Project Initiation

It starts when someone says "We should put a project together" and ends with a project initiation
document. A lot projects will often fail when this important step is skipped over. This is because
there is no clear documentation of what the actual project should be trying to achieve.

Three specific steps are, (or should be) involved here -

 The person with the bright idea develops a Concept Proposal.
 The concept is examined in terms of its
o Latitude or boundarieso
o Cost / benefit
o Risk and Feasibility
 A Project Management Plan is developed to determine things such as the resources
required to achieve the bright idea.

A project initiation document, this will often contain the following:

 The projects goals

 The scope of the project
 The business case
 Project constaints

Development

Now that you have come up with the bright ideas, and designed in detail what you want to build,
you need to build it! This part of the process is where the programmers write and test the code
that runs the system being constructed.

The programmers take the detailed design, (the one that was prepared earlier!), and implement
that design by writing the actual computer code. They will also work closely with the database
designer to insure the right data is retrieved and written to the right place, following the right
rules.

Part of the programmers job is also to test the individual; components they write; this however is
not considered the 'Testing' phase, which is a separate exercise discussed on the following
page. Additionally, if the programmer suffers a momentary lapse of reason, they may
accidentally document some of the processes and logic they have used in their code.

 Physical computer programs.

 A related database or lists of modifications to an existing database.
 Maybe some documentation or some form of instruction as to how to use the program
So you have more work to do.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: TIME ESTIMATES
AND PLANNING ~ By Liz Cassidy
Accurate time estimation is a skill essential for good project management. It is
important to get time estimates right for two main reasons:

1. Time estimates drive the setting of deadlines for delivery and planning of projects,
and hence will impact on other peoples assessment of your reliability and
competence as a project manager.
2. Time estimates often determine the pricing of contracts and hence the profitability
of the contract/project in commercial terms.

Often people underestimate the amount of time needed to implement projects. This is true
particularly when the project manager is not familiar with the task to be carried out.
Unexpected events or unscheduled high priority work may not be taken into account.
Project managers also often simply fail to allow for the full complexity or potential errors
and stuff ups, involved with a project. The 2004-2006 Wembley Stadium project in
London is often used as an example, although there are countless others of less profile.

Time estimates are important as inputs into other techniques used to organise and
structure all projects. Using good time estimation techniques may reduce large projects to
a series of smaller projects.

Step 1: Understand the Project Outcome

First you need to fully understand what it is you need to achieve. (Refer to my article;
Project Management - Begin with the end in mind). Review the project/task in detail so
that there are no "unknowns." Some difficult-to-understand, tricky problems that take the
greatest amount of time to solve. The best way to review the job is to just list all
component tasks in full detail.

Step 2: Estimate Time

When you have a detailed list of all the tasks that you must achieve to complete the
project then you can begin to estimate how long each will take.

Make sure that you also allow time for project management administration, detailed
project, liaison with outside bodies resources and authorities, meetings, quality assurance
developing supporting documentation or procedures necessary, and training.
Also make sure that you have allowed time for:

 Other high urgency tasks to be carried out which will have priority over this one.
 Accidents and emergencies.
 Internal/external meetings.
 Holidays and sickness in key staff/stakeholders.
 Contact with other customers, suppliers and contractors.
 Breakdowns in equipment.
 Missed deliveries by suppliers.
 Interruptions by customers, suppliers, contractors, family, pets, co-workers, etc.
 Others priorities and schedules e.g. local government planning processes.
 Quality control rejections, etc.
 Unanticipated events (e.g. renovating the bathroom finding white-ants/termites in
the walls).

These factors may significantly lengthen the time and cost needed to complete a project.

If the accuracy of time estimates is critical, you will find it effective to develop a
systematic approach to including these factors. If possible, base this on past experience.
In the absence of your own past experience, ask someone who has already done the task
or project to advise what can go wrong; what you need to plan for; and how long each
task took previously.

