Bidding and Tendering
Tendering is a structured competition to select a contractor on defined terms. Understand the sequence: invitation (open, selective, or negotiated), issue of tender documents, a clarification period, a fixed submission deadline, opening, evaluation, and award. Know the difference between a tender (an offer) and an invitation to tender (an invitation to treat); a tender does not become a contract until acceptance is communicated. Key documents include the invitation, instructions to tenderers, form of tender, conditions of contract, drawings, specifications, bills of quantities or schedule of rates, and forms of security (bid bond, performance bond).
Evaluation may be lowest price or most economically advantageous tender (MEAT), weighting quality against price. Watch for traps: a late tender is normally rejected regardless of merit; a qualified or non-compliant tender may be disqualified; errors in arithmetic are often corrected by the stated rule (unit rates prevail over extensions); and clarifications must go to all tenderers equally to preserve fairness. Collusive bidding (cover pricing, bid rotation) is unethical and usually illegal.
Rule of thumb: compare tenders only after confirming each is compliant and priced on the same basis. If scope or quantities differ, adjust to a common basis before ranking.
Worked example: Three bids: A $1,000,000 compliant; B $950,000 but excludes a $60,000 provisional item; C $980,000 with a stated arithmetic error of $15,000 in the client's favour. Adjusted: A $1,000,000; B $1,010,000; C $965,000. C is lowest on a like-for-like basis.