Our team of tender and bid writers specialising in plumbing and hydraulic contracts

Winning a government contract (local council, state and federal) is a great way for plumbing and hydraulic services businesses to grow revenue and expand. These contracts vary in size, from small local Council contracts to maintain Council buildings or undertake building and hydraulic works to undertaking large industrial projects for state and federal government projects.

Our team of writers has helped plumbers and hydraulic consultants across Australia win government contracts and secure valuable revenue. We understand what the government wants to hear, how to write to government and the importance of delivering a professional and polished bid submission. Over the years, we have learnt what works and what doesn’t and what our clients need to do to win. Some strategies and tips to help plumbers and hydraulic consultants win more government tenders are detailed below:

Strategy 1 – Some things you think don’t matter do

When preparing plumbing and hydraulic tenders or bids, whether it be for a major infrastructure project or a local council, you may think that price is all that matters. The reality is that it’s often much more and what you think doesn’t matter actually does. So make sure you complete a comprehensive response to all questions for your next plumbing tender. These include:

• Provide detailed case studies. It is important not to simply list your prior work. You need to go into detail around the projects you have delivered any challenges that were overcome. For example, you may have conducted plumbing works at a school, and have had to conduct all works over the school holiday break. This may have involved resourcing your project with additional personnel. It’s important to illustrate what you did to deliver the project within the time frame and work within the safety restrictions associated with conducting plumbing works in a school environment.
• Supporting documentation. Where they ask for WHS, Quality Management and other systems, be sure to provide this documentation. You may need to tailor SWMS and Site Safety Plans to the proposed project for which you are bidding.
• Insurances and legal compliance. Again, you can easily get into the habit of attaching your insurances and moving on to the next question. There are often specified insurance minimum amounts which you need to comply with. These are generally detailed in the proposed contract. Check them and make sure you include the correct insurance documents and provide appropriate explanation if you do not.
• Equipment and resources. When you are proposing to self-perform works, it’s important to demonstrate that you have the appropriate equipment. It’s not ok to assume that it’s obvious you would have the equipment. The client will want to know that you can deliver on the project. That means, if you are a plumbing company with 15 vans, you need to detail this. Alternatively, if you are a hydraulic engineer consultancy with 20 in house engineers, you need to convey this so that the client understands you have the capacity to deliver the project quickly and effectively.
• Demonstrate insight into the challenges that the client may face on the project. This is a key point and one that can make or break your tender success. If you can demonstrate through your tender submission you understand the project, the challenges that may be faced, and have a plan on how to overcome them, you will gain the confidence of the reader. They will know that you know what they are talking about and will be more confident to award you the contract. Whether it is potential issues in the implementation and how your methodology will help overcome them, or an assessment of proposed materials and the whole of life cost for any works, putting forward ideas and initiatives will add value and credibility to your bid.

Strategy 2 | Create Graphics and Infographics for Plumbing Tenders and Bids

Create graphics and infographics so that your bid has a professional look and fee. For some local and state government tenders you can get away with having minimal or no graphics, especially where there is a pre-prescribed form and it is in excel format. For the rest of your bids or proposals, unfortunately, perception is important. You need engaging and exciting written content.

You also need graphics to match. Real life images of your business and previous projects and experience can help. These need to be combined with infographics where appropriate as well as a professionally presented document. It’s important that your plumbing tender or hydraulic services tender looks professional.

Where you are putting forward a complex methodology, or solution, for example, for a complete refurbishment of the plumbing of a government building, creating an infographic to explain your solution is a great way to clearly get your message across.

There are lots of online programs which can deliver quality infographics for free. However, if in doubt, we recommend taking photos of your team on-site, and including these in the proposal document. Just remember to ensure that the site is clean and all safety requirements are adhered to.

In addition, make sure you take photos of your team members for your team chart. We recently won a tender for a plumbing company in Darwin who was bidding for a state government contract. Once awarded the tender, the personnel in Government commented that they felt like they ‘got to know’ the team through the personalised images in the proposal. This applies to local council and shire tenders across Australia from Perth to Melbourne, as well as federal government bids.

Strategy 3 | Tender and Bid Identification for Plumbers – Don’t bid for everything

Don’t go for any and every perceived opportunity. Make sure it is an opportunity first. Although it’s tempting, bids take a lot of work and opportunity cost from your business to put together. When you submit a bid or proposal, you need to ensure you do a good job.

