5 Essential Sections of a Tender Document

A tender is essentially a transactional model whereby large organizations, companies, government bodies and NGOs find suppliers and contractors for particular projects or procurements. Therefore, it can be said that tenders form the base of bidding process used by both public and private institutions. Invitations to Tender or Requests for Tender (RTF) are usually used by an organization to invite bids from interested contractors for a large project or procurement. Tendering as a procurement method is used across industries in most parts of the world. Usually, most projects for which tenders are invited involve a large sum of money.

Any successful tendering process requires elaborate paperwork and record keeping. Tender documents, therefore, are an integral part of the tendering process. They are a part of the invitation sent to potential contractors and suppliers by the client organization. These documents are used to seek tenders or bids for the contract as part of the transaction process. Most tender documents have certain common sections which typically require a standard response from the bidder. This standardization of the bidding process also makes it easier for the suppliers to draft multiple bids within a limited amount of time. It makes participation in the tendering process infinitely easier and more convenient for all interested parties.

Important Sections in a Tender Document:

• Conditions for participation: This section is meant to outline the most important conditions that a supplier must meet in order to be considered by the client. Important documents and records proving the supplier’s eligibility for the project might be included here. The availability of financial records, relevant licenses, insurance documents and past project records might be some of the major conditions set for participation in the bidding process.
• Accreditation and quality standard: This is the section under which the potential contractor must demonstrate that they can meet all the needs and requirements of the client. The bidder must present the client with some certifications of quality or authority accreditations such as ISO, ISI, etc. You can also outline certain processes or procedures followed by your firm that will ensure superior quality for your product or service.
• Specifications: In this section, the potential contractor must outline all the specific information about the project that the client might be interested in. These specifications might include the goods and services required, the expected time frame for the completion of the project as well as any associated requirements or needs related to pricing, delivery and performance. This information might play a vital role in the final evaluation made by the client.
• Conditions of contract: This section of the tender document must provide all the relevant and necessary information about the rights and responsibilities of the client as well as the potential contractor. All the terms and conditions of the work that is to be performed must also be clearly outlined under this section of the tender document. This section is a must because it ensures clarity, comprehension and transparency in the transactional process.
• The condition of offer: When a bidder or contractor is submitting their offer, they must give their official agreement to the proposed terms and conditions of the contract. The rough timeline of the tendering process as well as the location wherein the submission must be made are both indicated in this section. Other segments that might be included in this section are the submission process, the evaluation process, etc.

These are some of the major sections that you can expect to find in the tender documents issued by most organizations. To know all the relevant information about the latest national and international tenders, you should check the websites of some of the most reputed tendering portals. You can also know about the latest Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania tenders, across various industries, from one of these portals.