The timing of Tenders - Award Dates

26 Oct 2016

The timing of Tenders – Award Dates

by Bianca Warwick | posted in: Construction Chat, Uncategorized | 0

Award Dates

I work in the Private Projects Department at Leads 2 Business, following the progress of construction developments. Once a project reaches Tender stage, we endeavour to source the award information for the tender linked to that project. In my nearly 5-year experience in dealing with tenders, I have come to learn about a few of the procedures and regulations that need to be adhered to throughout the tendering process. I have no doubt that there is more to learn, but in this blog post I will talk about some of the processes and procedures that I have encountered in the public tendering process, through my understanding.

Public tenders seem to be awarded after a period of between 90 to 120 days from the closing date, however, this time frame could vary – The award can be made before or after this period, provided that the validity period has not expired.

Once the successful bidder is notified, the tender award is not simply finalised with the contract starting immediately thereafter. A public notice should be advertised to indicate the intention to award. There should also be an appeals period, rejection letters, an appointment letter, a contract, and certain construction regulations to adhere to.

Notice of Award / Intention to Award
Once evaluation and adjudication is finalised and a recommendation has been made, the bids should be opened and read out in public, for transparency purposes. A bid register should be published on the client’s website so that the tenderers are able to view the prices that were submitted by the other service providers, should they not have been able to attend the opening of the bids. Successful and unsuccessful tenderers should then be provided with written notice, and a notice of intention to award should be publicly advertised to allow for possible objections from the other bidders.

Appeals Period
Once the intention to award has been advertised, a certain period should be allowed for objections, if any, from other service providers. A tenderer can appeal the award, usually within 14 calendar days (this may differ) from the date of the letter of intent. Clear instructions for the appeals process should be included in the contract documents.

Letter of Appointment
Once the appeals process has concluded, the successful tenderer is issued with an appointment letter. This does not necessarily mean that the award has been finalised. There could be conditions stipulated in the appointment letter which need to be fulfilled before a binding agreement can come into effect.

Binding Contractual Relationship
The contractual relationship begins once the successful bid has been accepted in writing, followed by a written agreement which is signed by both parties. The award can be deemed finalised at this point.

Notification of Construction Work
Should the contract meet the requirements set out in the construction regulation for the Notification of Construction Work, the main contractor must notify the Department of Labour prior to the commencement of construction. A copy of this notice, among other important documents, must be kept in the Occupational Health & Safety File (OH&S File) on site.

Bear in mind that the processes above are not the only ones to consider before the award date is finalised. There are other processes that an award may have to go through, depending on the client’s requirements, the type of goods or services being procured, and even the value of the contract, among others.

The award is not the end of the process. It signals the beginning of the contract.

Sources:
Durban
Umdoni
Google
Gijima
Durban Gov
KZN Treasury
Polity

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About Bianca Warwick

I had the privilege of joining the Leads 2 Business content team in January 2012. I work in the exciting Projects department, following the progress of construction developments in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.

19 Oct 2016

Closing Date

by Nadine Vermeulen | posted in: Construction Chat, General | 0

Closing Date

When I started working at Leads 2 Business, I had no idea what was in store for me, I had little to none experience in the Building and Construction industry, let alone Tenders. It was all completely Greek to me, however, as the days progressed all the information started to come together like a puzzle, piece by piece. After tons of training and the feeling of my mind going to explode, I could finally look at the complete picture instead of looking at the puzzle pieces one by one.

Learning the nitty gritty of the tender process has been quite interesting, I mean, I always thought that if you want to build something, you go ahead and build something. Not so fast buddy, clearly this was not the case. I soon came to realize that it’s quite a process. From a light bulb moment, to a design, to obtaining the correct professionals and, and, and,…. Phew! The stages include advertising of tenders, sale of tender documents and attendance of compulsory briefing sessions by prospective bidders.

I work in the Leads 2 Quotes Department and deal with the Daily Tender Bill Requests and closing dates became pretty important to me because once a closing date has arrived I cannot obtain a BoQ for a Tender and if a closing date can be so important to me, just imagine the importance of a closing date for someone who is tendering on a Tender.

By the said closing date, the tenderer should have gotten all his ducks in a row. Where required, attend the compulsory site meeting and get the feel of the project ahead. Start getting prices from Vendors to submit with his bid documents and making sure all his returnable documents are in order.

