PAS-91 Questionnaire

PAS-91 for the UK

Tsaks Consulting has been assisting clients across the UK with the preparation of their Publicly Available Specification number 91 (PAS-91) questionnaires. Helping you to manage risk and ensure the reliability and integrity of suppliers during the tendering process in the United Kingdom.

About PAS-91

The Publicly Available Specification number 91 (PAS-91) is a series of questions designed to be implemented by principal contractors to procure services from suitable suppliers during project tendering. It was first published by the British Standards Institute (BIS) in 2010.

There are eight modules in PSA-91: four compulsory and four optional. These are completed by the supplier, allowing the buyer to assess their suitability.

Its ability to be used across a range of sectors, permits principal contractors to focus PAS-91 on exact requirements of the project at hand. For example, should the project be for a mining industry related project in the UK, the use of a PAS-91 can determine the suitability of a supplier by declaring he has complied with certain mining regulations.

Benefits of PAS-91

The benefits of PAS-91 can greatly benefit both parties of the tendering process. The buyer benefits by ensuring that all suppliers adhere to the standards required; and the supplier benefits by proving his competence to supply the project with goods and services.

Benefits for the buyer include:

• Stability
  Having a set of set of questions with which to compare a clients suitability allows you to compare and determine the appropriate supplier.
• Time management
  Time needed to source and determine the suitability of suppliers will be significantly reduced.
• Risk management
  Reduce risk by identifying any concerns with suppliers after careful analysis of PAS-91 answers.
• Quality Assurance
  Proving a supplier’s suitability and professionalism ensures a higher standard of quality when the project is underway.

Benefits for the supplier include:

• Time management
  Once a supplier has completed PAS-91, they can use the same answers from an earlier project, saving them time.
• More productivity
  Being able to reuse the same questions to fill out future PAS-91s allow the supplier to apply for, and win, more contracts.
• Peace of mind
  Having the same questions for each application gives the supplier a sense of security knowing he can efficiently add or adjust any answers quickly.

Modules of PAS-91

Of the eight modules available in PAS-91, four are compulsory, while four are optional. The four compulsory modules are made up of questions that are to be asked in every PAS-91. The four optional modules revolve around supplier capability and give buyers extra room to extract more information should the project require it.

The four core modules:

• Supplier identity
• Financial information
• Business and professional standing
• Health and safety

The four optional modules:

• Equal opportunity and diversity
• Environmental management
• Quality management
• Building information modelling (BIM)

The Governments goals with PAS-91

The plan for implementing PAS-91 was to reduce the large amounts of paperwork in other processes, minimising the duplicate process, and lowering costs throughout the construction industry.

The PAS-91 was not designed to introduce new questions, but rather utilise common questions asked by buyers.

The PAS-91s ease-of-use allows smaller businesses to have confidence in the pre-qualification process, one goal the government achieved with PAS-91.

Is PAS-91 compulsory?

According to government industry guidance, the PAS-91 is not compulsory for buyers when sourcing potential suppliers for their projects. However, it is of great benefit to both the buyer and supplier when the PAS-91 questionnaire is implemented.

Getting assistance with PAS-91

If you are looking for more information about PAS-91 or need assistance with PAS-91 questionnaires in your bidding process, Tsaks consulting has the experience and expertise to assist you when it comes to PAS-91 in the UK.