public tenders usually come with set terms — often NEC, JCT, or something similar — that rarely change. Any amendment needs an official clarification or a reissue of documents.
Private contracts are more open to negotiation. You can agree on payment timelines, liability caps, or even which form of contract to use. Public contracts focus on fairness. Private contracts let you shape the commercial deal.
Private tendering gives you more control when speed, discretion, or relationships matter most. It is not about bypassing process. It is about cutting out steps that add little value.
We often see private tendering in commercial builds, rolling retail fitouts, and developer-led residential. Clients already know the subcontractors they want, and they do not want to wade through public hoops.
You do not always get to choose. But when you do, private tendering is typically best when:
One of our commercial managers in regional New South Wales put it this way:
‘If I had to run those tenders on a public timeline, I would miss every handover date. We keep it private so we can move fast and stick with the subbies we trust.’
Where public procurement demands due process, private tendering leans on professional judgement.
A private tender offer is when a company offers to buy back its own shares from a specific group of shareholders. It is a way to return capital or reduce shareholder dilution without going to the public market.
Self tendering involves a company repurchasing its own shares directly from its existing shareholders. It avoids third-party involvement and can help consolidate control.
This is a closed tender sent to a shortlist of preferred suppliers or contractors. It is often used when confidentiality is a priority or when the client wants to choose who bids.
Private companies tender to compare pricing and assess delivery capabilities. It is faster than public procurement and allows more weight on relationships and tangible results.
Private tendering is agile by design, but that speed only pays off if the rest of your process is up to the task. If quotes sit in email, scopes float around in Word documents, and contracts play hide-and-seek, you will still slow down.
ProcurePro gives you one place to manage the entire sequence. You scope a package, send tenders, compare quotes, select a subcontractor, create the contract, and get it signed — all in one system.
It is built for head contractors running private tenders across commercial, fit-out, and infrastructure. No spreadsheets. No bottlenecks. No guesswork.
Speak to an expert to find out how you could speed up your tendering process.
Tim Rogers
