Partner Article

Completing a pre-qualification questionnaire. Are you ready?

Before diving into the stressful task of completing a pre-qualification questionnaire, it is wise to take a step back and make sure you have everything you need to get started.

Once you have read the PQQ specification and requirements, and read them again, you will then need to make a bid or no bid decision based on the next few paragraphs.

Contract notices can sometimes be very vague when describing the required services, so your initial thought that your company could fulfil these requirements may be shattered when you receive the PQQ document. Therefore it is very important that you make this decision earlier rather than when you are halfway through completing the document.

Is your company’s annual turnover adequate for the contract? If the contract value is over 25-33% of your annual turnover then you may be seen as a higher risk than other companies.

You will also need to provide at least three years of full company accounts, along with bankers references. If you cannot provide these you will need to provide as much information as possible or rethink your bid decision depending on the requirements.

Insurances also play a big part in completing a successful PQQ. Holding the relevant insurances such as liability and professional indemnity makes buyers more comfortable working you and it is good practice to have these in place.

You also need to make sure that you have all of the policies and procedures in place that the PQQ is asking for, such as Health and Safety, Equal Opportunities, Environmental, and quality procedures. There are lots of different types of policies and procedures out there that may or may not apply to your business. However if the PQQ is asking for it, you need it. Your policies also need to be up to date, make reference to relevant acts and regulations and also be live (and by live, I mean checked and signed regularly by an associated member of staff)

Does the PQQ require you to have any accreditations? These could be things like ISO 9001:2008 for quality or CHAS for health and safety. These are occasionally pass/fail questions and if you do not have the correct accreditations you will need to weigh up whether it is possible to obtain them before the dead line.

If you need any help making the correct decision on whether to bid for a particular contract, speak to one of our writers who can offer a professional opinion. We can also offer your company a bid ready auditing service to ensure that you have everything in place to be fully compliant and bid ready.

Get in touch today to find out more about how we can assist you to be more successful.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by PQQ Express .