Project bid

Project proposal

Project proposals may be prepared in response to an advertisement (public invitation), an invitation to a limited number of other practices (select invitation) or an individual invitation.

In each case the client will use an assessment of the submission against a set of formal or informal selection criteria. Submissions should directly address the selection criteria, which may be generic or project specific and commonly include:

• Previous experience – the practice should demonstrate experience with projects of a similar nature, ie type, complexity, scale, or for remote projects the work that has been undertaken in similar locations. Where possible, references should be included.
• Key personnel – the role, experience and skills of the personnel proposed for the project should be provided, usually in the form of a CV.
• Project team – in addition to the practice's nominated personnel, what other consultants are proposed? The proposal should give an outline of the working relationship that has been established including a list of the projects previously undertaken by the team.
• Availability – information should be given to demonstrate to the client that the practice has the capacity to undertake the project. This may take the form of a summary of current commitments, giving the stage that each project has reached.
• Understanding the project – the submission should demonstrate an understanding of the project and any complexities or unique requirements it may have. This may include outlining the design methodology the practice proposes for the project.
• Responsiveness – the submission should include reference to communications for the project and demonstrate that these will be effective and address the client's needs.
• Proposed fees – while it would be nice to think that fees are not important selection criteria, in many cases they will be. However, if the quality of the submission, the personnel nominated for the project, and the submission provides clarity in understanding the project and the client's objectives, a value for money assessment may overcome a lowest-fee-wins mentality.

Other matters that may be relevant in a submission 

• history of the practice – how long has it existed?
• awards received – design, building, energy efficiency awards should be listed
• affiliations – membership of the practice or the directors or principals may be relevant

While much of this information is generic and can be pre-prepared the submission should not appear to be generic. Each submission should contain sufficient original or project specific information to give the client confidence that their project is being given individual attention.

The submission should be succinct, and attachments should be used for less project specific information.

Other things to consider

• Can the submission be shared? Major project submissions may be reviewed by many people during its consideration
• Clarity of information – avoid the temptation to over design the submission so that the content becomes lost in the graphics
• Target the submission to the client.

Refer Acumen note Joint ventures for joint ventures and anti-competitive conduct and bid rigging.

Read the guidelines for EOI and RFT of architectural services, developed by the Australian Institute of Architects and endorsed by the Office of the Victorian Government Architect:

• Guidelines – Expressions of interest and requests for tender for architectural services (2019)
• Research – Procurement of architectural services (2019)