1. DIPLOMA IN CONSTRUCTION AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

3. Aim and Purpose This unit provides the opportunity to: Develop knowledge of the information needed to produce a tender Understand how different types of tender documentation are used Develop skills needed to calculate unit rates for an element or trade section of a bill of quantities Produce a tender.

4. Unit Introduction Successful and profitable construction companies require estimators who are commercially aware, highly skilled and pay close attention to detail. The estimator produces an estimate of project cost to enable the company to submit a tender after the decision has been made on the amount of profit to add to the project. This decision is based on the company’s required return whilst taking into account their current workload and advance order book, level of risk associated with the project, the current and future market conditions, and the perceived workload or current order book of competitors who may also tender for the project.

5. Unit Introduction Estimating is an integral part of the tendering process. It is an extremely vibrant and dynamic field of work that requires the estimator to work to tight deadlines as the tender submission date approaches. Estimators gain great satisfaction and pride from the accuracy of their estimates and their assessment of commercial market conditions. Estimators and quantity surveyors require similar skills and knowledge and, in smaller construction companies, the roles are often combined.

6. Learning Outcomes On completion of this unit you should: 1. Know the basic information needed to produce a tender 2. Understand how to use different types of tender documentation 3. Be able to calculate unit rates for an element or trade section of a bill of quantities 4. Be able to produce a tender for a specific construction trade or element.

7. Grading Criteria & Assessment Method The Grading Criteria for the unit are: 1. P 1-5 2. M 1-4 3. D 1 & D2 Assessment will be through 3 assignments: 1. Tender information and documentation 2. Estimating 3. Producing a tender

8. Assignment 1 Tender Information and Documentation

9. Assignment 2 Estimating

10. Assignment 3 Producing a Tender

11. Indicative Reading Textbooks Brooke M – Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work, 4th Edition (Butterworth Heinemann, 2008) Buchan R D et al – Estimating for Builders and Surveyors (Butterworth Heinemann, 2003) CIOB – Code of Estimating Practice, 7th Edition (Wiley Blackwell, 2009)

12. Tenders and Estimates What is a tender? 1. It is the offer from the builder to the client to carry out the project for a given sum of money 2. In simplest terms, the tender is determined by the builder by working out all costs and adding an amount to cover profit (the adjudication process) 3. In legal terms, the offer follows an “invitation to treat” (ie the tender documents) and becomes a contract once the offer has been accepted by the client when the offer becomes the contract sum

13. Tenders and Estimates What are estimates? 1. An accurate assessment of the actual anticipated cost of carrying out the work included in the tender documents 1. That is to say that if nothing changed in the contract, the amount paid by the client would be the actual amount included in the estimate + profit 2. Building work however never goes entirely according to plan and the final price paid will always be different to the contract sum 1. Why don’t tender documents accurately reflect the full nature of the work? 2. What sorts of things can change on site that might affect the value of the work?