You can lose a great deal of credibility, and money, by underestimating the length of time
needed to implement a project. If you underestimate time, not only do you miss
deadlines, you can also put other people under unnecessary stress.

Step 3: Plan for it Going Wrong

Finally, allow time for all the expected and unexpected disruptions and delays to work
that will inevitably happen. Sickness, strikes, materials not available, poor quality work,
bureaucratic bungling, etc.
 10 Essential Contract Documents for Every Construction Project
Scoping is key, as well as schedules and construction costs.
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No matter what you're building, constructing a solid contract represents one of the first steps
toward the success of your project. This list contains the documents that typically compose part
of every construction contract. There also are numerous other exhibits or forms that you can use
in combination with the documents listed below. For example:

 Instruction Forms
 Time Extension Claim
 Request for Information
 Preliminary Building Agreement
 Progress Payment Certificate
 Practical Completion Notice
 Defects Document
 Contract Information Statement
1 Contract Agreements and Contracts

The agreement to be used by the contracting officer (owner) and the contractor. The essential
part of the contract documents. More

2 Statement of Work (SOW)

Easy way to calculate lenghts using the app. Photo J Rodriguez

A solid scope will be helpful during the bidding process and later on during the construction
sequence. A well-defined scope will be used to determine the amount of work needed to
complete the work. More

3 General Conditions

General conditions are vital to a project. Photo PortlandGeneralElectric Flickr

This contract document will define the obligations and rights on how to execute the project.
Overhead costs, what to claim and your rights must be included in this portion of the contract.

4 Special Conditions

Special conditions will dictate specific requirements. Photo US ARMY

This is usually an extension of the contract and to the general conditions. This part must specify
specific conditions and clauses to each particular project or job. Pay special attention to specific
instructions and requirements on how to perform the work.

5 Bill of Quantities

This is formed by the list of diverse trades, and materials included that form part of the
construction. Sometimes this document is not required by the contracting officer.

6 Drawings
As-built drawings. Photo Aldona Fire

All set of drawings that form part of the job to be performed. These drawings are usually the
latest drawings and must be received by the contractor prior to the date of commencement. It
must include all drawings from consultants, and will constitute the entire project being
contracted. More

7 CSI MasterFormat Outline

The technical requirement to complete, execute and/or perform every little task or material being
incorporated in the construction projects. It will add intelligence to the construction
drawings; specify common standards, deviations accepted, materials accepted and the
required testing for all materials. Usually, specifications are made by referencing construction
standards and codes. More

8 Creating Construction Schedule

Schedule sample. Courtesy of jwalker64

The construction schedule is an important piece of the document. In this part, the contracting
office will know how and when the project will be completed. Sometimes, construction
contracts will require updated schedules throughout the construction progress, and might form
part of the monthly, or agreed term, application for payments. More

9 Costs in the Construction Industry

Building materials. Photo J Rodriguez

Breakdown of all items being incorporated in the construction project. This is usually the base of
the application for payment. It can be detailed per item or in a lump sum form, not specifying
individual items. More
 10 List of Common Types of Construction Insurance

This part will be an essential part of the contracting officer, since, it will provide the guarantee to
the owner that the contractor has the means and the economic backup to perform the construction
contract. It will include specific types of coverage’s, required bonding, and
all insurance protections to the owner, the contractor and third parties.More

Contract documents for construction

.

