All submissions will be reviewed for completeness and compliance with the specification and our stated requirements. Incomplete and non-compliant tenders will be rejected.

When selecting a supplier, we look for who will provide the greatest economic advantage. We assess this by considering both price and quality.

The price and quality scores will then be adjusted according to the weighting stated in the documentation and added together to give an overall score. The highest scoring bidder or bidders will be selected.

Price evaluation

Price considerations may be addressed by requesting a lump sum, a schedule of rates or a pricing adjustment percentage. Usually this is evaluated by assigning the cheapest price a 100% score, with other tenders being allocated a pro-rata score.

We sometimes apply a process of evaluating price and then shortlisting the top-scoring suppliers to evaluate on quality; where this is the case it will be clearly defined in the tender documentation.

The pricing model will be double checked by an independent person to ensure no errors have been made.

Quality evaluation

Evaluation of quality is addressed by way of a number of questions to which suppliers will be required to submit method statements. The questions seek to identify how the tender will address various elements of the specification, and the skills and experience the supplier will bring to the contract.

The statements given in the chosen tender submission become part of the contract, and failure to deliver is treated as a material breach of contract.

Each question will be given a value to show its importance to the contract, as a percentage. Suppliers are advised to consider these values when submitting a tender – questions worth more should have correspondingly comprehensive responses. The total value of all questions will be 100%.

Quality evaluation will be carried out by at least three people, with the scores collated and moderated and an average calculated.  Each score will have an explanatory statement that can be used to provide feedback.

Additional checks and requirements

Where the delivery of a contract is regulated or requires accredited skills, we reserve the right to request evidence of suitability during the evaluation period.

We reserve the right to carry out credit checks on suppliers tendering for contracts.  Where the scores are poor or suggest high risk, we will require an explanation and evidence to mitigate those risks. Where the financial concerns are deemed serious enough, mandatory exclusions will be applied and we will not award a contract to that supplier.