Take note that a closing date is your deadline. That date is the last date you can submit the relevant documents required to place your bid. Your bid has to be in by the specific date and the specific time stated on the Tender notice. Not a second later. If you submit your bid a second later, your bid will not be accepted. This is to avoid any irregularities and corruption.

Unfortunately, if it was compulsory to attend the site meeting, and you did not attend your bid would not be considered as well. The rules for Site Meetings and Closing Dates unfortunately go hand in hand unless otherwise stated.

But don’t let life get the better of you, stock up on the energy drinks and caffeine. Take note of the dates, take note of the meetings. And just like a wedding, save the dates.

About Nadine Vermeulen

I started working at Leads 2 Business in October 2014 in the Leads 2 Quotes Department. I managed all the Daily Tender Bill Requests and followed up on BoQ's for our Daily Tender Subscribers. In 2017, I was promoted to L2Q Assistant and now work with Bill of Quantities for Contractors. 🙂

5 Oct 2016

Tender Timing – Site Inspections

by Claire Donaldson | posted in: Construction Chat, General, Life Lessons | 0

Site Inspections

Tender Timing – Site Inspections

When I do training with any new L2B staff member, it involves the talk through of how we publish tender notices on the L2B website. What goes where, why this format is used etc. The spiel for Site Inspections is as follows “The site inspection date is the most important date on a tender notice. If a subscriber misses the site inspection they can’t tender and we’ve right royally screwed up”.Okay, maybe that last part doesn’t get said aloud. A lot. But it’s the truth. The ability to tender hinges on attendance to a compulsory site insection or site meeting, briefing session or clarification session or information meeting. It goes by many names, but it means the same thing when “compulsory” is used. Hell, even when a tender advert mentions “non-compulsory”; the level of importance doesn’t diminish. These meetings are scheduled for a reason. They are there to offer clarity, and give opportunities for questions to be asked, extensions to be requested, to scope out who else is at the meeting (alot of side eye going on) and to let potential tenderers experience and witness any challenges there might be involved in the contract. These meetings can be quite simple and straightforward with just a few companies, and other times you can have meetings with hundreds of companies being represented. We see some of these site attendance registers, and wonder how these meetings are handled due to sheer number of participants.

Technically, there’s supposed be to a certain amount of time between the first publication of the tender advert and the site meeting, and then again between the site meeting and the closing date. Technically. This doesn’t always happen. There could be a variety of reasons. Very few of them can stand the light of day. But it is a reality that needs to be taken into consideration. Time is of the essence, as they say. Go through your Advisory emails each day, so there’s no surprises concerning missed site meetings. Set reminders for yourself, and Monitor the tender notice to be updated should any of the information change.

Be aware when the tender documents are available, in relation to the site meeting. Sometimes there isn’t a problem, and the tender documents are available right up until the closing date. Other times, this is a huge consideration. If there’s a cut-off date for documents, know that this date will be adhered to and inevitably means that ‘no-chancers’ will be entertained.

Always question any discrepancies in the site inspection. Always question any discrepancy in the tender notice. Period. Whether it’s a contradiction between the advert and the documents, or two different adverts for the same tender, anything. The earlier we can establish what the correct information is, the better off everyone is. Sometimes the problem is glaringly obvious and we get on the phone and sort it out as soon as possible and don’t need to be prompted by our subscribers. Other times, it isn’t obvious.

Should you be attending the meeting and need help with directions, if you need our assistance, please try and ask before the day of the meeting. The stress levels go way up when I’m trying to track down a Municipality staff member who’s half way to the middle of nowhere to get directions to said middle of nowhere site meeting venue. The panic is real, folks. We know the importance of these meetings and how attendance and non-attendance affects our subscribers.

Any and all dates on a tender notice carry weight, and must be taken seriously. If there’s any doubt or confusion, feel free to contact us so that we might assist. Get yourself to those meetings, as they are an excellent way to network, experience the competition and represent your company to Municipalities, Government Departments and Consultants.

“Eight percent of success is showing up” – Woody Allen

“The world is run by those that show up ” Robert Johnson

About Claire Donaldson

I started working at Leads 2 Business in February 2005, and have served as Head of Department of Daily Tenders from 2007 until the present. I oversee both the Daily Tenders South Africa and Africa Departments.

28 Sep 2016

By Road or by Rail ….

by Marlaine Andersen | posted in: Construction Chat, General, Uncategorized | 0

By Road or by Rail

According to Wikipedia : “Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century.”

