Writing a methodology for a construction or engineering bid in the UK
Our team of bid and tender writers at Tsaks Consulting help construction businesses and contractors across the UK:
- Write bids and tenders to the government and private sector.
- Write your methodology, based on your program, for your next project.
- Project manage your bid from start to finish.
Most construction industry professionals generally agree that the price and methodology are both critical factors for writing a successful bid, tender or proposal and securing major contracts. In order to put together an effective methodology statement, you need to incorporate the input of a range of different stakeholders including the programmer, safety officer, environmental officer, proposed site manager and your marketing / bid team. The programmer/planner will have significant involvement, however, it’s important to draw upon the input of your safety and marketing team to submit a quality proposed methodology.
This ensures that the win themes, and other factors (safety, client engagement and project management) which form part of your bid and incorporated into your methodology. Whether you are bidding to deliver a large infrastructure project, or a small building project for a local Council, a well written methodology is crucial to achieving bid writing success.
How we can help you write your construction methodology and bid
Our team of bid writers:
- Have written hundreds of methodologies for different construction, infrastructure engineering tenders.
- Understand the building and construction industry and work constructively with engineers, programmers and construction planners.
- Will work with you to write your methodology from start to finish.
- Understand construction terminology.
- Will ensure win themes and other factors are incorporated into the methodology.
- Have strong experience writing methodologies for Government projects and bids including frameworks, ITTs, SSQs and NHS contracts.
- Have in-house experience writing construction project methodologies for Tier 1 construction companies across the UK.
The strategies you can employ to win your next construction bid or tender
Below are some strategies to develop a compelling methodology statement:
Align with the program
It is generally best to finalise the majority of your program before writing the methodology. The methodology needs to expand on, detail and describe every line item in your program. The term expand on is important. That’s because in the methodology, you can provide some explanation as to why some line items in the program are there and what the advantage is in conducting the works in that order. Explain the reasons for adopting processes, and flesh out the inter-dependencies. The program should tell the story in a visual sense, and the methodology should tell the story in a written form. The innovative aspects of your proposed program need to be clearly explained in the methodology.
Incorporate safety, the environment and other factors not covered in the program
The methodology generally needs to into consideration and explain items that are not comprehensively covered in the program. Let’s take safety for example. In thinking about your approach to the project, there would be a broad range of safety considerations you would have discussed internally and addressed. In your methodology, you need to incorporate and discuss a range of considerations for the project including, for example safety considerations.
It is a good idea to explain the different safety issues that may arise across the course of the project and the measures you have put in place to address them. For example:
- Are you going to have ad-hoc internal safety audits on a regular basis?
- Have you allocated an additional supervisor to supervise night works – if so, is that to address any potential safety issues of working at night?
- Do you propose to deploy any specialist equipment to deliver different aspects of the project – if so, have you incorporated any safety considerations as part of your thinking?
- What special site specific safety challenges have you identified and how have these been mitigated? For example, if you are working on a hospital project that is a renovation and refitting project, dust suppression would be critical. Any interruption to power supply would also need advanced coordination and planning. Both of these issues would need to be incorporated into your methodology and also explained.
Other areas of the bid or tender that may be addressed and covered in the methodology include the environment, quality assurance, community and proposed team. Again, ensues that these are incorporated and covered through the methodology so that you methodology is just a summary of the proposed program in words, but a more thought out and considered methodology to deliver the project.
Add in context – show appreciation for the project
A program will often start with a line item regarding site establishment. However, delivering a large scale infrastructure or building project involves a lot more than that. The methodology needs to firstly establish and demonstrate context.
- What is the nature of the proposed project?
- Will the project be located near any critical community infrastructure (for example, a school)? If so, what measures have you put in place to minimize any impact (for example, ensuring truck arrival and departures are outside school hours)?
- What are some of the main considerations and challenges for the project and how does the methodology address those challenges? – For example, does the project have a major traffic impact issue?
