TENDER PLANNING
Tender programmes and tender support for contractors
Written for the evaluator, built for the job.
For contractors bidding NEC, JCT and FIDIC work. We build the tender programme from your tender documents, in time to price from and ready to become your first programme after award. From £1,500 + VAT.
Demo project, built in Primavera P6. Opens the sample as a PDF.
REPLY WITHIN ONE WORKING DAY
READY FOR YOUR TENDER RETURN DATE
SENIOR REVIEW BEFORE EVERY ISSUE
NEC ACCREDITED
APMG QUALIFIED
P6 / MS PROJECT / ASTA
NEC / JCT / FIDIC
WHO IT'S FOR
Your tender asks for a programme. Your team has a bid to price.
Most bid teams have an estimator and a deadline, not a spare planner. The programme still has to answer the tender, agree with the price and hold up after award.
Required or scored
Built to the format, software and level of detail the tender documents set.
Your planner is on live jobs
We build it while your team runs the work, to the date the bid needs it.
The price needs the programme
Prelims, plant hire and labour peaks come from the durations, so the programme comes first.
A first NEC bid or a new client
We build in what clause 31.2 will ask of the programme after award.
It works the same way for main contractors and specialist subcontractors, in civil and M&E work.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
What goes in with your bid
Every tender programme comes as its native file (P6, MS Project or Asta) with a PDF, in the format the tender documents ask for. Tender support adds the narrative: the sequence, the dates the programme depends on and the time risk allowed for. A resource profile is added when the tender asks for one.
AT TENDER
Your programme goes in with your bid, checked against the tender documents and the price. Tender support adds the narrative.
IF YOU WIN
Under the NEC4 ECC it is the Accepted Programme if the Contract Data identifies it. If not, it becomes your first programme for acceptance, updated rather than rebuilt.
Tender programme in P6, demo project
Tender narrative, demo project
HOW IT RUNS
From the first call to your return date
A call about the tender
Tell us the contract, the return date and what the tender asks for. You don't need to send anything first.
WITHIN ONE WORKING DAY
Scope, fee and issue date
Agreed in writing, with the issue date set early enough for the price to be built from the programme.
WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THE CALL
Built and reviewed
We build it from the tender documents and your method, then an NEC Accredited Project Manager reviews it. Any questions it raises go on your clarification log.
BEFORE EVERY ISSUE
Issued
The native file and a PDF, in the format the tender asks for. With tender support, programme queries are answered until award.
READY FOR YOUR TENDER RETURN DATE
For a single-phase job, the tender programme is ready within 5 working days of the scope being agreed.
THE STANDARD
What every tender programme passes before issue
An NEC Accredited Project Manager checks our tender programmes against these four points. Each one goes out only when it passes all four.
It answers the tender
Every programme requirement in the tender documents, with every date they give.
The critical path is real
Every activity linked, every dependency in the logic and constraints only where the tender sets a date.
Planned Completion stands apart
Planned Completion and the Completion Date shown separately, with the time risk allowance visible and reasoned.
The price and the programme agree
Prelims run to planned Completion and each plant hire matches the work that needs it. The narrative and the method statements describe the same sequence.
A tender programme and narrative we built for a design and construction package went in with the winning bid.
PRICES
Tender programme prices, agreed before work starts
The tender programme answers a tender that asks for a programme. Tender support is for bids whose quality questions score the programme or the delivery approach.
TENDER PROGRAMME
From £1,500
+ VAT
ONE-OFF, FIXED FEE
Logic-linked, with key dates and sequencing. Native file and PDF, ready to submit.
TENDER SUPPORT
From £2,500
+ VAT
ONE-OFF, FIXED FEE
The tender programme with its narrative: the sequence, the dates it depends on and the time risk. Programme queries answered until award, within the agreed scope.
Larger, phased, multi-package or framework bids are scoped. Every fee is fixed and agreed in writing before any chargeable work.
QUESTIONS
Common questions about our tender programmes
How much does a tender programme cost?
A logic-linked tender programme starts from £1,500 + VAT. Tender support, with the narrative and answers to programme queries until award, starts from £2,500 + VAT. Larger, phased, multi-package or framework bids are scoped. Every fee is fixed and agreed in writing before any chargeable work.
How long does a tender programme take?
We reply to every enquiry within one working day and confirm the scope and fee in writing within 48 hours of the first call. We set the issue date then, early enough before your tender return date to price from. For a single-phase job, the tender programme is ready within 5 working days of the scope being agreed.
Will the tender programme become our programme after award?
Under the NEC4 ECC, if the Contract Data identifies the tender programme, it is the Accepted Programme from the Contract Date. If not, a first programme is submitted for acceptance within the period the Contract Data states. It shows everything clause 31.2 lists and the Project Manager accepts it or gives reasons within two weeks. We build the tender programme ready for either, so it is updated rather than rebuilt.
What does the tender narrative cover?
The sequence and why it was chosen, the dependencies you don't control with each assumption stated, the key dates in plain terms and the time risk allowed for. It is written for the people who score the bid, so they can follow the programme without a call.
Do you build tender programmes for JCT and FIDIC bids?
Yes. We have built tender programmes for NEC, JCT and FIDIC contracts. Each one follows the format and software the tender documents set and is ready to become the master programme under JCT or the initial programme under FIDIC, updated rather than rebuilt.
What do you need from us?
Nothing to start the conversation. Once the scope is agreed, we work from the tender documents, your method and any quantities or durations your estimator already holds. They are used for your bid only.
PRACTICAL ADVICE