Typical Tender Process

As per our Procurement Thresholds low value/less critical requirements are procured via a quotation process. 

For higher value, more critical requirements a formal tendering process takes place.  Where an existing Framework does not fit our requirements, the University will conduct the competition in the open marketplace.  The stages in a typical Restricted Tender Process are below.  (Please note,  the stages are different for other Processes).

The University of Wolverhampton needs to be satisfied that its suppliers are financially robust, sufficiently insured and hold the relevant qualifications/accreditations, in addition to having suitable experience and capacity to perform the contract.  These requirements are assessed through pre-qualifying question. Above Wider Public Sector Thresholds, the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) review is made up of Qualification Pass/Fail Questions and Weighted Marked Questions. Pass/Fail requirements are built from the standard Crown Commercial Services (CCS) question set for Goods/Services requirements or PAS91 and ConstructionLine for Works. 

All Tenderers must achieve a Pass for each requirement in the Qualification element in order for their submitted Weighted Marked Questions to be evaluated. Once bids have been evaluated as per the Award Criteria stated in the PQQ Documentation, bidders are either taken forward to the next stage or notified that they have been unsuccessful. Those who are unsuccessful are given information surrounding the reason for the decision to support their future tender opportunities. All Procurement documentation must be available to Tenderers at the Qualification stage so the documentation will have been shared at the initial stages and Tenders can make an informed judgement whether to express an interest and complete the PQQ.

Successful suppliers at stage 1 will then start the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage. The ITT will assess how suppliers meet the needs of the requirement with their proposed solution and how much the service, goods or works will cost. Evidence will be requested as part of the award section to confirm the capability of the supplier. The ITT documentation will detail the Award Criteria in terms of informing suppliers how their bid will be evaluated and which parts are most important to the bid. 

Suppliers’ responses will be evaluated in accordance with the Award Criteria detailed in the ITT Documentation. An appropriate Stakeholder Panel evaluate the technical responses independently and apply the score in accordance with the Award Criteria including a robust justification for each score awarded.  Procurement conduct an internal evaluation consolidation meeting to review the scores and justifications with the Panel and agree a consensus score for the bids.

Once the Award of Contract is approved internally, all suppliers who submit a bid will be notified of the evaluation outcome through the Bravo Solution portal. 

Notification of Award Letters are issued at the start of the mandatory standstill period for formal Public Sector Tenders and at the start of the voluntary standstill period for Tenders below the Wider Public Sector Threshold.

We provide full feedback on tenders in the Notification of Award letter, if you have further question please refer to the following debrief process:Procurement Debriefing Process

The University of Wolverhampton will not proceed to the next stage of awarding the contract until this period has ended. During this time, Tenderers have the opportunity to request further information or a debriefs about the tender process and outcome if required. 

If no formal challenge to the process has been received during the 10 day standstill period the contract award can go ahead. The winning contractor is sent an Award Conclusion Letter confirming the end of the standstill period and is issued with Contract documentation.

Contractors will be monitored and managed as per the specification provided within the tender process.