Preferred tenderer

[edit] Outline

A preferred tenderer is a prospective supplier who has been chosen on a provisional basis by a client and its design team as the party to carry out the project work based on the tender supplied. It is provisional and conditional on the outcome of further negotiations after which the appointment will be confirmed.

[edit] The process

Following an Invitation to Tender (ITT) in a traditional, single-stage process, prospective suppliers prepare and submit their tenders. From these, the client will act on the recommendations of its design team to select the tenderer with the best potential suited to the particular project. This will be based on what the design team feels most closely meets its client’s expectations in terms of price, construction methodology, past work and their available labour resource. In addition to comparing tenders, interviews may be set up to garner further information from the applicants prior to reaching a decision.

The supplier eventually chosen by this method is called the ‘preferred tenderer’. They are called ‘preferred’ because even at this stage it is by no means certain that they will be appointed to the project: preferred tenderers usually have to enter into further negotiations with the client and the design team; only if successful at this stage will they be confirmed to the project.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Competitive tender.
• Due diligence.
• Due diligence when selecting contractors or subcontractors.
• Invitation to tender.
• Mid-tender interview.
• Pre-tender interview.
• Pre-qualification questionnaire.
• Procurement
• Tender
• Tender documents
• Two-stage tender