Finding a tender from the government or other private institutions is great for entrepreneurs. The tenders typically come with large amounts of capital and can help entrepreneurs establish themselves. The tricky part when it comes to tenders is knowing how to find them online.
A tender is an issued offer to do work or supply goods at a fixed price. The process of tenders is designed to ensure that the work to be done is given out in a fair way to anyone who qualifies. There are policies in place as guides on how to make decisions on which tender to accept.
Most people go for tenders to provide additional income for themselves and to fund their businesses. If you want to know where and when the tenders are open, then this article is for you.
In this article, we look at how you can find tenders online and what you need to apply.
Tender Procedures
The below procedure list is typically used for government tenders which are more popular in South Africa.
1. All advertised tenders indicate that:
- Where any interested applicants can collect the required documents.
- Where and when briefings on the tender will be held (when applicable).
- Where completed forms and proposals need to be submitted.
2. The tender advert will include details on the closing date and time for submissions. Late submissions are not accepted.
3. When submitting a tender, it must be accompanied by:
- A proposal addressing the requirements specified in the bid document.
- All associated standard bidding documents (SBD) forms are attached to the bid document.
- A valid tax clearance certificate issued by the South African Revenue Services (SARS).
These steps are there to guide you so that your tender bid is comprehensive and comes with all the required documents.
How Tenders are Awarded
Once you have submitted your tender bid, you will need to wait to find out if your bid was successful. The award process is as follows:
- All proposals are evaluated on functionality and further in terms of the 80/20 or 90/10 preference points system. In this case, 80/90 points will be for price only and 20/10 points for the B-BBEE level of contribution.
- A bid will not advance to the second round if it does not meet the benchmark percentage for functionality.
- The prices of the submitted bids will be comparatively rated and given pricing points.
- Preference points are calculated after prices are brought to a comparative basis.
- Points that are scored are rounded off to two decimal places.
- The bidder that gets the highest number of points is awarded the tender.
- If there are two bids with the same number of points, the tender will be awarded to the bidder scoring the highest number of points for specified goals.
If you are successful, you will be notified by e-mail. If you need more information, you can contact the consultant listed on the bid document, via e-mail or call (+27)12 473 0093.
Where to Find Tenders Online
Tenders are listed in multiple places online. Most times you will see them on government websites for the different departments. Some of the most popular websites include:
TendersOnTime
TendersOnTime provides businesses with listings for tender opportunities. The platform covers a range of sources such as online tender sites, tender bulletins, auction sites, bidding websites, tender websites, e-procurement tender lists and portals of all procurement departments.
The company publishes more than fifty thousand notices on the platform. Additionally, TendersOnTime tracks a hundred thousand purchasers and five hundred newspapers for daily updates.
National Tender Bulletin
The National Tender Bulletin is a list of available government tenders. The list is published by the government on www.gov.za every Friday. The timing of the lists is dependent on when it is received from the Government Printing Works.
SA Tenders
SA Tenders is a free South African tender website. The platform is subscription-based and requires users to create an account. Once the account is created, you can select up to five categories from which you will receive the latest tender news directly to your inbox.
eTenders Publications
eTender Publications is an initiative by the Chief Procurement Officer. The platform publishes all tender notices, award notices and other procurement-related lists. On the platform, you can search for specific tenders under different filters such as tender type, tender status, region and sector.
Using this article you can start making sure you have all the necessary documents needed to apply for tenders. You can now also look at multiple platforms to find the tenders that best fit you.
For any advice on how to secure a tender, visit SME Advice to speak to one of our experts.
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