Transnet Freight Rail is a freight logistics and passenger transport railway. It is the largest freight hauler in Africa.

The company comprises several businesses:
GFB Commercial (General Freight Business) – Transnet’s largest division; handles over 50% of its freight;
Coal Line, serving coal exporters on the Mpumalanga – Richards Bay line; second largest coal railway in the world, delivering 62 million tonnes of coal (also known as “Black Gold”) in the year ending 31 March 2010;
Ore Export Line – dedicated to iron ore transport on the Sishen to Saldanha line;
Luxrail – The operation of the Blue Train, which is designed as a five-star hotel on wheels.

After doing some in-depth research on this subject (thanks Google!) as why transporting of goods is currently preferred by road over rail. I managed to source the following information :

Offering greater flexibility, speed and adaptability than the alternative of rail, transporting goods between cities by road has long been the chosen mode for most industries. However, the impact of heavy vehicles on the roads is considerable and the cost of maintenance and upgrades is increasing as traffic demands grow. Whilst work on the national road network may be keeping up with the demand, not so on the provincial roads.

The benefits of shifting freight from road to rail would have other transport-related spin-offs such as reduced road congestion and accidents, and less maintenance on road surfaces. Costs, particularly for movers of bulk commodities, would also drop. Rail transport also is regarded as three to four times more efficient than road.
But whether South Africa’s rail system will cope with increased freight demand is questionable. If there was a reliable, safe, efficient, and cost-effective rail service that could meet the need of customers then goods would definitely travel by rail. But there isn’t, so that is why 80% of goods are currently transported by road for the efficiency, cost, reliability, tracking and door-to-door service.

Improving the country’s 20 247 km rail network is now a top government priority and rail volumes are expected to grow to about 350 million tonnes by 2020.
According to Transnet’s website: “ Expanding the country’s infrastructure by successfully implementing the Market Demand Strategy (MDS) will see Transnet’s revenue almost triple from R46 billion to R128 billion over the next seven years.” Transnet’s MDS is a fine-tuned strategy to expand and modernise the country’s ports, rail and pipeline infrastructure with a view to achieve a significant increase in freight volumes, particularly in commodities such as Iron Ore, Coal and Manganese over a period of seven years to promote economic growth in South Africa.

Through investment, Transnet Freight Rail will be able to optimise it’s capital portfolio, build a world-class capital execution function and leverage capital procurement and localisation. In accordance with the strategy, the company has committed itself to railing more than 350.3 million tons of cargo a year by 2018 / 2019, the financial year when the MDS will reach its maturity.

Bearing that in mind, If we do a comparison of Fleet Management tenders on our database, compared with Transnet tenders :
Currently on our database we have 11 live tenders for Fleet Management versus 40 live tenders for Transnet.

Rail vs Road…what would your choice be?

References:
http://mg.co.za/article/2015-07-17-investment-still-needed-in-transport-infrastructure
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/transport/2015/01/27/road-is-still-king-of-freight
http://www.transnetfreightrail-tfr.net/MDS/Pages/Strategy.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnet_Freight_Rail

About Marlaine Andersen

Leads 2 Business Advertising Co-ordinator and Digital Designer

14 Sep 2016

Types of Tenders offered by Transnet

by Nadine Vermeulen | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events, General, Uncategorized | 3

Well, well, well, just look at this, my second blog 🙂 (Pat on the back for me). I am excited and nervous at the same time, but let me take a deep breath…relax…and do this. This month I will be chatting about the types of Tenders that are offered by Transnet. OK, this can’t be that bad a topic, can it? I mean, it’s just Transnet right? This will be a quick one, phew, definitely relaxed now, easy peasy lemon squeezy. With my fingers doing the walking I search for the Tenders offered by Transnet on our awesome website, and low and behold, there they are…wait…what!? This can’t be right, looking at the screen with wide eyes and slowly but surely starting to hyperventilate, I begin to realize that this is not going to be as easy as I thought. Upon my lovely search I discovered that we have housed a whopping number of 13 030 Tender Notices for Transnet so far. Breathe…Breathe….Breathe…ok, I am running for the hills! Goodbye….

