Bid pre-check
Should you bid? Know before you spend on it.
A handful of numbers and ten questions. One screen gives you a go or no-go, the gates behind it, and an action plan counted back from the deadline.
Tender and firm snapshot
Value, deadline and the three costs. Leave a field blank and the check marks it a data gap instead of guessing.
Standing details, entered once
Turnover, similar work, capacity and funds. Enter them once and save, and they carry over to the next tender.
Mandatory gates
Eight binary gates. There is no not-applicable option on purpose: answering not-applicable on a statutory gate is how an ineligible bid gets submitted.
Only what this tender asks for
Tick an item only if the tender asks for it, then say whether you hold it. Unticked items are left out of the verdict entirely, so they neither help nor harm.
Readiness in the last week
Eligibility alone does not win a tender. Rate each item and the ring on the left shows how competitive the submission would be today.
Action plan
What to do next, counted back from the deadline
Method
How the pre-check decides
Four checks in order. One failed mandatory gate ends the process, because no score on readiness can repair an ineligible bid.
The five arithmetic gates
- Turnover. Average annual turnover of the last three financial years against 30 per cent of the estimated cost by default. The threshold is editable because some departments ask for 40 per cent.
- Similar work. One similar work of at least 40 per cent of the estimated cost, or two similar works of at least 25 per cent each.
- Bid capacity. (2 x A x N) minus B, where A is the largest value of work executed in any one year, N is the completion period asked for and B is the work still on hand. Compared with 1.2 times the estimated cost by default.
- Funds at risk. EMD, tender fee and preparation cost compared with the funds you say are available. An EMD returns to unsuccessful bidders, but only after award, so it still has to be arranged.
- Time. Under three days to closing is a fail, three to five days a caution. Corrigenda usually land in the last week.
Readiness score and weights
Each readiness item carries a weight between two and three. The score is the weighted share of items marked ready, with partly ready counting as half. Items marked not applicable drop out of both numerator and denominator. Below 75 per cent the verdict becomes a conditional go, and below 40 per cent with less than a week to closing the honest answer is no bid for this tender.
Bid or no-bid economics
Expected profit is the expected award value times your expected net margin. Dividing the preparation cost by that profit gives the break-even win rate: the share of tenders like this one you would have to win for the cost of bidding to pay for itself. Above roughly 40 per cent the tender set is thin and the bid is a marketing expense rather than a job.
What it does not do
It is a rule-based screen, not a legal, financial or tax opinion. The tender document, its corrigenda and the department's written clarifications govern every number. It does not verify technical specification compliance, check your rate build-up, or file anything on a portal. Read the memo it produces, check the thresholds against your own tender document and change them if your department differs.
Support. AZ Consultants prepares bid documentation, eligibility packs and project controls for contractors, suppliers and consultants. The pre-check stays free and needs no account. Write through the contact page if you want the full bid pack assembled and reviewed.