PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE
Assignment 6
Important Areas of Understanding
Additional Understanding
Critical Review of the Assignment
Tender
The Tender Stage
Guest Lecturer (Douglas Sparks)
The Tender Stage assignment was aimed to replicate the proceedings of a real-world tender adjudication process. We were required to compile a tender submission, in pairs, for a new proposed refurbishment of a school. This aimed to simulate the role that is played by the professional Quantity Surveyor.
This was a two part assignment and the second part was to prepare a tender adjudication report on the three lowest tenders out of the respective paired tender prices from the class.
Requirement of the assignment included:
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Calculating a tender amount (in pairs)
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Create a fictitious construction company identity
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Complete the necessary tender documentation w.r.t. the Offer and Acceptance as per ASAQS_PBA Master Procurement Document
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Create a tender adjudication report based on the three lowest tenders
My partner and I’s tender price was relatively high in comparison to some of the other tender amounts and if the assignment had been a real-world scenario, we wouldn’t have won this tender and got the chance to earn any money, because our tender amount was too high and would’ve been refused.
The reason for price being too high is that we are inexperienced in the field and we over-budgeted for the cost of renovating the school. At this early stage in our Quantity Surveying careers it is difficult to estimate (and calculate) the cost of renovations and it will be an area of expertise that I feel will develop with time.
Whilst completing the requirements of this assignment, there were aspects that I felt could have been helpful in order to gain a complete understanding of the various procedures that are followed in the awarding of a tender. This would include aspects such as signing the contract, dealing with subcontractors and dealing with the whole tender process for a different type of job (e.g. public projects – where your client would form part of the public sector). For instance, it is usual for the principal agent to call for tenders with regards to a private sector client.
However, it usual for both private and public tenders to be executed in the same way, where both require an advertisement to be published in the local newspaper or the government gazette.
The tender process is done fairly and all tenderers require the same initial information as each other, so as to not let any one tenderer have a competitive advantage over another. An un-priced BOQ would be a hugely valuable asset which will provide a sound (and level) basis for a tender to take place fairly.
It is important to note that, with respect to the contract date, all the information is filled in correctly, with attention to detail of the utmost importance. Tenders that were found to have mistakes were disqualified from the tender process – as they would be in a real-world scenario.
Notes from the Guest Lecturer