Applying for advertised contracts

The contract notice or advertisement will invite suppliers to apply for a procurement opportunity and will state what is required from potential suppliers. Applications for tender documents must be confirmed by letter, fax or email. Potential suppliers will then either be invited to tender (where an open tendering procedure is being followed) or will be sent a pre-qualification questionnaire prior to issuing an invitation to tender. This will be done only if the size, nature, and complexity of the tender warrants this course of action.

Pre-qualification is to assess the potential supplier’s suitability to fulfil the Council’s requirements. It also saves time and effort being unnecessarily spent on completing tenders by a bidder. It is important that potential suppliers provide all requested information in full and respond by the due date.