However, whatever approach you take it is important to establish a good working relationship with all potential contractors at the outset. Encourage contractors to visit site, and provide them with as much information about your needs as possible to ensure you get the right result.

Options for tendering

• Single contractor partnership : Here you select a contractor early in the process (typically after producing a baseline specification) and they work with you to develop the design, refine the specification and install the system for you. This has potential disadvantages in terms of not obtaining the most cost effective solution:
  
  • The project will only be as good as the contractor, who will have their own biases and prejudices – it is critical that you identify a good one at the outset.
  • You lose flexibility and the competitive element when procure any equipment required as the contractor will probably have preferred suppliers.
  • The contractor may be tempted to think short term and be keen to move onto the next job.
  
  However, if your project is relatively small, you have confidence in a given contractor, and you wish to progress the implementation quickly, this could be an appropriate option for you.

  
  

• Competitive tender : This involves asking several – typically three – contractors to tender for work against your specification. This has the advantage of introducing a competitive element to the pricing process. However, there are also disadvantages:
  • You need to have a tight baseline specification against which they can bid.
  • Contractors may be driven to compete on the basis of price only, and quality and efficiency of the solution may suffer. You need to be clear up front as to the basis of your tender evaluation.
  • You need to allow sufficient time for the contractors to prepare their bids – if possible identify this in discussion with the potential contractors before sending out the specification.
    
  
  If you have a large, complex project it is likely to be more appropriate to go to competitive tender, and it may be necessary to prepare a formal Invitation to Tender (ITT) document. The invitation to tender document will include at its core the specification document you have produced but will also include information on contractual terms, timing of the tender process etc.
  
  You can use the Carbon Trust’s template ITT though if you have an in house procurement team they may have their own process and format that should be adopted for this process.

Next: Bid evaluation
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