e-PW3 Works Open Tender Participation Guideline

01Is This Tender for You?

e-PW3 is BPPA's Standard Tender Document for works above Tk. 5 crore bought by open tender on e-GP without a pre-qualification round. You will see "e-PW3" as the STD in the tender notice.

Nature

Works

Value

Above Tk. 5 crore

Pricing

Unit rate per BoQ item

Payment

Measured quantities

Prices

Fixed or adjustable (TDS 26.8)

Tender security

Yes, fixed amount

• Open to tenderers from all countries except any named in TDS 5.1. Foreign tenderers give a written declaration in place of Bangladeshi VAT and TIN details.
• Download the e-Tender Document after paying the fee through an e-GP member bank, no later than the day before the deadline.
• Visit the site at your own cost; you carry the risk of what you could have found.
• Submit only one tender per lot, alone or in a JV. Taking part in two tenders for the same lot gets all of them rejected. A subcontractor may appear in several tenders, but only as a subcontractor.

02Eligibility and Conflicts

• Legal capacity to contract, enrolment in a professional or trade body in your own country, and any licence in TDS 5.13 (for example electrical supervisory or gas company).
• Taxes and social security paid; not insolvent, bankrupt or in receivership; not suspended, debarred or restricted by a development partner.
• A Bangladeshi government-owned enterprise must prove legal and financial autonomy and that it is not a dependent agency of the PE.
• These rules apply to every JV partner and subcontractor too. If you win, disclose beneficial ownership (Form e-PW3-2).

You will be disqualified for a conflict of interest if you:

• control, are controlled by, or share common control with another tenderer;
• receive a subsidy from, or share a legal representative with, another tenderer;
• have a relationship that lets you influence another tender or the PE's decisions; or
• have a partner who, as consultant, prepared the design or specifications of these works.

03Check Your Qualification

Every criterion is pass/fail. Test your firm against each TDS figure:

Assessed tender capacity = A × N × 1.25 − B

• A = your highest value of works done in any one year of the last five; N = the new contract's duration in years (1 if under 12 months); B = commitments to be completed in the next N years.
• The TDS will ask for 70–80% of the official estimate.

Example: tender capacity on a Tk. 24 crore, 18-month job Your best year was Tk. 15 crore and Tk. 8 crore of ongoing work falls in the next 18 months: 15 × 1.5 × 1.25 − 8 = Tk. 20.1 crore. Against a requirement of Tk. 19.2 crore (80%), you pass. With Tk. 10 crore of commitments you would fail.

04Joint Ventures and Subcontractors

• Submit the JV agreement (Format e-PW3-B) on a Tk. 300 non-judicial stamp, or a notarised Letter of Intent with the draft agreement, plus Form e-PW3-3 for each partner. Respect the maximum number of partners in TDS 17.1.
• The lead partner holds the highest business share and represents the JV, including receiving payments; every other partner holds at least 25%.
• Typical split: turnover, liquid asset and tender capacity 100% combined, lead 40%, each other partner 25%; specific experience summed with the lead holding at least one contract; each partner meets the general experience years in full.
• All partners are jointly and severally liable and all sign the contract. The JV cannot change make-up without the PE's approval.
• Subcontract no more than 30% of the works by value, named in Form e-PW3-4. After signing, new subcontractors need HOPE's written approval and the subcontract must be given to the PM before work starts. Exceeding 30% or unauthorised subcontracting is a fundamental breach.

05Questions, Meeting and Addenda

• Ask questions through e-GP within the IFT time; the PE answers within 5 working days.
• Join the online pre-tender meeting if held. Missing it is not a reason for disqualification.
• Only an addendum changes the document; late addenda extend the deadline by at least 3 working days.

06Documents to Upload

• Tender Submission Letter (Form e-PW3-1), without altering its format.
• Tenderer Information (Form 2); JV Partner Information (Form 3) and the JV agreement; Subcontractor Information (Form 4); Personnel (Form 5); Capacity and Current Commitments (Forms 6 and 6A).
• Priced BoQ (with dayworks if included) for each lot and the tender security.
• Trade licence, TIN, return acknowledgement for the TDS assessment year, VAT/BIN.
• Technical proposal and ES risk management plan; evidence of origin and conformity of materials and equipment.
• Qualification evidence, bank-reference authority, audited statements for the TDS years, autonomy evidence if a government-owned enterprise, and any extra TDS 23.1(l) documents.

