How to Tender

HOW TO COMPLETE A TENDER OR BID

Each tender or bid advert indicates where you can collect the documents you will need to fill in to submit your tender, and where they should be submitted. The advert also indicates a closing date. This is a very firm deadline; no late tenders can be accepted.

NB: Look out for any compulsory site meetings or any other special conditions of contract as non-compliance can disqualify you.

Tenders or bids have to be in writing. Each tender has a number of associated forms which must accompany the tender you submit. The specific forms you require for your tender should be listed in the tender documentation. You should consider very carefully how you fill in these forms. Get advice if you are unsure of anything.

Once you have all of the forms completed and signed, place your tender in an envelope with the tender number on it and deliver it before the closing time to the place specified when the tender was advertised.

1. National and Provincial Tender Forms or Bid Documents
2. Western Cape Provincial Construction Tender Forms
3. Local Government Tender or Bid Forms

1. NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL TENDER FORMS OR BID DOCUMENTS

Each tender or bid has a number of associated forms, which must accompany the tender or bid you submit. These used to be known as "tender forms" and are now called "bid documents". These bid documents have the prefix "SBD" and "WCBD" for national and provincial bid documents respectively.

The following forms are usually required for national and provincial tenders (except for provincial construction tenders). Please note that these are just examples and cannot be printed and used for submitting bid applications.

• Invitation to Bid SBD1/WCBD1
  In this document you agree to be bound by the tender or bid terms and conditions.

• Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) Requirements SBD2/WCBD2
  It is a condition of bid that the taxes of the successful bidder must be in order, or that satisfactory arrangements have been made with South African Revenue Service (SARS) to meet the bidder's tax obligations. In order to meet this requirement bidders are required to complete in full the form TCC 001 "Application for a Tax Clearance Certificate" and submit it to any SARS branch office. The TCC requirements are also applicable to non-South African bidders/ individuals who wish to submit bids. The original TCC must be submitted together with the bid.

• Pricing Schedules SBD/WCBD 3.1 or 3.2 or 3.3
  WCBD 3.1 is used when only firm prices will be accepted. Non-firm prices, including prices subject to rates of exchange variations, will not be considered.
  WCBD 3.2 is used when price adjustments will be allowed at periods and times specified in the bid documents.
  WCDB 3.3 is used when the department intends procuring professional services.

• Declaration of Interest, Declaration of Bidder's Practices and the Certificate of Independent Bid Determination SBD4/WCBD4
  The bidder or his/her representative must declare his/her position in relation to the evaluation/adjudication committee to avoid possible allegations of favouritism. The Declaration of Bidder's Practices document is used by institutions in ensuring that when goods and services are being procured, all steps are taken to combat the abuse of the supply chain management system. The Certificate of independent Bid Determination ensures that when bids are considered, reasonable steps are taken to prevent any form of bid rigging. This form must be completed and submitted with every bid.

• Industrial Participation Programme SBD5/WCBD5
  Any contract having an imported content equivalent to or exceeding US$10 million has an industrial participation (IP) obligation, which must be addressed in the tender.

• Preference Certificate
  Form 6.1(a), the preference claim form for 80/20 (rand value up to R1 000 000) and form 6.1(b), the preference claim form for 90/10 (rand value above R1 000 000) contain general information and each serves as a claim for Historically Disadvantaged Individuals (HDI) preference points as well as a summary for preference points claimed for the attainment of other specified goals.

• Contract Form SBD/WCBD 7.1 or 7.2
  This is the contract that binds the parties should the tender be successful. There is a different form for purchases of good, services or works (7.1) and sale of goods or works (7.2)

There may be other forms to fill in for a specific tender or bid. These should be included with the tender or bid documents that you receive. However, a typical tender or bid package will probably have the following documents:

• SBD1/WCB1
• SBD2/WCBD2 (Tax Certificate)
• SBD3.1/WCBD3.1 (Firm Pricing: Purchases)
• SBD3.3/WCBD3.3 (Pricing Schedule: Professional Services)
• SBD4/WCBD4 (Declaration of Interest, Declaration of Bidder's Practices and Certificate of Independent Bid Determination)
• SBD6.1(a)/WCBD6.1(a) (Preferential Procurement Points)
• SBD6.1(b)/WCBD6.1(b) (Preference Procurement Points)
• SBD7.1/WCBD7.1 (Purchases of good, services or works)
• SBD7.2/WCBD7.2 (Sale of goods or works)
• Annexure A - GCC (General Conditions of Contract) draws special attention to certain general conditions applicable to government bids, contracts and orders, and ensures that clients are familiar with the rights and obligations of all parties involved in doing business with government.

2. WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL CONSTRUCTION TENDER FORMS

The following forms are used for construction-related tenders:

• Tender cover
• Tender contents

Part T1: Tendering procedures

• T1.1: Tender notice and invitation to tender.


• Alerts tenderers to the nature of the supplies, services, engineering and construction works required by the employer. This document contains further information such as the closing date and time of the bid, the address where bids must be submitted and notification of any site or clarification meetings.

  T1.2: Tender data.

• States the applicable conditions of the tender and associated tender-specific data that establish the rules from the time that tenders are invited to the time that a tender is awarded.

Part T2: Returnable documents

• T2.1: List of returnable documents.


• Ensures that everything the employer requires a tenderer to submit with his tender is included in, or returned with, his tender submission.
• T2.2: Returnable schedules.


• Contains documents that the tenderer is required to complete for the purpose of evaluating tenders and other schedules which upon acceptance become part of the subsequent contract.

Returnable Documents:

Again, there may be additional forms to complete, which will be included with the tender documents.

3. LOCAL GOVERNMENT TENDER OR BID FORMS

At local level, each council may have its own forms, which you should enquire about directly.

AWARDING OF TENDERS OR BIDS

The document SBD/WCBD6.1 explains how tenders or bids are decided. WCBD says:

• The bidder obtaining the highest number of points will be awarded the contract.
• Preference points shall be calculated after prices have been brought to a comparative basis.
• Points scored will be rounded off to two decimal places.
• In the event of equal points scored, the bid will be awarded to the bidder scoring the highest number of points for specified goals.

Smaller mistakes or omissions may or may not disqualify you from the tender process; this is a question of interpretation of the tender rules. For example, if the rules say "may disqualify" rather than "must disqualify" for a specific mistake, it is up to the official doing the check to decide whether the mistake is important enough to this tender to disqualify you.

The next phase looks at compliance of the product or services with the specifications and price. Those which do not comply with the specifications are removed from the list, while all the tenders which comply with the specifications are listed in order of price. Those that fall in the lowest price group are then considered in a lowest price tender list.

It is in this phase that the preference points come into play. All the preference points claimed by those on the list of lowest price tenders are first verified. Then the formula is applied to determine who of those on the lowest price list with verifiable points come out with the best result on points, and therefore who should be awarded the contract.

In other words, preference points only come into play after the most expensive tenders have first been excluded. This is to ensure that the most expensive options do not win solely on points, and also to speed up the process, as only those on the lowest price list have their preference points verified.

The Tender Bulletin shows who has won previous tenders, listing the price and other factors taken into account in awarding the tender.