Ok ok ok, I am back from Bora Bora with a new mindset about this blog, I can do this. Where were we? O yes, that’s right, 13 030 Tender Notices are housed by L2B to date, but what can you expect from the largest and most crucial part of the freight logistics chain that delivers goods to each and every South African through its pipelines and both to and from its ports? Moving cargo onto ships for export while it unloads goods from overseas. So, lets dig a little deeper shall we? Transnet operates an integrated freight transport, formed around a core of five, yes five, operating divisions that complement each other (which we will look at shortly). These are supported by a number of company-wide specialist functions such as Transnet Projects which underpin the group as a whole.

Transnet is made up of the following operating divisions:

Transnet Freight Rail (formerly Spoornet – the freight rail division)
Transnet Rail Engineering (formerly Transwerk – the rolling stock maintenance business)
Transnet National Ports Authority (formerly the NPA – fulfills the landlord function for South Africa’s port system)
Transnet Port Terminals (formerly SAPO – managing port and cargo terminal operations in the nation’s leading ports), and
Transnet Pipelines (formerly Petronet – the fuel and gas pipeline business, pumps and manages the storage of petroleum and gas products through its network of high-pressure, long distance pipelines)

Here are just a few of the Tenders that Transnet offers:

With a variety of Facilities Management, Electrical & Instrument, Plant & Machinery, Mechanical, Materials & Supplies, Infrastructure, Security & Fire, IT & Telecom and plenty more, you can see that Transnet offers a tender for each and everyone, which is only a click away on our website 🙂 www.l2b.co.za

You can contact me on 087 150 1465 or by email nadinev@l2b.co.za #justsaying 😉

Phew, now that wasn’t so hard, was it? So what are you waiting for, get clicking and have a look at those tenders 🙂

About Nadine Vermeulen

10 Aug 2016

Which Tenders are trending in Gauteng and do you know about them?

by Michelle Crosby | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events | 0

Searching for “Tenders”…

An online search is the easiest and quickest way to obtain any sort of inforrmation you are looking for and there are so many ways of searching.

There’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram..But.. as we can see by the results above, this may take a while as you would have to be very specific on what “Tenders” you are looking for ie: Lemon & Herb Tenders, Crispy Tenders, Mild Tenders and judging by the pictures and posts.. KT and Greta may be onto something #justsaying. And if you are anything like me…looking through all this might make you really hungry and now your thought pattern has shifted and the question is now chicken pieces or chicken pops!! hmmmm..oooh wait.. how about those nuggets, the ones with that delish little sweet and sour sauce (tummy rumble). On the other hand these searches may also give you helpful directions to your nearest KFC or chicken fast food restaurant… which in this case, is super helpful as my intention is to get this unforseen hunger taken care of!!

(25 min later…back at the office)

Right, so where were we. OH Yes!…So how do I search for “Tenders” and come up with relevant results? How can I search for trending construction tenders in my region?

Well, there is an easier way (certainly a more direct and to the point way).. a website and online platform that does it all for you where your hunger for chicken will not be awakened and where you can locate recent construction and building tenders with ease.. this platform is Leads 2 Business

Lets visit the website – www.L2B.co.za. Yes, you can access this from a desktop at your offices or onsite using your mobile. Super impressive right? I know.. I should know.. because I work here 😉 So who else better to guide you through this than me?

Our website is full of building and construction information various upcoming projects and tenders in South African and African regions, this keeps you in the know and up to date with current trends and as the professional, contractor, sub contractor or any person involved in this industry, you know how important this is, that is a big advantage. All the details are there, what they are planning, what sort of consultants or builders a client is looking for. Who to contact, yes we give you the details of the people involved so that you can possible get involved.. and sometimes it’s who you know.. and we can help with that 😀

Lets talk about Trending Tenders. On our website we have an awesome feature called Market Intelligence. Here you can view trending tenders or projects in the regions of your choice and if you like graphs and charts, this is perfect for you. http://www.l2b.co.za/L2B-Tenders/Tender-Market-Intelligence

Another nifty feature you can use is Explore Leads http://www.l2b.co.za/L2B-Explore-leads.

Yay, finally, new building and construction tenders! You can click through the recently added tenders using the arrows on the side and to view more information on each one, just click on it. Yep, its that easy.

But you know whats easier??? Not having to do any searches.. yes, you heard me.