Missing signed forms, the priced BoQ or a valid tender security means rejection at the first check. Other missing documents may be requested only if your tender is already responsive, and never for anything touching rates.

07Technical Proposal and ES Plan

• Describe work methods, equipment, personnel, schedule, the risks you see and how you will handle them, plus anything listed in TDS 30.1. It must show you can meet the requirements and the completion time.
• Submit an Environmental, Social, Health and Safety plan (ES-MSIP) following Section 9: OHS, community safety, pollution, waste, traffic, grievance mechanism and code of conduct.
• After award you will refine it into the ES risk management plan within 15 days of commencement, update it at the PCC interval and report monthly in the ES format.

A thin, generic proposal is risky: a material deviation from the specifications or ES Specifications makes the tender non-responsive and cannot be fixed later.

08Tender Security and Validity

• Ask an e-GP registered bank to prepare the e-tender security for the TDS 34.1 amount (bank draft, pay order or guarantee on Form e-PW3-7). For a JV, it can be in the JV's name, a partner's name, or all intended partners' names.
• It must stay valid 28 days beyond tender validity. No valid security, no responsive tender.
• You may refuse a validity extension (at most twice) without losing the security, but you drop out.
• Returned after the evaluation report is approved; if you are 1st to 3rd lowest, only after the winner signs.

09Price the BoQ

• Enter a unit rate for every item in figures and words; e-GP calculates amounts. An unpriced item is treated as covered by other rates and never paid.
• Include profit, overhead, VAT, all taxes and duties in force 28 days before the deadline, and banking and insurance costs. Quote in Taka.
• Offer any discount only as a percentage in the e-GP Unconditional Discount Form; it applies equally to every item. Alternatives are not allowed.
• If prices are fixed, rates do not move with the market. If the TDS makes them adjustable, the PCC formula applies from month 13; do not inflate rates for inflation that the formula will cover.
• Avoid front-loading: unbalanced rates can lead to retention of up to 20%.

Example: how the SLT test can reject a low bid Estimate Tk. 20 crore, illustrative X_NPPI Tk. 19 crore, tenders of Tk. 17, 18 and 19 crore. The weighted average is Tk. 18.7 crore and the lower limit about Tk. 17.62 crore, so the Tk. 17 crore tender is rejected.

10Submit Through e-GP

• Your e-signature on final submission binds you and confirms validity, security, no reservations, eligibility of you, partners and subcontractors, and that the NOA forms a binding contract.
• Check every file is virus-free and readable. Upload large files early; late submission is impossible.
• You can modify, substitute or withdraw until the deadline, not afterwards.

11How You Are Evaluated

1. Preliminary: forms signed, priced BoQ, valid tender security.
2. Technical: eligibility, materials conformity, technical proposal and ES plan without material deviation.
3. Financial: price plus dayworks less discount (provisional sums and price adjustment excluded), then the SLT test or, with one responsive tender, within 20% of the estimate.
4. Post-qualification: your documents checked against the TDS criteria, possibly with a visit to your premises.

• Answer TEC clarifications (at least 3 working days) without changing your tender. Do not contact the PE otherwise until the NOA.
• If your price is far above the estimate, the PE may negotiate scope reduction; you may decline without penalty.
• Ties go to better past performance, never a lottery. You may request a debriefing and complain under PPA sections 29–30 and PPR Rules 72–77.

12Award, Security and Signing

1. The NOA (Form e-PW3-9) arrives with the draft contract and forms a binding contract.
2. Furnish the 5% performance security within the TDS working days: 10 for estimates of Tk. 5–25 crore, 14 above Tk. 25 crore. Valid until 28 days beyond the intended completion date.
3. Sign within the TDS days: 21 or 28 on the same bands. All JV partners sign.
4. A government-owned enterprise gives no performance security; 10% retention applies instead.

