Government tender response writing

Government tender writing for Australian businesses: a fit check, criteria responses, returnable schedules and a lodge pack. You lodge it. No win, no fee.

What we write

A government tender response is the set of answers and files a buyer scores. TenderLodge writes that response for Australian businesses bidding to federal agencies, state and territory governments, and councils. The work starts with the request you are actually answering, not with a stock document that could be sent to any buyer.

We write the criteria responses. Where the buyer numbers the criteria and publishes weightings, each answer is mapped to that criterion and that weighting. Where the buyer does not publish a weighting, we still answer the question that was asked, and we do not invent a percentage the request does not contain.

We write the methodology in the form the request asks for: how the work will be done, in what order, by which part of your firm, and how you will deal with the constraints the buyer has named. The method is written from the way your firm does the work. It is not a generic sequence pasted in to fill a page limit.

We prepare the returnable schedules so each schedule the buyer asked for is present, named in the buyer's terms, and filled from your material. A pricing schedule is laid out for you to price. TenderLodge does not invent rates, day rates or a total. Your firm sets the price, checks it, and owns it.

The lodge pack is the practical end of the writing. It lists the files, the order, the declarations you still have to sign, and the checks to run before the closing time. It is a pack for your team to lodge. It is not a lodgement we make for you.

How it works

Find. TenderLodge looks for government tenders that fit the work your firm does, across AusTender, state portals and council buyers. An open notice on this site is a real request with a real closing time, not a sample invented for the page.

Fit check. Before writing starts, we read the hard gates and the scope against what your firm can actually show. If a mandatory condition is missing, we say so. A fit check that says no is a useful result. It keeps a firm from spending the closing window on a response the buyer will set aside.

Write. The TenderLodge team writes the response and checks it. We use your evidence: past work you can describe, people you can commit, and documents you already hold. Where a sentence would require a fact you have not given us, we stop and ask. We do not fill the gap.

You approve. You read the draft, correct anything that is wrong, add the price, and sign the declarations that must be yours. Approval is yours because the commitments are yours. TenderLodge does not accept a contractual commitment on your behalf.

You lodge. Your firm lodges the approved pack on the buyer's portal, under your own account, before the closing time. TenderLodge does not log in, does not hold your portal password, and does not lodge the response. After you lodge, you keep the receipt.

Tender types

Buyers do not all use the same name. A request for tender (RFT) usually asks for a full offer, including method, capacity and price. A request for quote (RFQ) is often shorter, and it is still a formal response with a closing time. A request for proposal (RFP) may leave more of the method open, which means the answer has to follow the outcome the buyer described rather than a design they have already fixed.

An expression of interest (EOI) and a request for information (RFI) usually come earlier. They decide who is invited to the next stage. They still need evidence, and they still need to be lodged complete. Treating an EOI as a casual note is a common way to be left out of the tender that follows.

A panel, standing offer or multi-use list asks to be appointed, not necessarily to be given a job on day one. The response has to answer the panel conditions. Appointment is the result the application is aiming at. It is not a promise of work, and the success fee on a panel follows appointment, as the fees page sets out.

Addenda change the request. A new drawing, a revised clause or a question the buyer has answered in writing can change what a compliant response contains. We read the addenda with the original request. An answer that ignores an addendum is an answer to a tender the buyer is no longer running.

Buyers

Commonwealth work is published on AusTender. The approach to market has an ATM identifier, conditions for participation, and evaluation criteria. We write to those conditions. A helpful guide to the federal path is on the how-to page, and the same lodging rule applies: your firm lodges on AusTender under its own account.

State and territory governments use their own portals and their own conditions. A Victorian request, a buy.nsw request, a QTenders request and the equivalents in other states are not the same document with the letterhead swapped. We follow the portal's returnables and the request's own questions.

Councils run tenders too, often for local works and services, and often with a shorter timetable. Council tenders are part of the work, not a lesser category. The response is written to that council's specification and lodged by you on that council's portal.

TenderLodge is based in Greenvale VIC and works with firms across Australia by email. We do not claim an office in every city the buyer is in. If the request itself requires a local presence, a licence, or a named accreditation, that requirement has to be true of your firm, or the fit check will say so.

Fees

There's no fee unless you win. The success fee is charged only after a confirmed award, and the amount follows the awarded value. Up to $100,000 the fee is $250. Over $100,000 to $200,000 it is $450. Over $200,000 to $300,000 it is $1,000. Over $300,000 it is 3% of the awarded value, capped at $100,000. All of those amounts are ex GST.

A possible award is not a win. No win, no fee. The bands are the same ones in the one-page opt-in terms. The optional Tender-Ready Pack is a different piece of work: a fixed fee, quoted upfront, and not required before you opt in to a tender.

We do not ask for an upfront writing fee on a tender response covered by the success fee. You can read the full schedule, including the panel rule, on the fees page before you opt in.

Questions we hear before writing starts

Firms ask who writes the response. The TenderLodge team writes it and checks it. Firms ask who lodges it. You do, on the buyer's portal, under your own account. Firms ask what happens if the buyer chooses someone else. You pay no success fee for that tender.

Firms also ask whether a council tender is in scope, and whether bid writing is a different service. Council tenders are in scope. Bid writing, for a government request, is the same job under the other word Australian firms use. The longer answers are on the tender writing questions page.

If the request is already open, send it. A fit check is the first step, and it is better done while there is still time to write and still time for you to lodge.