Contents
 1 Traditional contract
 2 Design and build
 3 Building information modelling
 4 NEC3
 5 Pre-contract meeting
 6 Find out more
 6.1 Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

Traditional contract
The contract documents set out the obligations and responsibilities of the parties to the contract.
On a traditionally-procured, fully-designed construction project, the contract
documents for suppliers such as the main contractor are likely to include:
 Articles of agreement and conditions of contract, for completing as a simple contract (or as
a deed).
 Working drawings.
 Bills of quantities.
 Specifications.
 Schedules of work.
 Perhaps an information release schedule. Consultants can be reluctant to produce information
release schedules because of concerns about being held to the dates on the schedule (even
where the progress of construction does not require information when the information release
schedule proposes it). Failure to keep to the dates set out in the information release
schedule may then be a matter for which the contractor can claim an extension of time and loss
and /or expense.
 A schedule of tender adjustments or clarifications negotiated and agreed after the receipt
of tenders and prior to the signing of the contract.
 The requirement for the contractor to provide a performance bond and to obtain collateral
warranties from any sub-contractors or suppliers.
 Both client and contractor should engross the contract by witnessed signatures prior to
commencement of work. In practice the administrative effort of collating all necessary
paperwork can be overtaken by the desire to begin construction. In such circumstances it
becomes harder to sort out any disputes as to the content. There have been cases where the courts
have had to interpret an implied contract when the contract has remained unsigned.

Design and build

On design and build projects, the contract documents may comprise:
 The articles of agreement and conditions of contract.
 The employer's requirements.
 The contractor's proposals.
 The contract sum analysis.
 Possibly bills of quantities (for some or all of the design).

Building information modelling

On projects that adopt building information modelling (BIM), the contract documents may also
include:
 A model enabling amendment introducing a BIM protocol as part of the contract documents.
 A BIM protocol, which establishes specific obligations, liabilities and limitations on the use
of building information models and can be used by clients to mandate particular working
practices.
 Employer's information requirements, which define information that the employer wishes to
procure to ensure that the design is developed in accordance with their needs and that they are
able to operate the completed development effectively and efficiently. Suppliers respond to
the employer's information requirements with a BIM execution plan.
Click here to see a diagram showing the relationship between contractual documents for BIM

NEC3
The contract documentation under NEC contracts comprises:
 The form of agreement.
 Conditions of contract.
 Contract data.
 Prices, activities schedules, bill of quantities.
 Works information.
 Site information.

Pre-contract meeting
A pre-contract meeting is likely to take place after the contractor has been appointed. This is an
opportunity to for the project team to meet (perhaps for the first time) and to plan their activities.
The minutes of the pre-contract meeting may form part of contract documents (for
all procurement routes) subject to the agreement of both parties.
What are the Construction “Contract Documents”?
Construction “Contract Documents” are the written documents that define the roles,
responsibilities, and “Work” under the construction Contract, and are legally-binding on the
parties (Owner and Contractor). The individual documents that constitute the construction
“Contract Documents” are defined (in both EJCDC and AIA standard documents) in the Owner-
Contractor Agreement (in EJCDC® C-520 (2013), see Article 9).

It is very important for the person preparing the contracting requirements and other documents in
“Division 00” to fully understand the implications of what does, and does not, constitute the
“Contract Documents”; failure to properly designate the Contract Documents can be a significant
contractual flaw.

Following the contract-writing axiom espoused by the Construction Specifications Institute

(CSI), “say it once and in the right place”, what constitutes the Contract Documents should be
indicated at only one location (preferably the Owner-Contractor Agreement). To increase the
potential for consistent interpretation, the listing of the Contract Documents should be complete
and unambiguous, and should not include any documents that rightfully should not be Contract
Documents.

Common examples of vagueness in this regard include phrases such as, “the Contract
Documents…include all exhibits, attachments, supplements, and all other such documents used
as contract modifications”, and the common practice of including appendices in the Project
Manual but omitting such appendices from the listing of what constitutes the Contract
Documents. Such vagueness should be avoided.

EJCDC® C-700, Standard General Conditions of the Construction Contract (2013), includes the
following definitions at Paragraph 1.01.A—note the differences in the definitions of “Bidding
Documents” and “Contract Documents”. Also note how the definition of “Contract Documents”
merely refers to the Agreement, preserving the “say it once and in the right place” principle:

Contract Documents—Those items so designated in the Agreement, and which together

comprise the Contract.