When you sign up, you create a profile of the information you want to receive, selecting regions, industry, keywords, tender, projects etc… and thats it… your part done. Sit back, relax and let us do the work for you. Every afternoon we will send you an email directly to your inbox of all the tenders / projects that match your profile. We obtain all this information from various sources such as newspapers, websites, online, the deeds office, town planning notices, word of mouth and many other ways 😉 We have our ways…

Now as a non subscriber you will be able to view some of the information and browse through our tenders and projects that we have online but this is very limited and all the pertinent information is only available to subscribers…

If you want to take the easy route and find out what’s happening where and when, why not take the leap and subscribe today. Contact me on MichelleH@L2B.co.za or download the forms at http://www.l2b.co.za/ by clicking on Subscribe.

Try it for a month, see what happens 😉

About Michelle Crosby

I started my journey at Leads 2 Business in the Directory Department in 2012. I was then promoted to the Private Projects Department in 2014 and was recently promoted to Projects HOD this year.

3 Aug 2016

Which Municipalities produce the top Tenders in Gauteng?

by Claire Donaldson | posted in: Construction Chat, Uncategorized | 0

Gauteng which means “place of gold”, is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa’s first democratic elections on 27 April 1994. It was initially named Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (PWV) and was renamed “Gauteng” in December 1994.

Situated in the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province in South Africa, accounting for only 1.5% of the land area. Nevertheless, it is highly urbanised, containing the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, its administrative capital, Pretoria, and other large industrial areas such as Midrand and Vanderbijlpark. As of 2015, it has a population of nearly 13.2 million, making it the most populous province in South Africa.

As of May 2011 Gauteng is divided into three metropolitan municipalities, and two district municipalities which are further divided into seven local municipalities.

Metropolitan municipalities:

City of Tshwane (http://www.tshwane.gov.za)
City of Johannesburg (http://www.joburg.org.za)
City of Ekurhuleni (http://www.ekurhuleni.gov.za)

District municipalities:

West Rand (http://www.wrdm.gov.za) containing Randfontein (http://www.randfontein.gov.za), Westonaria (http://www.westonaria.gov.za), Mogale City (http://www.mogalecity.gov.za) and Merafong (http://www.merafong.gov.za)
Sedibeng containing Emfuleni, Lesedi and Midvaal

Westonaria Local Municipality is set to amalgamate with Randfontein Local Municipality after the 2016 Local Elections, set to become the new Rand West Local Municipality.

Below are some Tenders and Projects of interest involving the Municipalities of Gauteng:

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality:

DTA 589550 – Construction of Phomolong Multi-Purpose community centre.

PPA 12354 – Tshwane Hammanskraal BPO Park – Phase 1 to 3

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality:

PPA 16853 – Construction of roads and a stormwater management system for Vlakfontein Extension 2 in Gauteng.

PPA 16068 – Upgrading of road Intersections in Matholesville extension 1 and 2 in Gauteng.

City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality:

DTA 588075 – Technical Resource Teams (TRT) consisting of a multi-disciplinary professional team to render full built environment related consulting services

PPA 15240 – Ekurhuleni IRPTN / BRT – Infrastructure (Phase 1)

PPA 17402 – Etwatwa Sewer Pipes

Randfontein Local Municipality:

DTA 585051 – Rehabilitation of Roads in Mohlakeng and Toekomsrus Phase 4

Westonaria Local Municipality:

DTA 591181 – Simunye: Construction of Internal Streets with associated Stormwater for Westonaria Local Municipalty – Phase 7

DTA 591176 – Roads in Zuurbekom (Phase 2)

DTA 591187 – Construction of Westonaria Borwa Switch Station (Phase 4)

Mogale City Local Municipality:

PPA 15434 – Magaliesburg WWCW

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauteng

http://localgovernment.co.za

About Claire Donaldson

20 Jul 2016

Do Private Tenders exist….

by Melanie Miles | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events, General, Uncategorized | 0

Pfft….everything exists…you just need to know where to look!

There is going to be a 30 000m² mall situated on the N3 / London road interchange within Alexandra township, Gauteng. The mall includes 5 entrances, extensive taxi rank facilities, ample parking, two flood-lit mini soccer courts surrounding a 250 seater feature restaurant plus a children’s play area within the food court. And contractors are sitting around scratching their heads wondering “how did I miss this tender”??

Quite simple really. Firstly you have to be invited to tender for it. It is not a Government funded project. It is being done by a Private Developer who already has contractors in mind that will be invited to submit prices. So, yes, Private Tenders do exist. They are just known in construction circles as “Invited Tenders”.

