Bid Support for Civil Engineering and Construction Specialists for Hull City Council

In February 2021, BWL was approached by PBS Construction (North East) Limited, specialists in civil engineering and construction, who requested our bid writing services to develop a high-quality submission for a tender released by Hull City Council.

The tender was for an NEC4 contract for carriageway and footway reconstruction works in a busy city centre location, as well as all associated works to drainage, kerbs, traffic signs and road markings.

BWL assigned a Bid Consultant with experience in construction bid writing to carry out a full assessment of the tender specification. This ensured the client was not taking on any additional liability and confirmed there were no requirements that would disqualify their submission or put them at a significant disadvantage.

Once the initial review was complete, our Bid Consultant developed an easy-to-understand request matrix, outlining the specific information needed to develop a robust tender response. This matrix was issued to PBS Construction with sufficient time given to review the document, coordinate with internal teams, and compile the information with no negative impact on the submission deadline.

BWL organised structured meetings between our Bid Consultant and PBS Construction’s individual technical leads to understand company processes, highlight key areas in the specification, and further clarify information needed for the response. Once the information was received and captured, the Bid Consultant reviewed all content to storyboard each response for the construction bid writing phase. This ensured they were structured in accordance with each question, as well as incorporating key elements of the tender specification and contract requirements.

BWL has considerable experience in bid writing services for NEC3 and NEC4 contracts, with a clear understanding of their administrative and commercial requirements, including Early Warning Registers, Early Warning Notices, and Compensation Events. Asa result, the allocated Bid Consultant was able to approach each response with an understanding of the Council’s needs to build additional confidence in the client’s internal processes, such as specifying a Quantity Surveyor’s role to manage contract administration.

Additionally, the project required registration with the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS), which generated additional tasks during mobilisation, and also mid-project audits and reviews. Therefore, the Bid Consultant researched the CCS activities and advised the client on how they would impact the project programme. The client was then able to account for activities such as letter drops, local community/business workshops, and auditing dates within their proposed project programme, further exemplifying their understanding of the scheme requirements.

PBS Construction would operate in the role of Principal Contractor for this contract; as BWL is experienced in construction bid writing for clients operating in CDM roles, our Bid Consultant was able to demonstrate PBS Construction’s responsibilities under these regulations, how they ensure compliance, and how the information would be delivered to the Council regarding the established design.

As part of our bid writing services, once all responses were drafted, they were reviewed internally by a Director who ensured all relevant points were covered and the quality of writing was to a high standard. The client was then given the opportunity to carry out a full review of the documentation to ensure all responses were aligned with company policies and processes. As the documents were in a shared folder, any comments or tracked changes electronically added to the document were instantly updated on our internal system, where they were reviewed and actioned as needed.

Several weeks later, the client contacted us to thank BWL and inform us that the submission had been successful, securing the client a contract valued at over £290k.