Quality of tender documents in the UK
Samuel Laryea
Lecturer, School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, P.O. Box 219, Reading, RG6 6AW, UK
REFERENCE
Laryea, S. (2011) Quality of tender documents: case studies from the UK, Construction Management and Economics, 29(3), 275-286
ABSTRACT
Tendering is one of the stages in construction procurement that requires extensive information and documents exchange. However, tender documents are not always clear in practice. The aim of this study was to ascertain the clarity and adequacy of tender documentation in practice. Access was negotiated into two leading UK construction firms and the whole tender process was shadowed for 6-7 weeks in each firm using an ethnographic approach. A significant amount of tender queries, amendments and addenda were recorded. This showed that quality of tender documentation is still a problem in construction despite the existence of standards like Co-ordinated Project Information (1987) and British Standard 1192 (1984 and 1990) to help in producing clear and consistent project information. Poor quality tender documents are a source of inaccurate estimates, claims and disputes on contracts. Six recommendations are presented to help in improving the quality of tender documentation. Further research is needed into the recommendations to help improve the quality of tender documents, perhaps in conjunction with an industry-wide investigation into the level of incorporation of CPI principles in practice.
Keywords: case study, contractor, tender documentation, tendering, UK
About Me
- Samuel Laryea
- Johannesburg, Guateng, South Africa
- I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Construction Economics and Management at University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. In the past, I have been a Lecturer in the School of Construction Management and Engineering at the University of Reading, UK (2010-12); and also a Post-Doctoral Academic Fellow (2009) and Graduate Teaching Assistant (2008). I completed my PhD at University of Reading in Dec 2008 on the relationship between risk and price in tendering. Prior to transferring to Reading in Jan 2008, I was an MPhil/PhD student at KNUST, Ghana (2004-07). I gained my undergraduate degree in Building Technology from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana in 1998-2002. During school days, my peers elected me to serve in several leadership positions including SRC President at KNUST. From 1994-96, I attended Suhum Sec. Tech. School after basic education at schools in Ghana and Nigeria. I did my National Service with the Fanteakwa District Assembly in 2002-03. After that, I worked at the Development Office of KNUST until I started my PhD in 2004. I am a co-organiser for the WABER Conference and an author of 30+ research publications.
Showing posts with label case study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label case study. Show all posts
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Monday, 10 May 2010
Quality of tender documents in the UK
Samuel Laryea
School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AW, UK
Tender documents form the basis of a contractor’s bid proposal upon which a contract may be let and executed. However, they are not always clear in practice. Standards like Co-ordinated Project Information and BS 1192 were introduced in the 1980s to help in producing clear and consistent project information. However, significant shortcomings still characterise tender documents. The whole tender process was shadowed in two of the top 20 UK construction firms using participant observation, interviews and documentary analysis. This helped to investigate the tender process and nature of tender documents. Up to 90 tender query (TQ) responses and nine tender addenda (TA) were issued in response to contractor queries relating to unclear specifications, missing information, errors and incomplete drawings. Most TQ responses and TAs contained changes that had significant implication for tender strategy and submission. However, more than 50% of them were received in the last two weeks of the tender process where contractors had little time to respond effectively. The findings reveal significant differences between prescriptions in standards and reality. Recommendations in the study should be adopted to improve quality of tender documents and thus help in minimizing inaccurate estimates, disputes on contracts and achieving more efficient tendering processes.
Keywords: case study, contracting, tender documents, tendering, UK
School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AW, UK
Tender documents form the basis of a contractor’s bid proposal upon which a contract may be let and executed. However, they are not always clear in practice. Standards like Co-ordinated Project Information and BS 1192 were introduced in the 1980s to help in producing clear and consistent project information. However, significant shortcomings still characterise tender documents. The whole tender process was shadowed in two of the top 20 UK construction firms using participant observation, interviews and documentary analysis. This helped to investigate the tender process and nature of tender documents. Up to 90 tender query (TQ) responses and nine tender addenda (TA) were issued in response to contractor queries relating to unclear specifications, missing information, errors and incomplete drawings. Most TQ responses and TAs contained changes that had significant implication for tender strategy and submission. However, more than 50% of them were received in the last two weeks of the tender process where contractors had little time to respond effectively. The findings reveal significant differences between prescriptions in standards and reality. Recommendations in the study should be adopted to improve quality of tender documents and thus help in minimizing inaccurate estimates, disputes on contracts and achieving more efficient tendering processes.
Keywords: case study, contracting, tender documents, tendering, UK
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