The ABCs Of eTendering In NSW

‘eTendering is the online procurement of a tender opportunity’

NSW eTendering is an online tendering system thatshares information about tendering opportunities with potential tenderers. It is a government-controlled system that benefits both the NSW government and the tenderer by saving time, effort and cost in the tendering process. It also ensures transparency, a key aspect, as many business owners have previously questioned the integrity of the government in the tendering process.

Although eTendering in NSW has many advantages, it is sometimes not used by business owners who are not familiar with using the digital portal, or who do not recognise the benefits of eTendering over the traditional tendering process.

The three most significant terms that you may notice on the eTendering portal are:

RFT - Request For Tender

EOI - Expression Of Interest

RFQ - Request For Quotation

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions regarding the use of the digital portal.

How to find the right opportunity for your brand?

The online portal offers a distinct feature that allows tenderers to find the right opportunities for their brands. This feature sorts the list to find opportunities that meet their specific requirements. You can browse through the list by searching different tender life-cycles, agency names, titles, categories, as well as published and closing dates. The two following features can be used for this purpose:

•    Browsing

•   Searching

What information is available?

When you select a particular opportunity, you can see the ‘instruction for tenderers’ to learn more about the contract. The name of the opportunity, requirements, contractors’ names, identification and other details, as well as the tender type, are listed in this section of the online portal.

How to register?

The reason for registration is simple, i.e. government agencies need to know the details of the company seeking to do business with them so that they can send updates to the tender documents by way of addendums.

When you register on the eTendering portal, you can see all of the available tenders in NSW, and the agencies can also see the required information about your company. Similar to creation of an email account, you will be requested to create a unique email ID and password, fill in the details of your company and create an account. This step is needed to collect documentation and submit a response.

What are the types of tenders available?

•  EOI For Specific Contracts - an invitation to prospective tenderers for a specific work or service.

•  Open Tenders - a public invitation to potential tenderers with no restriction on who may     tender.  

•  Selective Tenders - an invitation to a limited number of tenderers, selected by the tender committee.

•  Single Invitation - in this process, a single tenderer is invited to tender.

How to respond online?

The online portal makes it easy to lodge a response, as there is a detailed demonstration video, which guides the tenderer through the entire process on the NSW eTendering portal, from registration to submitting a response.

Note: The portal also has information regarding the terms and conditions of different tenders, feedback and ‘contact us’ option.

All the best for future business opportunities that come your way!