Our Tendering department

What is a tender?

A tender is an offer made by a contractor to a client to carry out work. To do this, the contractor has to analyse all the work requested in order to estimate the price, materials and human resources required to carry it out. The contracting authority then ranks the tenders either according to price alone, or according to price and technical brief when one is required.
A tender is always composed in more or less the same way. It includes specifications, a schedule of positions, plans and various reports and consultation documents.

What is the role of Félix Giorgetti's Tendering department?

Our mission is to respond to invitations to tender with the aim of winning a contract and thus generating business for the company. This involves estimating, upstream, the costs of a construction project in terms of materials, equipment (formwork, machinery, etc.) and human resources. 

"Our challenge is to be competitive while remaining profitable."

We give a technically sound price, which is then submitted to the heads of the civil engineering or structural works departments and to management. The sums involved are so large that it's essential that they be informed. The price we present is therefore the result of a joint effort.

Once the tender has been won, our work doesn't stop there. We organise a handover meeting with the operational teams to pass on to them all the information studied in the tender, such as the bill of sale with the selling prices, the list of subcontractors, the schedules and the technical brief. We also prepare the file with all the positions for monitoring the site for quantity surveyors, purchasing and invoicing.

We are always on the lookout for new opportunities, many of which are of a public nature. We subscribe to an online platform that alerts us whenever a call for tenders related to our sector is published.
Sometimes, before we can respond to a call for tenders, we have to complete an application file. This is a pre-selection process designed to show the contracting authority that we are capable of fulfilling the contract, and for which we have to indicate our balance sheets, our annual turnover, our references for similar projects and our workforce.

Generally speaking, when a tender appears, we first read the contract notice, a summary that sets out the nature of the work, the deadlines, the main quantities, and so on. 
Our selection criteria will depend on the geographical location of the work and our site and manpower planning.

What are the stages in a price study?

We read the tender documents. We analyse the various parts, the schedule of positions and the plans. We then make a site visit - in some cases these are compulsory - which will enable us to plan ahead, to see access to the site, the areas available for installations, and constraints such as high-voltage lines or railway tracks that may have an impact on our organisation.
We also have to consult with outside firms, requesting quotes for specific projects that we carry out with specialist companies, for subcontracting and supplies.
For some projects, it is necessary to carry out quantity surveys, in which case we call in the relevant department.
We select the methods to be used, and estimate the resources required in terms of human resources, materials and equipment.
At the time of pricing, all the positions are brought together and consolidated with the feedback from the consultations. We have to be very meticulous, because these documents become contractual.
In a bid, there are also administrative selection criteria, and we have to reach a minimum turnover or headcount limit, and provide proof of our insurance, for example. Customers may also ask us to provide references for projects similar to the contract. You have to be careful to fill in this section correctly, because any omissions or mistakes will be disqualifying.

Most responses are now made electronically. A few hours after the file is submitted, we receive a report on the prices proposed by the various candidates.

If there is a technical brief, we first receive our score for the price, and later we are informed of the final decision based on the evaluation of the price and technical criteria. The customer reserves a period of time to study the winner's file and ensure that the bid is compliant. If it is invalidated, he moves on to the next one on the list.
Finally, we regularly have to provide the client with supporting documents (administrative, technical or financial) or additional information to help them understand the project. For example, he may ask us for a price sub-detail or a breakdown of our unit prices.

Do you have to work with other departments within the company?

Yes, in particular, we call on the Methods department to put together the technical brief. The Communication and Marketing department produces the reference sheets, a technical document presenting our achievements, an essential document for our administrative files.

What is a technical brief? What role does it play in the tender?

It's a set of documents that proves the technical quality of the bid and our understanding of the market and its constraints. It includes visuals such as graphics and plans, as well as a Gantt chart (showing all the stages over time) and an editorial section covering planning, methods, work execution, QSE and hygiene criteria and the planned organisation (number of people working on the site). This is a major part of the process of responding to a tender, and involves a great deal of teamwork.
The technical brief plays a vital role in the call for tenders. More and more clients are asking for them. It often weighs up the price and can account for 30 or even 40% of the score. Our price may therefore be higher than one of our competitors, but it's the brief that will be decisive. We've already come second or third on price and won the tender. This was the case for the PC8 cycle path in Esch, for example.

The message we want to get across in our bids is that Félix Giorgetti is a partner you can trust.