So…. how can you get invited to tender on this mall? You would have to approach the developer or the professional team involved and sell your company to them. But firstly you have to find out who is developing the mall? Who is the architect? Who is the consultant and quantity surveyor…not to mention you have to find the contact details for them too…phew…that is quite a lot of work just to be invited to tender.

At Leads 2 Business we make this easier for the contractor. We source all this information for them. We source these private leads from conceptual stage to procedural stage, where the feasibility and EIA consultant are appointed to ascertain whether the project would be feasible and to ensure environmental authorisation is applied for and received. Yes, yes, we source this information too. Then, once all this is approved the architects are appointed to design the mall. They and the developer put their heads together to see which construction companies they should send the invited tender to. Here you put your foot in the door, a spanner in the works and say hey…what about me…this goes for the vendors too. You can say to the architects and quantity surveyors, well we have this amazing roofing, flooring, walling, windows etc and get your products listed on that BoQ.

It all boils down to … Sell your business. We can only provide the Leads but it is up to you to be “Invited to Tender”.

So to recap…do Private Tenders exist? Yes they do, but do not expect them to come knocking on your door. Go out and find them.

About Melanie Miles

One girl who would rather wear boots than high heels...

8 Jun 2016

Tendering Online – Bringing your A Game

by Carmen Barends | posted in: Construction Chat, Frequently Asked Questions, How To | 0

Tendering Online – Bringing your A Game

Tendering online in 7 (easy-ish steps)

How do you even begin in this process? It can be fairly daunting right? Perhaps starting with what NOT to do is a good way to go. In order to really learn what not to do when tendering online, you should check out How to stuff up a Tender. South Africa is quite au fait with the term Tenderpreneur. In fact, we actually have a top Ten list. Although it is a tongue in cheek kind of humorous thing to refer to (South Africans love to make fun of themselves in a way the rest of the world is baffled by), it is a serious issue in South Africa. Here are a few news articles on the Topic of Tenderpreneurs for you to browse:

http://businesstech.co.za/news/finance/115828/tenderpreneurs-vs-the-rest-of-the-anc-in-south-africa/

http://www.news24.com/Archives/City-Press/Meet-the-R77m-tenderpreneur-20150429

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/a-guide-to-being-a-tenderpreneur-2013-02-01

But I reckon the reason you are here reading this post is because you want to do Tendering online as well. So let’s take a look at some steps to help you with tendering online:

Step One

Get yourself a desktop/laptop/tablet or just simply use a smart device.

Step Two

To be online you need to be hooked up to the World Wide Web. Yes, the Internet. The purveyor of many evils and sometimes, a little surprisingly, just as much good.

Step Three

Sharpen your pencil, because here we go….

You need to find Websites that provide tender notices. Or instead, a service provider that will wonderfully just deliver the notices to your email daily (shameless punting I know – but hey – you are reading our blog).

Store this list of websites on a word document (or just open your email inbox if you are subscribed to our services). Check this daily to see whether there are new tenders that match your criteria.

Step Four

Are you registered on the Supplier Database for the particular Municipality putting out the tender? Check with them if this is required. It would be a pity to submit the perfect bid and not meet this criteria.

Step Five

OK, so you have identified what tenders you wish to bid on. Yay! Half way there. If you want to know what procedures you need to follow, I will leave that to the Pro’s to tell you. Check this link out for tender procedures and more steps to help increase your chances of getting your foot in the door.

Making sure you have the correct documentation is important. Check out a comprehensive guide for making sure you have all your ducks in a row (so to speak).

Step Six

Check where the Site Inspection is (if applicable) and whether it is compulsory. Wouldn’t want to miss out on that!

Step Seven

Sharpen your pencils and do your calculations – put your bid together. Make sure you have all the necessary forms to submit with your bid along with the correct place to submit it by the correct date.

So the big questions is…..

How Do I Win A Tender?

Well, listen up close. If you want to win.. you need to be persistent. Its unlikely to happen on the first tender, so keep at it. Some winning tips may help you though. Ultimately, tendering online streamlines some of your processes, but isn’t so much different from doing it old school in that attention to detail, diligence and persistence will take you a long way to earning a winning bid.

So from the desktop….. to you on the other side of the Web, good luck with your tender. I hope to hear of your success.

