1. Get to know the home page

2. ‘My CfTs’ section on the home page
The home page: CfT Management
‘My CfTs’ section on the home page
Once you associate your organisation with a CfT, the title will be displayed here
Trainer notes:
Looking at the homepage, here you are logged in as Joanna Bloggs.
On the middle of the screen the ‘My CfTs’ section is handy – you can get straight to the opportunities you’ve expressed an interest in.

3. The home page: EO administration
edit your organisation details, and select procurement categories
add more users, or change your eTendersNI administrator
Trainer notes:
Looking further down the screen on the home page, the ‘EO’ administration menu (that’s Economic Operators) has all the options you need to work with.
‘track your activity on eTendersNI

4. The home page: Information section
Link to Procurement Pipelines for all Centres of Procurement Expertise
Frequently Asked Questions by suppliers using eTendersNI
Trainer notes:
Scrolling down further on the home page, a lot of people miss out on these helpful links.
Link to helpful information for suppliers new to public sector tendering

5. Access detailed help guides in the ‘Help’ section
Details for the Helpdesk
Trainer notes:
At the very top of the screen, there are printable guides in the ‘Help’ section, and ‘Contact us’ has phone and address for the helpdesk.

6. Scroll down to see more user manuals
Trainer notes:
Selecting ‘Help’ will bring up a pop-up screen with options of printable guides (e.g. Compose and send a message)
Click in the ‘attachment’ column hyperlinks to download and print any of the guides.
Scroll further down to see all the options.
Scroll down to see more user manuals

7. Using the Call for Tender menu options

8. While viewing a list of opportunities....
Trainer notes:
To make a start by expressing an interest in an opportunity, click on the hyperlinked title in the CfT column
While viewing a list of opportunities....
Click on any CfT title to find out more

9. Select the ‘Show CfT Menu’ option
Trainer notes:
The screen will change to show you overview information about that opportunity.
Select the ‘Show CfT Menu’ to the top right of the screen

10. Trainer notes:
The menu options will now drop down for you, to select whichever you prefer

11. Explore the CfT menu options
View your messages
View tender documents
Set reminders about the deadline
Decide who gets the reminders
Submit clarification questions
Create & submit tenders
Trainer notes:
Zooming in closer to show you in detail, most actions you need to take, are from this simple drop-down menu. 11 11

12. What should I expect to see in any set of tender documents?
Instructions to Tenderers
The evaluation criteria
Conditions of contract
Specification / Requirement
Pricing Schedule
Trainer notes:
There are standard aspects to any set of tender documents – for example there will always be a Specification, and draft conditions of contract.
Once you have read a few sets, you will start to know what to expect.

13. What kind of information will we
need to compete?
Examples of similar projects you have delivered
Proof of your ability to deliver the contract
Proof of your financial standing / professional conduct
Health and safety experience and systems in place
Questions specific to the fulfilment of the specification
Trainer notes:
Ensure you have as much of this information to hand as possible, before you start preparing the tender, otherwise it will become very time consuming and involve a number of your colleagues.

14. ‘Compose’ a new message to the buyer
The ‘messaging’ option
Trainer notes:
One of the most helpful options on the menu is the ‘Messaging’ option – you can submit queries about the tender documents and receive a response.
It’s very easy to compose a message (although there is a printable guide in the Help section on this).
‘Compose’ a new message to the buyer

15. e.g. a reminder a week from the tender submission deadline
If you have associated your organisation with a tender, you can use this option to specify when you want alerts:
e.g. a reminder a week from the tender submission deadline
If you have associated your organisation with a tender, you can use this option to specify which of your colleagues receive the alerts
Trainer notes:
Specifying alerts - you can have no notification, or 24 hrs, 48 hrs, 1 week, 2 week prior to the tender deadline....
Automated notifications – you can specify who gets the alerts about this tender

16. Using the tender tool

17. Create a folder on your computer for saving your tenders
Saving a Tender
The draft tender is saved to your computer, not online
Create a folder on your computer for saving your tenders
Don’t move the file to another location on your computer before the tender is submitted
Trainer notes:
eTendersNI doesn’t store your draft tenders in a cloud, for you to log in and out from anywhere – this is to protect your information
When you work on a tender, you are saving it to a location on your own computer – so set up a folder for this.
Please Note!
It is preferable that any files you wish to attach/open/save are located locally on your computer. You may attach files from a shared network drive however you will need to ensure that there is no restriction in connectivity between your computer and your shared network locations 17 17

18. Select ‘Tender’ to open the tool
Trainer notes:
Returning to the menu again, select ‘tender’ to start preparing your response.
Select ‘Tender’ to open the tool

19. Choose who to ‘associate’ with the tender
Trainer notes:
You will be asked, whether you want all the Users in your company to be associated (and receive alerts) or just yourself. Bear in mind whoever submits the final tender needs to be associated with it!
Accept and confirm

20. Click on the red button Trainer notes:
You then need to click on the large red button ‘Click here to prepare your response’
Click on the red button

21. Select ‘OK’ Select ‘Run’ Trainer notes:
Select ‘Ok’ and ‘Run’ to the next prompts

22. Re-enter your username and password to open the tender tool
Trainer notes:
Log-in again at this point
Re-enter your username and password to open the tender tool

23. The layout of the tender tool
Tool bar shows the completion % for the tender
Current section will be highlighted in the dark blue
Trainer notes:
You will now be able to access the tender tool. It may take a moment or two to load on screen.
Look first to the top right of the screen – the completion status will start at 0 and climb to 100%.
Now see the three tabs across the top (Eligibility Criteria is highlighted in blue – this means the questions in the main part of the screen relate to it). You can easily click between the three tabs, to change the information on the main screen. Dark blue highlights the one you are looking at.
The main panel of the tool displays the questions

24. Trainer notes:
In this example there are 6 sub-sections to the Eligibility Criteria section.
The green tick shows you’ve completed that sub-section. Red ‘stop’ signs mean you haven’t completed the other sub-sections. This makes it easy to remember what you still need to complete, when you log in and out.

