Advice for Tenderers

Be On Time

Make sure information is provided by the deadline dates. If the information does not arrive promptly, the Procurement Office may be unable to consider it. The Procurement Office must be seen to be acting fairly and transparently and giving everyone the same opportunities. If your organisation is interested in doing business with the Government but feels that it cannot meet the deadlines, contact should be made in writing to the Procurement Office at the earliest opportunity.

The deadline for request of tender documents is usually ten calendar days before the tender closing date. Organisations asking for documents less than ten days before the closing date may be, depending on the complexity of the tender, refused access to documents.

Register your Interest as soon as possible

The Procurement Office will respond as promptly as possible to queries received and registered organisations will be informed as soon as these clarifications are available. HM Government of Gibraltar will not accept any liability from organisations who, not having registered their interest in a specific tender, submit a tender which does not take into account the latest information available.

How do I Register my Interest?

You will first need to create an account on HM Government of Gibraltar's Supplier Network Portal https://hmgogsupplier.gibraltar.gov.gi  Guides on how to do this are available here.

Once you've created an account you will be able to navigate to our opportunities, register your interest and respond.

Understanding what is required

Read the tender documents. The initial advert may only provide a short description of the requirement which may not be sufficient to decide whether or not your business can undertake the contract. The tender documents carry not only the specifications but instructions on how you should submit your offer, how this will be evaluated and the contractual relationship between you and the Government if you are awarded the contract.

In order to aid in the completion of responses a questionnaire may be available with the opportunity which needs to be completed.

If you have any relevant questions that need answering before you can decide whether or not to bid, take this opportunity to seek clarification via the message function available with the opportunity.

Asking Questions

Tenderers are encouraged to ask as many questions as necessary in order to ensure that they fully understand the requirement. However, in order to cut down on the administrative process of dealing with multiple queries from interested organisations the Procurement Office asks that Tenderers compile their questions into one request for clarification with as many points as necessary instead of asking questions as and when.

All questions should be put directly to the Procurement Office via the message function. Clarifications issued by other bodies may not represent a true picture of the requirement and may harm your chances of award.

The deadline for the submission of queries is usually ten calendar days before the tender closing date; but, check the tender documents.

Queries and their clarifications will be made available to all parties. Please ensure that your queries do not:

a) identify you or your company; and/or
b) mention any information which you consider to be confidential.

In tenders governed by the Procurement Regulations the Procurement Office will ensure that the closing date is at least 6 days after tenderers have received the last query clarification.

Provide All Information Requested

You must answer all the questions asked, providing as much relevant information as possible. Only the information provided will be used as part of the evaluation process, at no time will assumptions and or interpretations form part of the process. If you are in any doubt about what is required, ask the Procurement team.

As stated above the Procurement Office wants to be fair and give all parties an equal chance to win a tender; therefore, if due to administrative or logistical difficulties beyond your control a sample or 3rd party document is not available to you before the deadline please contact the Procurement Office for advice.

Provide Evaluation Information

You must ensure you comply with all requirements because the decision on who is chosen will ultimately be based on criteria listed in the contract notice or Tender Documents. Make sure you provide all relevant information requested in respect of the price and quality criteria. If you are unsure, ask. As well as the quality criteria, make sure your offer is competitive and offers value for money.

Contract Award

The Government aims to award contracts to the bidder who offers the most economically advantageous tender based on a combination of price, quality and best value. This does not mean that the lowest price will always win the contract.

Payment

Government pays invoices within 30 days via BACS (Bankers' Automated Clearing Services).

Tender Advertisements

Tenders are advertised in a range of media which may include:

• UK Government's Find a Tender Service - for above legal threshold tenders
• Specialist Journals, where applicable and appropriate
• The Government of Gibraltar’s main website
• The Gibraltar Gazette, which you can subscribe to or obtain copies from Gibraltar Law Offices – info.glo@gibraltar.gov.gi; and
• Local daily, weekly newspapers