Bidding Documents—The Bidding Requirements, the proposed Contract Documents, and all
Addenda.

Bidding Requirements—The advertisement or invitation to bid, Instructions to Bidders, Bid

Bond or other Bid security, if any, the Bid Form, and the Bid with any attachments.
Drawings—The part of the Contract that graphically shows the scope, extent, and character of
the Work to be performed by Contractor.

Specifications—The part of the Contract that consists of written requirements for materials,
equipment, systems, standards, and workmanship as applied to the Work, and certain
administrative requirements and procedural matters applicable to the Work.

Note in the following definition from EJCDC® C-700 that “Shop Drawings” are specifically not
part of the Contract Documents:

Shop Drawings—All drawings, diagrams, illustrations, schedules, and other data or information
that are specifically prepared or assembled by or for Contractor and submitted by Contractor to
illustrate some portion of the Work. Shop Drawings, whether approved or not, are not Drawings
and are not Contract Documents.

Another useful definition from EJCDC® C-700 is that of “Project Manual”:

Project Manual—The written documents prepared for, or made available for, procuring and
constructing the Work, including but not limited to the Bidding Documents or other construction
procurement documents, geotechnical and existing conditions information, the Agreement, bond
forms, General Conditions, Supplementary Conditions, and Specifications. The contents of the
Project Manual may be bound in one or more volumes.

AIA standard documents include definitions of the above terms very similar to EJCDC’s (see
AIA® A101TM , AIA® A201TM, and AIA® A701TM). However, AIA documents indicate what
constitutes the “Contract Documents” in both the Agreement and in the General Conditions,
creating the potential for conflicting requirements.

To summarize, be cognizant of, and properly draft the provisions regarding, what constitutes the
Contract Documents.
 Terms of reference are the instructions given to someone when they are asked to consider or
investigate a particular subject, telling them what they must deal with and what they can ignore.

What is a Terms of Reference?

You may have heard of ToR, or Terms of Reference, and wondered how this fits into the project
management process. After all, we have lots of documents already in project management, such
as a project charter (or project initiation document) which seem as if they do a similar thing. For
some projects, a ToR can be very useful and in this article we will look at why.
A ToR is a formal document, but it is typically not very long. It can be used to describe a project
before a full project charter is produced, or it can be used for a workstream. In my experience, it
is more typically used to set out the terms of reference for a particular workstream or sub-project,
and is written by the project manager with input from the functional lead who is managing that
section of the work. You could also produce one for a phase of the project, for example, the
initial scoping phase. In short, a ToR can cover many things but generally sets out the scope of
what needs to be done on a particular piece of work.
The ToR document includes:

Background
The context for the work, the overall aims of the work and any references to other pieces of work
that the team should take into account when commencing the work.

Objectives

What is this piece of work going to achieve? What problem is it going to solve? These should be
set out in a way that everyone can understand, avoiding jargon.

Scope

This section briefly covers what is in scope and out of scope of the work. It is easiest to list this
in bullet point format, as if more detail is required this can be produced in a full requirements
document. Bullet points in this section should cover areas like:

 The technical systems involved or that are required

 The business processes that will be affected by this work

 What hardware and software is required (or specifically out of scope)

 Where the project will take place, what locations are affected and what locations will be out of
scope for the purpose of this work

 What third parties will be involved

 Who will be affected, and which teams or individuals will specifically be out of scope.

You will probably think of other things to include in the scope. A good tip is to bring the team
together (if you don’t have a full team together at this point bring together some colleagues)
and use a tool like Seavus DropMind to mindmap some options for scope. You could include
a screenshot of your mindmap in the document if this is easier to do than listing the scope
items as bullet points.

Constraints

This short section documents any project constraints, such as timescales, the available budget,
the resources available or any legislative or regulatory frameworks that have to be considered.

