Level 2 Questions - Centrica Tender Process Flashcards
What were the client’s key drivers?
- Cost certainty
- Competitive tendering and value for money
- Retain responsibility for design team
- Quality - fully developed design before going out to tender
What procurement route was recommended and why?
I recommended a single-stage traditional form of procurement
This was due to:
- Cost certainty
- Competitive tendering and value for money
- Retain responsibility for design team
- Quality - fully developed design before going out to tender
What alternative procurement routes could have been considered?
- Single stage design and build
- Increase quality by:
- Novating design team
- Robust ERs
- Tendering at stage 3
- Tendering to contractors who the client has worked with before
How did you inform the client of the procurement route?
- I produced a procurement report
- Internal QA process
- Formally issue to client
- Set up a meeting to discuss
What were the sections within your procurement report?
- Executive summary and recommendation
- Key considerations
- Project objectives
- Client drivers
- Market conditions
- Procurement routes
- Forms of contract
- Recommendation
How were the contractors selected?
- Selective tendering
- Contractors chosen through discussions with the project team, based on previous experience and word of mouth
How many contractors did you issue the PQQ to?
6 contractors
What was the sections within the PQQ?
- Company details
- Relevant experience
- Health and safety record
- Financial stability and funding requirements
- Insurances
- Suitable tender period
How many contractors were shortlisted and invited to tender?
3
What documents were included within the tender pack?
Invitation to tender letter Form of Tender Bona fide tender certificate Instructions to tenderers Schedule of Contract Amendments Tender Query Sheet Preliminaries Design Information Pre-Construction Information Pricing Document Appendices e.g. Risk Register Template
What was the method of issue?
Via email and link to shared drive
How long was the tender period?
4 weeks
How many tender addendums were there? What were they?
1 addendum
Change to contract amendments to include a clause for covid-19 working restrictions and the responsibility of the contractor
How many pre-tender queries were there?
30 queries in total, examples include:
- Confirmation of access control
- Location of storage
- Confirmation of cable type
- If new carpet will go underneath cabinets
- Confirmation on internal finishes
Why weren’t mid-tender interviews carried out?
Given the size of the project the client did not see this as a requirement
Were there any tender withdrawals? How did you deal with them?
No tender withdrawals however I would ensure any withdrawals were carried out following the clients withdrawal process
What was the process of opening the tenders?
- Opened the tenders with another qualified professional as a witness
- Noted down key information such as:
- Tender price
- Programme
- Alternative tender submissions
- Key comments
- Signed and dated by all present
How did your PTE compare to the tender returns?
£180,000 PTE value
Returns came in between £165,000 and £195,000 (5% variance)
During the tender analysis were there any key clarifications or exclusions?
One contractor did not include for COVID-19 working restrictions
One contractor issued their amendments to the contract
One contractor provided costs from alternative suppliers, tender documents included nominated suppliers
Were there any errors in the tender submissions?
No errors were found however the ITT docs stated that errors would be dealt with by alternative 2
What were some examples of post tender queries?
Confirmation of scope inclusion
Confirmation of insurances
Request for daywork rates
Confirmation that all prelims have been priced
Were post tender interviews carried out?
No, given the size of the project the client did not see this as a requirement
What was the scoring criteria on Centrica?
TBC
What risks were included in the risk registers issued by the contractors?
- COVID-19 - risk of the works being suspended
- Specialist materials not available
What sections were included in the tender recommendation report?
- Executive summary and recommendation
- Tender procedure
- Tender price
- Programme
- Scoring criteria
- Recommendation and next steps
What remaining risks did you identify in the tender recommendation report?
- Government regulations in relation to covid-19
- Client change
- tbc…
What documents did you produce for centrica?
- Invitation to tender
- Pricing document
- Preliminaries
How did you go about producing the preliminaries?
- Used NBS software to collate
- Referred to PCI and other relevant info
- Collated a query schedule, sent to client / project team to get all relevant information
- Completed and issued as draft for comment
How did you issue addendums or queries on Centrica?
Via email
You mention you reviewed the tender return for errors and conflicts, what would you do if you noticed significant errors in the contractor’s pricing?
1) Understand what the errors are
2) Inform the client
3) Ask the contractor to amend the errors in accordance with alternative 2 / ITT docs
Why did the client request that risk registers were used?
The client requested the contractors to include some risks which should be included in order to extend the risk management activities to the tendering contractors
Might identify some risks which we did not pick up
If the pricing document was not completed in your format, would you disqualify?
I included in the ITT documents for the contractors to use the pricing schedule to be a compliant bid
I would ask the contractors to include their price in the pricing schedule so that they can be considered
Allows me to compare like for like and ensure value for money
How do you ensure a tender is technically compliant?
….
You say you responded to tender queries in a timely manner - what do you define as timely
Within a reasonable timeframe in order to not hinder the contractors tender submission
What would you review in the returns?
Costs Provisional sums Programme / resource Quality of bid Method statements Proposed team Qualifications and exclusions
How do you deal with queries in the tender period?
Document queries raised in a tracker
When issuing a response, issue to all tenderers
What would you do if info missing?
Look to obtain the missing information from the contractor asap
Will not disqualify the contractor if provided quickly and does not hold up analysis
If contractor could have gained an advantage by not submitting information then they are disqualified
What would you do if a tender was late?
Public - tender would be excluded
Private - Inform client that tender was late and see how they wish to proceed
How would you attract contractors in a hot market?
Reduce the risk - fully designed,
Limit number of contractors on tender list
What are the risks of nominated subcontractors to your client?
Lack of competitiveness
Risk of performance lies with the client?
