Read the tender documents, not just the notice

1. What the documents had that the notice didn't

• A different deadline. A parish council's notice gave Monday the 16th as the closing date. Its documents said quotes must arrive by noon on Friday the 13th. The 16th was the day the envelopes would be opened. A firm going by the notice would have missed it by three days.
• A compulsory site visit that had already happened. A hospital boiler replacement excluded any firm that hadn't visited the site. The visits were in the first week of the tender. The notice gave the closing date, but the documents gave the visit dates, and they were already over for anyone who found the tender late.
• An earlier first stage. A town council's stone wall repair gave 18 December as its closing date. That was the second stage. The first stage, a short expression of interest that decides who gets the tender pack, closed on 6 November. Miss that, and there is no second stage for you. How to write an expression of interest.
• Visit dates in the first week. A pump track tender closing in January offered site visits with councillors on three mornings in early November. Two months to write the bid, but less than a week to book the visit.

None of these were mistakes by the firms. The notice simply doesn't carry everything, and sometimes it's wrong.

2. Where to find the documents

• Attached to the notice. Some buyers attach the pack to the notice itself, and anyone can download it. It's the minority: of about 110 open tenders I checked on 31 October, 9 had documents attached.
• On the buyer's portal. Most packs sit on the buyer's own e-tendering portal, behind a free supplier login. The notice names the portal. Register early, because some portals take a day or two to approve a new supplier. Which portal each buyer uses.
• From the clerk. Small parish and town council jobs sometimes have no portal at all. The notice gives an email address, and the clerk sends the pack.

3. The five things to check first

1. The real deadline and how to submit. In a tender with several stages, find the date for each one (how stages work). The date, the time of day, and whether it means received or sent. Check the method too: a portal upload, an email, or a sealed envelope by post or by hand. Paper bids are still common for small councils.
2. Site visits. Are they compulsory? On which dates? Do you have to register first? A missed compulsory visit usually means you can't bid at all.
3. The questions deadline. Usually one or two weeks before the closing date. After it, the buyer may not answer, so ask early.
4. How the marks are split. Price against quality, and the weight of each quality question. If references are 20% and method statements 5%, spend your time on the references.
5. Pass or fail rules. Insurance levels (public liability of £5 million or £10 million is common, plus employer's liability and sometimes professional indemnity), turnover, accounts, accreditations. Fail one and the rest of the bid isn't marked.

4. Then the things that change your price

• How you'll be paid. Per visit, per month, or a fixed sum. One grounds contract paid only for visits actually made, at the rate quoted, and cut visits if the total went over budget.
• The contract terms. Retention, payment days, who insures the existing building, how long prices must stay valid (often 90 days).
• Hidden format rules. Word limits, page limits, blind marking (no logos or company names on designs), printed drawings at a set size.

5. Then decide

Once you've read the five things, the go or no-go is usually clear: can you meet every pass or fail rule, can you make the site visit and the deadline, and are the marks weighted towards your strengths? If the answer to any of those is no, a quick no saves days of writing. How to price a tender and a bid checklist cover the next steps.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Each tender's own documents set its rules: always read them in full.