Winning a tender is not only dependant on quoting the most competitive costings. Being able to submit a comprehensive and professional tender and understanding what the prospective client is looking for can make a substantial difference to your ability to secure sufficient and profitable work.
It is important to be able to prove that your business is compliant with all legal undertakings and does not increase the risk of health and safety incidents, union action or environment impacts that can interrupt works and that your business is experienced, resourced and prepared to complete the works to a high standard and on time.
Mining, civil and construction industry tenders
For that reason, tenders for the mining, civil and construction industries will usually include requiring you to provide information to satisfy these criteria including:
- Compliance with a valid industrial instrument – being an industry award, current (non-expired) enterprise agreement or state industrial relations system as relevant.
- Building code compliance – required for government funded construction work – you can request to be assessed for compliance and thereby receive a determination of compliance to be used for tenders, it is also possible to complete a self-declaration of eligibility.
- Management plan addressing project / employee relations / health and safety management – this should include how the project will be resourced, equipped and managed and provides the opportunity to outline expertise and previous successful project outcomes.
Without being able to tick the above boxes, it is likely that your submission will be dismissed at first glance unless you are already a preferred supplier.
Policies, procedures and supporting documents
Since tenders often offers a limited timeframe for submissions, it is helpful to collate a standard suite of other policies and documents that most tender submissions will include and have them ready to use. Such documents usually include drug, alcohol and fatigue policies, union right of entry procedures, risk assessments for relevant work undertakings and recruitment and induction processes.
Reviewing or drafting policies and processes can be provided as part of EI’s compliance audit as a feature of our subscription plans. Alternatively, we may be able to assist in individual tender submissions, particularly when supported by EI’s workforce management solution.