Frequently Asked Questions

Use the links below to find the answers to our frequently asked questions:

 

 

 

Please see Doing Business with Sheffield City Council which gives information on how to do business with us. 

 

Tenders are advertised in a number of ways: at Tender Opportunities, in relevant trade magazines, local and national press, and in the case of tenders exceeding the EC thresholds for procurement, the OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union).

 

You can view tenders for all Public Sector agencies in Sheffield at the Buy4Sheffield portal.

 

 

We always include a contact for information in adverts requesting expressions of interest or tenders. Please refer to the advertisement you have seen and contact the person named.

 

All contracts over £25,000 are competitively tendered unless there is a compelling and agreed reason not to do so.  For more information please refer to Council Standing Orders.

 

We recognise the benefits of contracting with small organisations and we are developing a policy framework to ensure that SMEs and Voluntary/ Community organisations are able to tender for contracts with us - see Achieving a Mixed Economy. 

 

Given the nature and often comparatively large size of public sector contracts, there may be occasions when SMEs have the best opportunities as sub-contractors or consortia rather than main contractors.  We want to encourage a range of organisations to bid for contracts with us and we are open, as far as is legally possible, to different contracting arrangements to enable this.

 

We treat all of our suppliers and interested parties fairly, which means that we cannot discriminate in favour of local firms.  It is not legal and we could be challenged by other companies who bid for work from us.

 

However, we do encourage bids from local businesses, and we are continually working to ensure that our procurement processes are open and fair.

 

We also support training and capacity building programmes available to organisations based in Sheffield who want to learn more about tendering, and develop their skills and ability to bid for contracts - see Current Events and News for more information. 

 

We hold an Approved List of contractors for all our construction projects. 

 

We look for companies who can meet our requirements in terms of financial, technical and economic capability to deliver the contract.  As long as you can evidence that you meet these requirements, you will be considered. 

 

Please refer to Doing business with Sheffield City Council and our Guidance for Suppliers document which provides information on how to do business with us.

 

We also provide Support and Training which might be useful for your organisation as you consider how the tender process can work for your organisation.

 

Not necessarily.  Unless we specify that we are looking for the lowest price, tenders are assessed on the basis of Value for Money, which is an assessment of both whole life costs and quality of what is being offered.  Depending on the contract, we may also look at factors such as experience, policy issues for example Equalities, and technical ability.

 

Our insurance requirements are set depending on the nature of the contract and what is being delivered.  The levels of insurance required are not related to the size of the contract or the size of the organisation delivering it.

 

A risk assessment determines what level of insurance (public liability, employers liability and professional indemnity) will be needed by the contractor.  See Policies for the Levels of Indemnity document.  If you want to bid for a contract that will require you to have higher levels of insurance cover than you currently do, remember that you can include these costs in your tender price.

 

No.  For more information please see Policies for our statement on Quality Assurance.

 

Tender evaluation is carried out in a fair and transparent way.  Tender evaluation criteria and their weightings are agreed at the outset of a tender process and published with the tender documentation.  All tenders are scored according to the evaluation criteria by an evaluation panel. 

 

The panel use a scoring system to award points against each evaluation criteria and the contract is awarded to the highest scoring tender.

 

We are happy to offer feedback on your tender.  We can tell you which aspects of your bid were strongest and which were weakest, and feedback can help you to improve any tenders you may submit in future.  If you would like feedback on your tender you should request this from the contact named in the tender documentation.

 

Please see our List of Current Contracts which will show you who we currently have contracts with, the value, end date, and a contact telephone number.

 

If you would like to comment on good or bad procurement practice please email the Procurement, Partnering and Programme Management Team at cccpurchasing@sheffield.gov.uk and we will provide further advice.

If you have an idea for a ‘Frequently Asked Question’, please let us know by emailing cccpurchasing@sheffield.gov.uk.