Assumptions

Include any assumptions in the ToR. These are thing that you don’t yet know for certain but that
will have an impact on the piece of work later on. If you are updating your ToR later you can
update this section as you may well have been able to ratify your assumptions by then.

Roles and responsibilities

Who is on the team? In this section document the names and roles of the people who will be
carrying out the work. You can also include their availability, such as if they are only available
to work on the project two days a week. Also include details of who is sponsoring the work. If it
is a full project, this will be the project sponsor. If it is a workstream or part of an existing
project, the person to whom the workstream lead reports (probably you, the project manager) is
the right person to mention here.

Deliverables

What is the work going to deliver? Make a list – it doesn’t have to be too detailed at this point as
all you really need is a high level description of the outputs of the work. You could include a
screenshot of the high level milestones from your project plan here too.

Format

Ideally, you should aim to get your ToR on a couple of pages. There is no need for a fancy cover
page or appendices. Put a header and footer on the document and get started! You can always
include version control information in a short table at the beginning or end.

Other uses for a ToR

You can also set out a ToR for meetings, so your Project Board or Steering Group may have a
ToR that explains what they are there to do and how they will go about conducting the business
of governance or oversight on the project. You could also have one for other types of meetings,
 such as a terms of reference for risk management meetings. As long as the ToR clearly sets out
the scope of an activity and explains what is also out of scope, then it will do its job.

Do you use ToR for your projects? Let us know what else you include in them in the comments.

What is an expression of interest?

EoI

A call for bids, call for tenders, or invitation to tender (ITT, often called tender for short) is a
special procedure for generating competing offers from different bidders looking to obtain an
award of business activity in works, supply, or service contracts. They are usually preceded by a
pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ).

Contents

 1Types
 2Origin of the term
 3Double envelope system
 4Tender box
 5Security deposit
 6Locating tenders
 7Typical template contents (in project management)
 8See also
 9References

Types
Open tenders, open calls for tenders, or advertised tenders are open to all vendors or contractors
who can guarantee performance.
Restricted tenders, restricted calls for tenders, or invited tenders are only open to selected
prequalified vendors or contractors. This may form part of a two-stage process, the first stage of
which (as in the expression-of-interest (EOI) tender call) produces a shortlist of suitable vendors.
The reasons for restricted tenders differ in scope and purpose. Restricted tenders can come about
because:

 essentially only one suitable supplier of the services or product exists

 of confidentiality issues (such as in military contracts)
 of the need for expedience (as in emergency situations)
 of a need to weed out tenderers who do not have the financial or technical capabilities to
fulfill the requirements
Origin of the term
Dictionaries explain the etymology as coming from Old French tendre, which means "to offer".
The following false etymology is sometimes heard:

 When merchant ships arrived at a port of call, they would post a notice describing the goods
they wished to buy or sell. This notice was delivered ahead of the ship by a tender—a small
boat—and hence the process became known as tendering.

Double envelope system

In an open bid or tender system, a double envelope system may be used. The double envelope
system separates the technical proposal (based on and intended to meet the statement of work)
from the financing or cost proposal in the form of two separate and sealed envelopes.
During the tender evaluation, the technical proposal would be opened and evaluated first
followed by the financing proposal.
The objective of this system is to ensure a fair evaluation of the proposal. The technical proposal
would be evaluated purely on its technical merits and its ability to meet the requirements set
forth in the Invitation without being unduly skewed by the financial proposal.

Tender box
A tender box is a mailbox that is used to receive the physical tender or bid documents. When a
tender or bid is being called, a tender or bid number is usually issued as a reference number for
the tender box. The tender box would be open for interested parties to submit their proposals for
the duration of the bid or tender.
Once the duration is over, the tender box is closed and sealed and can only be opened by either
the tender or bid evaluation committee or a member of the procurement department with one
witness.

Security deposit
Registered contractors are usually required to furnish a bond for a stipulated sum as security or
earnest money deposit to be adjusted against work done, normally in the form of bank guarantee
or surety.