About Carmen Barends

Social media adventurer for Leads 2 Business, exploring new frontiers and taking new ground. “Not all those who wander are lost.” JRR Tolkien

1 Jun 2016

How Online Tender Information is changing the industry

by Claire Donaldson | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

The Industry has been changed for awhile now. Getting your tender information online is nothing new, at this point. Numerous companies in South Africa, and around the world, are making tender information accessible online and have been doing so for years. The internet and email are tools that has become so common place now, that there are some that don’t know a life without it. Never mind dial-up. Not being able to use your landline at the same time that someone else was using the internet. Anyone? Anyone remember this? The pained squarks, whistles and beeep-par-beee grrrrrshshshshshshs….as your poor modem searched for lord-knows-what signal down a Telkom line.

When I first started at Leads 2 Business, asking if a potential subscriber had an email address and access to the internet was common place. “No. We do not fax you the 200-odd tenders each day“. Having to explain the difference between email and the internet was also sometimes necessary. This question rarely gets asked now. Nearly everyone has an email address and access to the internet, whether through a smartphone or tablet or home/ work ADSL. I think at this point an email address, smartphone and IG account are being issued along with birth certificates. So what does this mean? Freedom to access information. Any information, whenever you want it. Granted, there are certain disclaimers connected to certain areas of the internet. You have access, just like everyone else. Not everything that is available is true or good or even necessary. Just like people. Lol. It’s a huge market place for information, and everyone is wandering around bumping into weird little facts, and interesting stories and catching up with long lost friends from nineteen-voetsak. Social Media, in all its variants, brings people together. For better or worse. People are living their entire lives online, and their Professional lives as well.

News is no longer a newspaper or TV broadcast at seven o’clock monopoly. News is Shared and Posted and Commented on.

Education and Knowledge has received a revamp, as being sent to “look it up” doesn’t mean the bookshelf of Encyclopedias in your living room anymore (Geez, I hated that. It was just Parent-Speak for “I don’t know”). “Googling” is a verb. It’s the go-to to learn and research and stalk. Search Engines have a say on whether you will be found at all. Who looks at page 2 of a search result? Someone who is desperate, that’s who.

Communication moved from snail mail to the telephone to cellphones to email and LiveChat and Instant Messaging. (Although I do enjoy a letter now and again. That isn’t a bill, of course). Anyone flipped through a Yellow Pages recently? Nope. An internet presence is today’s advertising. It allows any potential clients to find you and therefore use you. No successful business hides from their potential clientèle.

People want what they want when they want it. That’s usually now. Time management is a huge consideration today, as “time is money”. Accessing your tender information online (and receiving it by email) saves money and time. Obviously, if you know who to subscribe with (Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge).

The Government has finally caught on. With the launch of the ePortal last year, the National Treasury is hoping to shore up our five principles of Procurement, namely Transparency, Fairness, Equitability, Competitiveness and Cost-Effectiveness. They’ve bragged about the millions, if not billions, that Government will save by utilising the ePortal for all their Procurement needs. Granted, it’s a bit of a blow to the publishing industry as tender adverts are being pulled from newspapers (but currently these haven’t dried up yet). Making tender documents accessible on the ePortal as well, will save huge document printing costs. Sad for you, if you now have to print these documents but I’m sure if you’re staring down a CIDB 9 contract; you’ll muddle through.

The Centralised Supplier Database (CSD) will ensure that a supplier or contractor or professional that wants to work with the Government, only has to register once. Then Government Departments can see and compare prices for their required goods and services. And this hopefully will ensure that every Government Department is paying the same price for bread and pens. Comparisons in the light of day, can have a major impact. But this is still new. It’s still a work in progress, as clicking through 20 to 30 odd pages of tender adverts multiple times a day is not what I would call efficient or user-friendly. I had a conversation with a subscriber of ours, and her relief when I assured her that I would be doing this for her; was quite comical. The ePortal has a ways to go and that will take time.

I like to think that we’ve done the time. And in any endeavour when you’ve sacrificed time, you gain experience. Endless conversations and emails with subscribers, have shaped our website. Understanding our subscribers’ needs and wants, and empowering them to make the L2B website work for them. Ensuring that they have the opportunity to broadcast their services and products to those who would use them. Ensure that they are listed correctly on our Directory, so no “flipping of pages” is required. Putting one more nail in the coffin of the poor fax, and facilitating their sending out countless Request for Quotes to hundreds of potential vendors. Quick and efficient searches, with relevant results. With all the advantages and benefits of being online, the most important is to use them. And regardless of how innovative the internet gets, nothing can replace the people on the other side (whether the phone or keyword or touch screen) ready to assist and support you.

About Claire Donaldson

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