That means comprehensive responses to each question and a market competitive price. There’s no point in going to all this effort if you don’t have a chance in the first place. Give us a call and we’ll send you through our free bid/no bid guide to help you identify what is a real opportunity and what isn’t.

Essentially, some questions to ask before deciding to tender for a plumbing maintenance contract includes:

• Do we have any current relationship with the client?
• Are we able to comply with the minimum requirements / criteria?
• Is the tender in our local area or state?
• Do we have the resources to write a quality tender to win it or are we to busy?

Examples of how we have helped our clients win plumbing, maintenance and hydraulic contracts

Our team of expert writers has helped hundreds of plumbers, hydraulic engineers and plumbing companies write and win plumbing and hydraulic tenders. For example, some recent clients we have assisted include:

1. Assisting a plumbing company in Sydney apply for a local council contract. Our client was looking to bid for a local Council contract. It was their first time tendering and they were completely new to the process. They had some existing content from their current website, however, aside form that, they didn’t have a lot of content or CVs since they hadn’t previously completed a bid. We worked with them to draft all of the content from scratch including all of the required and associated safety docs. The client was based locally and employed locals which put them in a very good position to be successful with the tender. They put forward a detailed response that showcased their capability to provide industry leading 24/7 response times.
2. We helped a national asset management company deliver a tender response for plumbing and maintenance works for a federal government building (and complex). This was a complex tender for a range of government buildings with response times and comprehensive KPIs that needed to be adhered to. Our client needed to deliver a response which covered IT and reporting of maintenance tasks, reporting, innovative equipment and 24/7 availability. They were ultimately successful in their proposal with the buildings spanning from Canberra to include Sydney and Melbourne. One of the key points which saw them become successful was the ability to service all of the geographic areas effectively. We covered this off in detail in the tender and talked about how our client would have individual teams dedicated to servicing each government building.
3. We assisted a hydraulics engineering company with the submission of a tender for a major high-rise construction project. This entailed the provision of hydraulic design and build services for the building. The construction company was a Tier 1 company with a comprehensive procurement process similar to that of a government department or project. We developed the bid document and included professional graphics and the appropriate quality and safety documentation. Our client needed a professional look and feel to win the bid – as they were essentially tendering against other consultants with very strong, multinational brands in the engineering space. With a focus on graphics and infographics, we developed a compelling document and simultaneously updated our client’s website to ensure it was also on brand.

How we can help you with your next plumbing or hydraulics bid

We can help you find opportunities that open the door for a steady flow of business opportunities. contract opportunities across Australia as they arise. These are both private and public sector contract opportunities. If you already have a tender notification service – even better. We can work with you to manage the tender from start to finish. Our expert bid writing service includes:

• Writing your response – we will gather the necessary information and write the response. This includes gathering the supporting documentation and working with your receptionist, secretary, technicians and directors to gather the technical information required to respond.
• Creating your supporting documentation. Whether it is Work Health and Safety, Quality Management or Environmental Management plans, you will generally require some supporting documentation for your next bid or tender. Our team will work with you to create this documentation for your tender response should you require it.
• Create graphics and coordinate the document submission. If you are having trouble with an online portal, or you need to make your bid or proposal look more professional, we are able to assist. We can work with you to make sure your bid is submitted on time, and will develop graphics with you that are in-line with your company graphics and website theme.

Our bid and tender management services include:

• Write plumbing tenders that incorporate “Win Themes”
• Review, editing and proofreading of existing  proposals
• Professional application design and printing services
• Recruitment
• Comprehensive bid management

We understand that plumbing tenders are highly technical and you will often fierce competition. Often, companies don’t have a skilled writer, making it more difficult for you to land lucrative contracts. By hiring us, our core group of writing experts will be at your disposal. We can fulfill this support role for your organization.

Upon engagement, we will spend time discussing your company and the services or products you offer. This enables us to gain insight on your operations and identify what sets you apart. Our consultants will focus on highlighting your strengths and making this the foundation of your submissions.

As a leading bid and tender management service, we are proud to have an 85% success rate. We offer reliable and timely services. If you have a tight deadline, our writing experts will find a way to develop a high-quality bid proposal that will increase your chance of winning.

Based in Sydney, we help companies across Australia and New Zealand, including in NSW (Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and regional NSW), Tasmania (including Hobart and Launceston), Western Australia (Perth as well as regional and remote Western Australia), Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory. If you want to build business momentum and land big ticket plumbing contracts, contact our director, Jason Cooney,  on 0410 448 770.