The importance of good policies and procedures

Having the relevant documents in place can make the difference between passing and failing the PQQ stage and being invited to tender.

With such importance placed on your company’s policies, it is advisable to have these ready and up to date before you register your interest in the contract and start the tender process. This will save you a lot of time and effort and make filling in the PQQ less of a struggle.

It is not definite which polices you will be required to provide on a PQQ, this varies depending on the document itself and the related contract. The

basic policies that you may be required to provide are:

• Health and Safety policy
• Environmental policy
• Equality and Diversity policy
• Quality policy

It is not only valuable to have these in place but it is also very important that they are as detailed as possible. A lot of companies will often source boilerplate policy templates from the internet and call them their own, which will be very simple, generalised, one page documents. If you are going to be tendering towards a public sector contract your policies must be detailed and tailored to suit your company. They must also be in-date, have a renewal date and must be signed by the relevant officer or company MD to deem it appropriate for public sector tendering. If your policies are unfit for their purpose, you company is seen as a risk and will not be considered for the job.

Other policies and procedures that you may be required to provide include:

• Bribery Policy
• Confidentiality Policy
• Lone Worker Policy
• Training Policy

It is best to have as many policies in place as you can that apply to your business or services. If you have a pre-defined vault of information, then you are ready to tackle any PQQ that comes your way and will give you a significant advantage over other competitors that may not have this in place. It will also give you more time to consider your answers for other sections of the PQQ that require more detail.

Accreditations can also speed up the process of completing a PQQ. More than often you will be asked if your business has any accreditations such as CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety), Gas Safe, Investors in People or ISO. If your business is approved by the relevant accreditors you may not need to provide examples of your policies as you will already be compliant with the requirements of the contract, which will also give you a significant advantage.

If you are unsure how to write a good policy, or do not have time to create one to an exceptional standard in time to submit your PQQ, please visit our website for further details and get in touch.