25. Trainer notes:
In this example there are 11 sub-sections for Eligibility Criteria – you’ve only completed the first one.
However you have already completed the Technical tab (green line showing).
For each question, it will be clear on screen whether you need to type in text, answer Yes / No, or upload an attachment.

26. Attaching a document within the bid
Trainer notes:
When you need to attach a file to part of your bid, simply click on ‘Attach file’ on screen
Then locate the file on your computer and then ‘Attach file’
Obviously be careful to upload the right document!

27. Completing the Financial Envelope
Only numeric values can be typed into this section, and values are assumed to be in £ sterling
Trainer notes:
The financial envelope can be set up in different ways by the buyer – they might want you to input numerical values on the screen, or to upload an attachment.

28. Save your work as you progress through the tender.
Save your work before logging out.
Log in the next time, and look for the
‘list of draft tenders’ – select the relevant tender and ‘Edit’
Trainer notes:
Always save your work on a regular basis, and before logging out.
To return to the draft tender, simply log in, and look for the ‘List of Draft Tenders’

29. Green ticks and 100% status give you confidence to submit
Submitting the tender
Green ticks and 100% status give you confidence to submit
Do not ignore any warning symbols – something is incomplete!
You must select ‘Pack and Submit tender’ to upload your bid
Watch for 5 green ticks showing tender compliance
Trainer notes:
The green ticks and 100% completion status are there to guide you, and give you confidence to submit. You must actually select ‘Pack and submit tender’ to submit it (not automatic on reaching 100% status)
Never ignore any warning symbols!

30. The tender response is incomplete or contains some incorrect values.
Warning message!
The tender response is incomplete or contains some incorrect values.
Trainer notes:
If you try to submit an incomplete tender, you’ll get a warning message.

31. The % of the tender uploaded is shown on screen until reaching 100% completion
Trainer notes:
As the tender uploads you can follow progress on screen.

32. If you ignore the warning on screen and submit an
incomplete tender, you will receive an automated
notification from eTendersNI to warn you that the uploaded tender is incomplete.
Trainer notes:
If you have ignored the warning then you’ll get an , to let you know the tender is incomplete (and therefore null and void)

33. In the List of Submitted Tenders, you will also see red ‘stop’ signs,
to show you that the tender submitted was incomplete.
You must submit a complete tender, to compete for the opportunity.
Trainer notes:
Now in the List of Submitted Tenders you see red ‘stop’ signs – as the tender submitted is not complete.

34. What happens after I’ve submitted the tender?
View in the list of Submitted Tenders
The buyer then takes forward Selection and Evaluation
Tenderers will be notified of outcome
Trainer notes:
The Selection / Evaluation stages will take place after the deadline expires.
All tenderers will be notified of the outcome in due course (your scores, and those of the winning tenderer, if you didn’t win) 34

35. List of submitted tenders
View an overview of the tender information and check the details
Check for 5 green ticks
If one of the columns shows a warning symbol, then contact the Helpdesk urgently
Trainer notes:
Always check for 5 green ticks.

36. Access detailed help guides in the ‘Help’ section
Details for the Helpdesk
Trainer notes:
Returning to the Home Page, if you need help on using the tender tool visit the Help section and print out the guide titled ‘Simple Tender Preparation’

37. Trainer notes:
The guide is shown here

38. Alternatively: downloading the desktop version for team input
Everyone in the team working on the tender must download the desktop version of the tender tool
Trainer notes:
Another way to use the system is to download a desktop version of the Tender tool.
There is a printable guide on how to do this.
Call the Helpdesk and they will explain how to download and use the desktop version

39. Final thoughts

40. Want to compete for government contracts elsewhere
Want to compete for government contracts elsewhere? Visit the NI Business Info website
Trainer notes:
If you want to compete for government contracts outside of Northern Ireland, then visit NI Business Info.co.uk for a full list of other public sector portals to register with.

41. Supplies and services under £30k - central government
Not usually advertised as a full tender
Buyer finds the relevant category on eTendersNI and uses the list of suppliers registered
Random selection generated
Buyer contacts 5 or 6 suppliers for a price quotation
Goods and services awarded on lowest acceptable price
Trainer notes:
All of this assumed you were interested in opportunities over £30k in value (or £20k for councils).
For smaller value procurements, the buyer doesn’t publish full tender documents, but they use the CPV code categories to find a list of potential suppliers.
This is why it’s important to select your CPV codes, to be contacted about these low value opportunities.

42. Construction under £30k - central government
Constructionline is a database of construction suppliers (or construction related)
Used by the public sector to select contractors / consultants to tender for projects under £30k which are not normally advertised
A minimum of six suppliers will be selected for each project
Trainer notes:
for construction contracts under £30k there is a similar process using Constructionline.
If you work in construction, you’ll be well familiar with the system.

43. QUESTIONS