The development of the tender system has been observed in Russia since the end of the last century. The concept of tender is equivalent to the concept of competition. Its meaning is to find a contractor for government orders on a competitive basis. The entire regulation of this system is spelled out in the federal procurement law. With the winner, a contract for any work, services or delivery of goods is sometimes concluded. Today we’ll talk about what is needed to participate in tenders.
What are the tenders
Such competitions can be open and closed, held in one or two stages. In addition, there are varieties of specialized closed tenders, single and quotation requests.
What gives participation in contests? The winner is given the opportunity to receive a profitable large order, and if it is a start-up company - to declare itself in the market. Many are scared away by the rather complicated participation procedure, but everyone can understand it. Of course, beginners often need help, a practical guide explaining what and in what order to do. Have you decided to take part in tenders? Step by step instructions will come in handy.
Why is it profitable
Information on where and what tenders are planned to be held is constantly available on specialized sites and in the media. When the tender is announced, the tender commission begins to consider the applications of the applicants.
For small and medium-sized businesses activity in bidding for state orders is not characteristic - there are many seeming difficulties. It does not take into account that the lion's share of municipal budgets these days is distributed, as a rule, through tenders.
Government orders support business as effectively as benefits and subsidies. In addition, the law obliges customers of the municipal and public sector to transfer at least 10% of the volume of work and supply of goods per year to entrepreneurs.
Electronic auctions
Unfortunately, only large companies are seriously engaged in tracking promising tenders for themselves, and all because of the need for content for this special service.
The state order is placed in different ways - in the form of a request for quotations, purchases from a single supplier (contractor) or through bidding. The latter method is the most common.
Now the majority of orders from the state are placed at electronic auctions, their share is more than half of all tenders. Such events are recognized as an effective means of combating corruption due to the anonymity of the participants, great competition and accessibility (as they say, transparency) of all information.
Tender participation: step-by-step instructions for beginner businessmen
Let's look at what participation in an electronic auction is.
First of all, a suitable auction should be "calculated". To do this, you need to carefully read all notices about the holding of such events, regularly going to the official website for this, having the status of an all-Russian one and publishing announcements of future tenders 7-20 days before a certain date, which serves as the last day for filing applications. You should indicate your desire to take part in the selected tender precisely in this period - later your application will not be accepted for consideration.
Officially, there are five federal sites for electronic bidding, on any of which you will find a search form for auctions of interest and a register of all tenders. It is also easy to get summary information on the official website of the Russian Federation, which is dedicated to placing orders.
What you need to participate in tenders
Next you should get an electronic digital signature (abbreviated EDS). It is bought in one of the special certifying centers accredited at your chosen electronic site. The process of receiving it will take several business days (2 or 3). The signature gives legal status to the electronic document and fixes the liability of the participant.
But EDS alone does not guarantee that you will participate in tenders. The step-by-step instruction contains, in addition to it, the concept of accreditation. That is, in order to participate in tenders held by one or another site, it is necessary to be accredited to it. Each of the five sites has its own accreditation. For this, a special form is filled out on the site’s site along with an application for opening an account. A number of documents are attached. Which ones? We are talking about an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (if you are an individual entrepreneur - about an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities), a constituent document, a power of attorney giving the right to participate in these tenders, a document on the appointment of a manager (decision or protocol) with the seal of the organization, and a scan of the card with company details.
Further actions
The operator will consider the application within five days and give an answer about access or refusal (in the latter case, with an explanation of the reasons). The number of retries is not regulated, but each of the applications will require a five-day review period.
Having successfully passed accreditation, you get at the disposal of "My Account", from which you will conduct all further actions.
The next mandatory step is to replenish your own account on the trading floor as a guarantee of participation in tenders. The amount is fixed - for small entrepreneurs it is usually 2% of the initial order amount (its maximum). In other cases, we are talking about five percent. Money can be received back after unlocking the account (at the end of bidding).
