[geefree]

its £99, per annum, anyone tried it

[wezzy32]

whats that for then?

[geefree]

they reckon they can put local authority work my way as and when it comes along

[leapstallbuildings]

they reckon they can put local authority work my way as and when it comes along

If something sounds too good to be true - it usually is.

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

You can be on the Local Auth list for nothing. Simply let them have your insurance details and when a job is up for tender they will inform you.

Those that charge do nothing extra. You will still only be informed on contracts up for tender and you will still have to put a tender in with no promise of acceptance.

[rg1]

And from what I was told, if you aint part of the 'Inner Circle' of contractors, you wont get the contract anyway.

[Gleaming windows]

they reckon they can put local authority work my way as and when it comes along

They?

[Gleaming windows]

And from what I was told, if you aint part of the 'Inner Circle' of contractors, you wont get the contract anyway.

That is totally untrue. You obviously have no experience of local authority work.

[rg1]

And from what I was told, if you aint part of the 'Inner Circle' of contractors, you wont get the contract anyway.

That is totally untrue. You obviously have no experience of local authority work.

I am only going by what a friend told me who is a contracts assistant for my local council

[Gleaming windows]

He's likely to lose his job if that comes to light.

If we offered, just offered, a bottle of bubbly at Christmas to contracts managers, architects or office managers they refused point blank, it could be seen as a bribe to secure tenders.

[Pole 2 Pole]

And that's never happened before? ? ? ? Anyone who thinks that councils and governments don't run on back handers and bribes is on planet janet.  : I only ever see one contractor doin roadworks around my way. Are they the only contractors out there? Are they always the cheapest? Are they the only company that tick all the boxes? I doubt it. In with the in crowd?? More than likely

[LWC]

Dont pay to put your name up for work that you probably wont get. Daylight robbery if you ask me. Some bloke rang me once and gave me all the speil and i was like yeh great go for it put me name down, and as soon as he said £99 or whatever it was a year i was like no thanks.

Im sorry but if you want work like this THE council get in touch with you, not because your name is on some list...I had a call the her day from council, my names on no list and looks like ive got it.

Up to you what you do and if it works well then ill say sorry, but not for me.

[Gleaming windows]

Who said its never happened before?

It obviously has otherwise the laws and regulations regarding awarding of tenders wouldnt have changed. The authorities wouldnt have to abide by cheapest then would they. But they do. Price dictates who gets job. Thats why price fixing and the awarding of recent construction contracts to various building companies has been scrutinised and theyre up for I think it was £126M in fines between them (those that were found to be rigging the books). Anyway, back to the awarding of contracts to local companies, yes of course it has happened in the past and is likely to in the future, but if those who award the contracts are found to be somehow discriminating then its their lookout.

Contracts are not actually awarded by anyone in the dept they are being tendered by, ALL tenders are opened by independent individuals who have no interest in who gets the work. Cheapest gets it.

Thats the theory anyway. No-one we have ever dealt with in 15 years of council run contracts did anything to enable us to gain work, ever. No bribes, no nought! We got the work if we were cheapest, and you can compare your price to other companies tendering as you do get to see the prices the others put it, and we didnt get it if we wern't.

If a contract is over a particular budget it automatically has to go to (usually 3) other companies for a price. With that and the ability to review what others have bid for a job I cant see how you can screw a dept to give you a contract.

[JRDEasiReach]

Would this be of benefit to a business to get onto the 'books' of a local council so to speak?  Im not sure if its the same in NI as in the rest of UK id imagine it is though.

[dean123]

if its housing assocation work  then yes its true (well the one i work for)
and i do think this is going to happen with the councils eventually heres the link
http://www.constructionline.co.uk/static/

if it aint construction line then i woundnt bother as there probally the biggest in the sector

[leapstallbuildings]

Who said its never happened before?

It obviously has otherwise the laws and regulations regarding awarding of tenders wouldnt have changed. The authorities wouldnt have to abide by cheapest then would they. But they do. Price dictates who gets job. Thats why price fixing and the awarding of recent construction contracts to various building companies has been scrutinised and theyre up for I think it was £126M in fines between them (those that were found to be rigging the books). Anyway, back to the awarding of contracts to local companies, yes of course it has happened in the past and is likely to in the future, but if those who award the contracts are found to be somehow discriminating then its their lookout.

Contracts are not actually awarded by anyone in the dept they are being tendered by, ALL tenders are opened by independent individuals who have no interest in who gets the work. Cheapest gets it.

Thats the theory anyway. No-one we have ever dealt with in 15 years of council run contracts did anything to enable us to gain work, ever. No bribes, no nought! We got the work if we were cheapest, and you can compare your price to other companies tendering as you do get to see the prices the others put it, and we didnt get it if we wern't.

If a contract is over a particular budget it automatically has to go to (usually 3) other companies for a price. With that and the ability to review what others have bid for a job I cant see how you can screw a dept to give you a contract.

Most people on here would automatically be ruled out of doing council work of a reasonable size.  This is because they won't award a contract to a company if the amount of that contract exceeds x% of the company's annual income (can't recall if it's based on turnover or profit.  This was straight from the horses' mouths at an FSB organised seminar.  Upon realising that there was nothing there for me, I left during the coffee break and went to earn some money   

[Sean Dyer]

yep.and some councils want proof of turnover for upto 3 years!!!

You need to be a decent size company for most local authority tendering

[mark dew]

Gazza, have you got s lad starting with you and looking at getting him some full time work to do?
Otherwise, only my opinion of course but don't bother. Use the hours spent faffing about with the state, in doing some decent priced domestic work. Which carries no worries. And what i suspect could be more money for less work.

[tacky]

backhanders and u ar in .friend of mine does weed control work .in a pub he was told by council guy who does tenders .he could put work his way .for x amount .im trying to get his number see if he can get wc contacts . lol

[mark dew]

I reckon all they can guarantee is that you will be invited to tender.
Getting it requires alot more paperwork etc. It is probably worth trying to get involved purely for the experience. But a job to stick the lads on rather than doing it yourself.
The council have to advertise any tenders or contracts that are coming up. Look on your local councils website for any info. It is also interesting to have a look at their accounts for previous years. There will always be a cleaning company or 2 on there saying how much they were paid for what premises.

If it is just invitations to tender, then that info can be found free. Which is what they are doing and repackaging it for £99.