Locating tenders
Public sector organizations in many countries are legally obliged to release tenders for works and
services. In the majority of cases, these are listed on their websites and traditional print media.
Electronic procurement and tendering systems or e-procurement are also increasingly prevalent.
A number of companies provide subscription alert services which send notifications of relevant
tender documents to the subscriber.
An array of private organisations also assist businesses in finding out about these tenders. Cost
may vary from a few pounds a week to a few hundred.
Because of the specialised language and sometimes difficult-to-grasp procedures, some
organizations also offer companies tender writing training, or do the writing for them.

Typical template contents (in project management)

A typical invitation to tender template in any project has the following sections:[6]

 Introduction
 Project background
 Legal issues
 Maintaining issues
 Supplier response required
 Timetable for choosing a supplier
 Requirements
 Request for proposal
A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that solicits proposal, often made through
a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service,
or valuable asset, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals.[1] It is submitted early in
the procurement cycle, either at the preliminary study, or procurement stage.
An RFP is used where the request requires technical expertise, specialized capability, or where
the product or service being requested does not yet exist, and the proposal may require research
and development to create whatever is being requested.
The RFP presents preliminary requirements for the commodity or service, and may dictate to
varying degrees the exact structure and format of the supplier's response. Effective RFPs
typically reflect the strategy and short/long-term business objectives, providing detailed insight
upon which suppliers will be able to offer a matching perspective.[2]
Similar requests include a request for quotation (RFQ), whereby the customer may simply be
looking for a price quote, and a request for information (RFI), where the customer needs more
information from vendors before submitting an RFP. An RFI is typically followed by an RFP or
RFQ.[3]
In principle, an RFP:

 Informs suppliers that an organization is looking to procure and encourages them to make
their best effort.
 Requires the company to specify what it proposes to purchase. If the requirements
analysis has been prepared properly, it can be incorporated quite easily into the Request
document.
 Alerts suppliers that the selection process is competitive.
 Allows for wide distribution and response.
 Ensures that suppliers respond factually to the identified requirements.
 Is generally expected to follow a structured evaluation and selection procedure, so that an
organization can demonstrate impartiality - a crucial factor in public sector procurements.

Contents

 1Specifications
 2Other requests
 3See also
 4References

Specifications
An RFP typically involves more than a request for the price. Other requested information may
include basic corporate information and history, financial information (can the company deliver
without risk of bankruptcy), technical capability (used on major procurements of services, where
the item has not previously been made or where the requirement could be met by varying
technical means), product information such as stock availability and estimated completion
period, and customer references that can be checked to determine a company's suitability
(including educational and military background of its employees on the project --- college
graduates and those with advanced college degrees may add "value" from the bidder).
The ubiquitous availability of the Internet has made many government agencies turn either to
state-run or vendor operated websites which provide listings of RFPs as well as RFIs and RFQs.
Many allow vendors to sign up at no charge to receive e-mails of requests either generally or for
specific categories of product or service for which there is an interest. In some cases, the entire
process is done on-line with responses as scanned documents or PDF files uploaded to the
server; in other cases, or for legal reasons, a response must be sent in hard copy form and/or on
CD/DVD disc or flash drive by mail or delivery service.
In the militaries of many countries, an RFP is often raised to fulfill an Operational
Requirement (OR), after which the military procurement authority will normally issue a
detailed technical specification against which tenders (i.e., bids) will be made by potential
contractors. In the civilian use, an RFP is usually part of a complex sales process, also known
as enterprise sales.
RFPs often include specifications of the item, project or service for which a proposal is
requested. The more detailed the specifications, the better the chances that the proposal provided
will be accurate. Generally RFPs are sent to an approved supplier or vendor list.
The bidders return a proposal by a set date and time. Late proposals may or may not be
considered, depending on the terms of the initial RFP. The proposals are used to evaluate the
suitability as a supplier, vendor, or institutional partner. Typically organizations follow a detailed
vendor screening process to short list the vendors who should be invited for further rounds of
negotiation. This screening process could either be vendor scoring models or internal discussions
within the buyer organization. Discussions may be held on the proposals (often to clarify
technical capabilities or to note errors in a proposal or in many cases to negotiate on the price).
In most instances, only selected bidders may be invited to participate in subsequent bids, or may
be asked to submit their best technical and financial proposal, commonly referred to as a Best
and Final Offer (BAFO). Subsequent changes can be referred to as the Best and Revised Final
Offer (BARFO).
Once both the parties i.e. a buyer organization and seller organization agree on the technical and
commercial terms and conditions of the proposal, they could move on to next steps like contract
signing, statement of work which would formalize the purchase transactions.
Today, many organizations are becoming more collaborative in the development of RFPs; this is
especially true for universities and other major public entities making major technology
purchases. RFP-issuing groups ask for specific use cases, rather than providing a list of features,
and ensure they have the opportunity to include demonstrations, webinars and meetings as part
of the RFP process to ensure they have a strong understanding of all competing products before
making a purchase.[4]
What is a RFP? Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are structured methods for organizations to
receive competitive bids for needed products and services, and can be an invaluable source of
new business opportunities through proposals for your company as long as you know what they
are, where to find them, and how to make strategic decisions regarding them.