We submit applications
Now the participant can apply. It is necessary to approach its drafting extremely responsibly, having previously carefully studied all the auction documentation. The first part, anonymous, is to confirm the consent of the participant to supply the desired product (service) with a detailed description thereof. The second part contains detailed information about the participant with the application of all supporting certificates and licenses.
In addition to the application of the established form, the application for participation in the tender should include the most complete amount of estimated and settlement documents, where the cost of materials or services along with VAT at the time of bidding, detailed transcripts of additional costs (transportation, design and survey, etc.) are given in tabular form. as well as taxes.
Things to remember
The submitted application is automatically equated with the consent to comply with all conditions of the customer. If it is impossible to execute them, the contractor should withdraw the application. It is not accepted from the participant after the deadline set by the organizer of the auction. Refusal to participate in the tender (withdrawal of the application) is possible only until a certain date. The deadline may be extended by the tender commission, about which the applicants are notified.
When the deadline for submission of applications has expired, the customer considers their first parts, the results of the review are drawn up in the form of a protocol that the site operator must be informed to all participants within the prescribed time. So you find out whether admitted to bidding or not.
A little about the process itself
What are the main points you need to know when planning to participate in tenders? A step-by-step instruction states that in the bidding process only two concepts are most important - the auction step and the time remaining until its completion. The first indicator is strictly fixed - it is 0.5% of the maximum initial price (as the law says). The transition to the next step is carried out with an interval of 10 minutes, for which the participant must decide whether to offer a lower price or not.
Participants are not allowed to submit offers with a price greater than or equal to the previously proposed price. Also banned offers with zero price. To "lower" the price in advance by more than a step (below the minimum offer at the moment) is also impossible.
Bid end
If the bid offered by the latter turned out to be the lowest (within ten minutes no more profitable offers have been received), the auction is over. The protocol with the results in automatic mode is generated almost instantly, each participant appears in it only under the assigned number.
Who won the tender, will become known only at the end of the auction. The customer will receive the second part of the winning application, containing the details of the winning bidder. A state contract will be sent to him, which must be certified by an electronic signature at a certain time.
What's next?
In addition, the amount of cash security for the contract must be provided, which is legally up to 30% of the initial maximum price. This is done in the form of a bank guarantee, or the funds are credited to the customer on a temporary account.
Experts believe that participating in tenders, any company gets significant advantages. And although the tendering system in its current form is far from perfect, it gives a chance to novice entrepreneurs to enter a large customer and increase their own status in the market.
The choice of bidding should be treated wisely, not trying to cover all the offers. In case of failure, do not be upset - because you have gained serious business experience.
What is typical for commercial bidding?
Unlike state, commercial tenders are held, according to the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the rules for their implementation are set by the customer independently. When they are carried out, the same principles apply on which state tenders are based. But there are more competitive procedures - in the form of an open tender with or without preliminary selection, a closed, two- and multi-stage tender, request for prices, competitive negotiations, procurement from a single source, etc.
Thus, commercial tenders are for the most part conducted similarly to state ones. The difference lies only in strict regulation of the latter by legislation. The form of private bidding is more free, and they are focused on the documentation of the customer companies themselves.
The single and universal law on which the organization of participation in tenders of this type is based does not exist due to the huge variety of individual business areas, each of which has its own specifics.
Construction tenders
If your company’s activities are related to the supply of building materials, construction equipment (excavators, cranes, bulldozers) or equipment, as well as the sale of land for construction purposes, you will need serious customers.
And this means that the company should take an active part in relevant competitions. Surely you would like to conclude a long-term contract with a large customer. Then take part in tenders for construction. The principle here is the same: you study the rules for holding a suitable auction, form a package of documents consisting of extracts from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, photocopied and certified in the tax constituent documents (together with the charter) and an order on the appointment of the chief accountant, evidence of existing work experience along with copies of financial reports for the last period, as well as copies of passports of all official representatives of the supplier company and the certificate of state registration of the enterprise. For the one who will officially represent the interests of the company at the auction, a power of attorney to participate in the tender should be issued.
Do not forget that the submitted application is required to have cash security. If the company does not have the available amount, it is entitled to use a tender loan.