Tender

How it is used

Clients invite tenders; contractors prepare, submit, win or lose them. The documents are the tender documents, and the deadline is the tender closing date. As a verb, contractors tender for a project. American English usually says bid.

Example sentences

1. We submitted our tender for the motorway junction yesterday.

2. Five contractors were invited to tender for the hospital.

Common collocations

• submit a tender
• win a tender
• tender documents
• invitation to tender
• tender price

Related terms

• bill of quantitiesA document that lists every item of work in a project with its quantity and unit, such as cubic metres of concrete or tonnes of rebar, so that contractors can price it.
• contractorA company or person that agrees, under a contract, to carry out construction work for a client for an agreed price and within an agreed time.
• clientThe person or organisation that orders and pays for a construction project. Many standard contracts call the client the Employer or the Owner.
• specificationA written document that describes the materials, standards, workmanship and testing required for a project. It is used together with the drawings.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• tender · Architecture
• tender · Logistics & Supply Chain
• tender · Public Administration
• tender · Military & Defence

More terms: Contracts and Payments

• subcontractor
• progress payment
• variation order
• handover
• quantity surveyor
• retention
• defects liability period
• snag list
• extension of time