Go into detail
Where your methodology proposes a new, innovative or unique solution it is important to go into detail to explain it. You need to include your reasoning for adopting the innovative approach, a step by step practical application, and how each step in the process will integrate the various stakeholders and sub-contractors on the project. The level of detail in your methodology can set your bid or proposal apart from your competition. Government and private procurers want to know the project is well thought out and your methodology must reflect that.
Some people only assess two factors in a tender – the methodology and the price. Allocate the internal resources to develop a compelling methodology which covers all aspects of the bid, not just construction and you will be well on your way to securing your next contract.
Integrate your personnel and team into your proposed methodology
When writing any tender in the construction industry, be it for the private or public sector, you will need to put forward a quality and expert team to deliver the project. It’s important to convince the reader you are putting forward your A-Team. It’s equally important to integrate your team into the methodology. I.e. Refer to specific team members in the methodology in a way that firstly, aligns with their proposed roles on the project, and secondly demonstrates a knowledge the skillset required to deliver.
For assistance with your next construction or engineering bid feel free to give us a call or email. We have two members of our team who are highly experienced in writing construction bids including the methodology (and also pricing and other key areas).
We are ready to assist
We have helped companies across the UK to write compelling bids and tenders and secure government and private sector contracts. We service all of the UK including in London, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury, Chester, Glasgow and Manchester.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Do you help small and medium sized contractors write construction methodologies or only large ones?
At Tsaks Consulting, we help businesses of all sized across the UK write methodologies for bids and tenders. We will work with you, or your planner, to understand the project and write a compelling methodology. Our bid writers have experience in construction tenders and understand the industry.
Do you only help write the construction methodology or can you write the entire tender response for us?
Tsaks Consulting can write the entire bid for you including CVs, case studies, methodology (of course) and your other documentation. We will project manage the entire bid response process. You will need to complete the pricing yourself as well as the program if required as we don’t have the skillset to assist in those areas. We can certainly assist with your construction methodology and any other written components of the bid.
Can you teach us or provide training on how to write a construction bid?
Yes we run workshops for clients specifically focused on bid writing in the construction sector. Also – we provide a tender review service. This is where if you have written your methodology, or your entire bid, we review it for you and provide detailed and constructive feedback on how to improve it. This will give yo insights into best practice and provide a platform for your team to improve their bid writing skills on.
We are a construction business in London. Can you help us find construction tenders and write our methodology and previous experience?
Yes. In addition to our writing service, we also provide a tender notification service where we send you potential opportunities you may be interested in bidding for.
Do you have a construction methodology template we can download or use?
We do not have a specific template as every project is different and therefore, every building (or maintenance, electrical etc) methodology we write for clients is tailored to the specific project.
If we engage you to write the construction methodology statement for us for our tender, will you provide us a sample from another project and what information will you need from us?
We will need information on the project and scope of works from you in order to write the methodology. We will also need to see your bid and will require a copy of the program. Depending on the tender, we may also need to communicate with your internal stakeholders and SMEs. When we are writing the methodology, we will discuss it with you to ensure any key points are incorporated. As most of our clients value confidentiality, we are not able to provide samples.
Is your team able to help with writing construction and building methodology statements for major government projects? Do you have experience writing them for projects in Birmingham and Manchester?
Yes. Our team of writers here at Tsaks Consulting, led by our Director, Jason Cooney, has experience writing construction and building methodologies for mega-projects and major infrastructure projects. We have led teams of engineers and planners to produce a compelling methodology that incorporates key win themes from the bid. Our experience includes writing these for government projects across the UK, including in Birmingham and Manchester, as well as internationally.
It’s also important to work collaboratively and constructively on a methodology, particularly when working with a consortium. For examples, our personnel have helped write methodologies for major projects that are consortiums or joint ventures with other organisations.
Contact our team today for assistance with writing your next construction bid.