I am always confused when I see people use that word on this forum when they are talking about getting a price from their builder. From memory, this is mostly used in Metricon builds -- I think. I've worked for several business-to-business and government organisations, who tender all the time as a way to win work in a competitive market and ...
The tendering process is:
- you advertise what you want by publishing a detailed specification or scope of works and give a closing date that tenders (responses) must be received
- You review all the tenders you receive to assess who would be the best for the job/supply
- You choose a 'winner' - this varies, you might short-list and negotiate
- You let all bidders know the result ie. successful or unsuccessful
The tender includes:
- Background info on the tenderer (company submitting the tender)
- A story about why they would be the best for the work/why you should choose them/how good they are - ie. 'pick me, pick me!'
- Referees and examples of similar work they've performed
- How they intend to do the work (to demonstrate they are qualified/clever at what they do)
- Price! Hello!!!!
- Other relevant stuff important to you eg. their insurance cover should anything go wrong, or anything else you tell them you need to know to check their credibility.
Does Metricon or other builders who use the term 'tender' allow you to put their plan out to an open market? ie invite any other builder to submit a proposal/price to build their design? If not it seems they are misusing the word - to me. You can however, put your own design and specifications out to an open market = 'tender'.
When they say 'tender' what do they mean? Quote? Estimate? What?
This has been bugging me for ages As you can tell by the effort I've put into this post!
TIA