Identifying key factors in the evaluation of tenders for projects and services

Clients select contractors on the basis of the relative importance of tender evaluation criteria, such as, experience, expertise, past performance, and cost. This paper presents the results of a recent study that sought to identify a suite of representative (principal) tender evaluation and contractor selection criteria for use in future research. The study included an examination of management literature on contractor selection and tender evaluation, and an exploratory survey. For each we developed a separate master list and mapped all identified and reported criteria into one of 16 defined categories. Threshold tests were applied to identify common and unique categories and an absolute difference test to determine the principal categories of criteria used in the evaluation of tenders. The study, using a pragmatic and heuristic approach, resulted in the identification of eight principal categories suitable for our research program. The findings indicate that the preferred criteria for evaluating tenders are those which provide a measure of contractors’ ability in terms of their management and technical capability, past experience and performance, reputation, and the proposed method of delivery or technical solution.