We have organized this page around the following sections:

 What is a RFP (overview)

 Where can I find RFPs
 Are RFPs relevant today

W H AT I S A RFP?
Quite simply:

"A request for proposal (RFP) is a solicitation document that an organization posts to elicit bids
from potential vendors in order to procure a product or service through the responding business
proposals. The RFP process is meant to bring structure and transparency to the procurement
decision, while reducing risk through open requirements and discussion."

The actual formatting for how to write a RFP can vary widely, and RFP quality and
completeness is often a topic of heated discussion, but considering the total value of projects
chosen by this method, as a vendor it is virtually impossible to ignore them as some have chosen
to do.

Requests for Proposals are often issued by for-profit companies and non-profit organizations, but
are required to be issued by governments and government agencies as a fair and transparent way
of soliciting competitive bids for their taxpayers/constituents.

There are a number of variations on Requests for Proposals (RFPs), namely:

 Request for Quotations (RFQ)
 Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
 Request for Information (RFI)
 Request for Tender (RFT)

W HE RE CAN I FI ND RFP S?
If you're looking for government or "public" RFPs issued by organizations governed by public
procurement laws, you can always find those RFPs posted on the originating organization's
website as it is almost always a requirement. For example, any City, State, or government agency
typically has a purchasing or procurement section of their website for RFPs. The same generally
holds true for public colleges and universities. There are also a number of private services that
will sell you this same information on a subscription basis (running from $20/month to
$500/month such as FindRFP and Onvia).
This doesn't typically apply for private companies or non-profit organizations, who are under
less restrictions and might not publicly post their RFPs to their website. In many cases you need
to contact (or be contacted by) the company to get placed on their "approved vendors" list and be
notified of procurement opportunities.

The RFP Database is the only site that has a variety of government RFPs, non-profit RFPs, and
even RFPs from for-profit companies, but does not charge a subscription fee.

ARE RFPS RELE VANT T O DAY?

Yes, most definitely. While the competition for public RFPs has increased, so has the need for
more transparency in government spending, along with additional incentives for agencies to hire
small businesses. To ignore RFPs is to ignore billions of dollars of spending, a percentage of
which could be going to your business.

To compete in this market one must continually strive to create better proposals, along
with making strategic decisions regarding which RFPs to pursue. Remember, not all RFPs are
worth a proposal! You can also learn more about the different types of issued RFPs and your
probability of winning a RFP.

NE E D H EL P WIT H RFPS?
We're happy to help, and provide a free 15 minute consultation. Choose from one of the
available time slots. Instructions will be sent to you upon confirmation.