Example: what you lock up on Tk. 24 crore A Tk. 1.2 crore performance security plus 5% retention on every bill, with the two together capped at Tk. 2.4 crore (10%) unless the TEC found front-loaded pricing.

13Starting: Insurance, Advance, Programme

• Insurance: in joint names from Start Date to end of the DLP for works, plant and materials, equipment, other property and injury, at the PCC amounts; deliver policies before the Start Date and extend them with any time extension. If you don't, the PE insures and deducts the premium.
• Advance (if the PCC offers it, typically up to 10%): give an equal bank guarantee on Form e-PW3-12, use it only for equipment, plant, materials and mobilisation, and show invoices. It is interest-free and recovered from bills between 20% and 80% progress.
• Start by the Start Date; submit the Programme of Works within the PCC days (usually 15 from signing) and updates with cash-flow forecasts.
• Employ the named key personnel; remove anyone the PM asks within 3 days. Cooperate with other contractors on site.
• No work outside normal hours or on holidays without the PM's written approval; no child labour; pay wages on time; provide accommodation, water and sanitation.
• Do not cover work before inspection. Execute every BoQ item. Hand over anything of historical interest found on site.

14Bills, Price Adjustment and Variations

• Monthly statements; the PM checks ES compliance (failures can mean withholding up to the PCC cap, ≤ 2%), certifies at BoQ rates, and the PE pays within 28 days. Late payment earns the PCC interest, if any.
• Price adjustment (if in the PCC) applies from 12 months after commencement: each certified amount is multiplied by P = A + B (Im ÷ Io).
• Variations: written notice with likely cost by the 7th working day of awareness, or lose the claim. Variations cannot exceed 30% of the original price.
• If an item grows by more than 25% and that alone adds more than 1% to the price, a new rate applies to the excess.
• Claims: notify within 28 days or lose time and money; send full particulars within 42 days.

Example: when a rate is re-set on Tk. 24 crore Concrete at Tk. 12,000/m³ rises from 2,000 to 2,600 m³ (30%). The extra 600 m³ adds Tk. 72 lakh, 3% of the price, so both tests are met. A 30% rise on a Tk. 8 lakh item would not reach 1% and keeps its rate.

15Delays, Bonus, Termination and Disputes

• Extensions: notify within 14 days; the PM decides within 21 days of full information. Missing early warning reduces what you get.
• Liquidated damages: 0.03–0.05% of contract value per day, up to ≤ 10%; reaching the cap is a fundamental breach. A bonus at a similar rate may apply for early completion.
• Acceleration is paid only through priced proposals the PE accepts. Suspension ordered by the PM entitles you to time and cost unless caused by your own fault.
• Default termination: Notice to Correct (reply in 5 days), Notice of Default (21 days), final notice. You pay 15–25% of the revised estimate of unfinished works and may be debarred for up to 2 years.
• You may terminate if a certified bill is unpaid for 84 days, the site is not handed over within 84 days, or a PM delay instruction stands 84 days.
• Disputes: Adjudicator within 14 days of the PM's decision (you pay fees, the PE reimburses half), then arbitration if unresolved 28 days after the decision.

Example: the cost of 30 days' delay On Tk. 24 crore at 0.05% per day, 30 days late costs Tk. 36 lakh. The 10% cap of Tk. 2.4 crore is reached after 200 days.

16Submission Checklist

• Document fee paid and updated in e-GP by the day before the deadline.
• Experience, turnover, liquid asset, tender capacity and litigation checked against the TDS.
• Forms 6 and 6A list every ongoing contract with payment certificates.
• JV agreement or notarised LoI, Form 3 for each partner, split meets TDS 17.2.
• Subcontracting within 30%, Form 4 completed.
• Technical proposal and ES plan uploaded.
• Tender security for the TDS amount, valid 28 days beyond validity.
• Every BoQ item priced; discount as a percentage only.
• Bank lined up for the 5% performance security, insurance and any advance guarantee.
• Submitted early, with all files readable.

17Common Questions