Regardless of whether you are bidding for fire alarm maintenance contracts, passive fire protection work, or full-scale fire risk assessments, one thing is certain – understanding the scoring of your fire safety tender is critical.
Without this understanding, it is easy to spend hours writing a submission which either fails to meet the buyer’s requirements or even worse, is disqualified before it is read properly
In this blog, we will explore how public sector and housing clients typically score fire safety tenders in the UK, including pass/fail criteria, quality and pricing, and the role of the MEAT principle (Most Economically Advantageous Tender).
By the end of this blog, you will be better equipped to shape your bid around what evaluators are actually looking for in fire safety procurement, rather than guessing or relying on generic content.
The First Hurdle: Pass/Fail Criteria
Before any part of your tender is scored on quality or price, you will usually need to pass a series of compliance checks. These are known as “pass/fail” questions because failing one means your company cannot be considered, no matter how strong the rest of your submission might be.
These compliance sections can vary slightly depending on the contract, however, most UK fire safety tenders will include mandatory requirements such as:
- Valid third-party accreditations (e.g. BAFE SP203 for fire alarms, FIRAS for passive works, or NSI for fire detection and alarm systems).
- Proof of up-to-date insurances, covering the necessary thresholds for employers’ liability, public liability, and professional indemnity.
- A clear and demonstrable track record of similar projects, evidenced with two or more relevant case studies, from the previous three to five years.
- Health and Safety policies, risk assessments and method statements.
- Evidence of compliance with key legislation such as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Building Safety Act 2022, and any relevant British Standards.
Pass/fail sections can also include Modern Slavery declarations, Cyber Essentials confirmation, and anti-bribery statements. These requirements are often easy to overlook in the urgency of getting a submission in on time, however, forgetting even a single required document or declaration could mean instant exclusion.
If your business is relatively new or you’re still building your portfolio, it can be frustrating and overwhelming to jump through all of these hoops. However, they’re there to make sure that only capable and compliant providers make it through to the next stage. In fire safety, where the risk is high and the consequences of poor service are severe, buyers simply cannot afford to take any chances.
The Meat of It: What Does MEAT Actually Mean?
Most UK public sector fire safety contracts are awarded using the MEAT model (Most Economically Advantageous Tender). This system seeks to provide a balance between cost and equality (i.e. the contract won’t just be given to the lowest bidder).
Instead, it will be awarded to the supplier who provides the best overall value, considering a combination of the service delivery, company experience, innovation, risk management and price.
In a typical fire safety tender, the MEAT criteria are split between quality and price using a weighted scoring model. While this can vary depending on the tender, you will often see quality weighted more heavily, such as:
- Quality: 60 to 80 percent
- Price: 20 to 40 percent
This alludes to the critical importance of safety, competence, and legal compliance in this industry. A fire risk assessor who is cheaper but is less experienced or issues incomplete or outdated reports is not going to be the most beneficial option for the buyer.
The contracting authorities, whether that be councils, schools or housing associations all know this, and are often willing to invest in providers who demonstrate strength, reliability, structure and long-term value.
Additionally, remember that price is not always about the smallest number on the submission. Examiners will look for clear, consistent prices that reflect a reasonable understanding of the scope and risk levels involved.
Prices that are unreasonably low will be marked as abnormal and will raise red flags.If you cannot demonstrate how you will deliver the work to standard at that price, your bid could be rejected.
What Makes a Strong Technical Response in Fire Safety Tenders?
Once you have cleared the pass/fail checks and your pricing is in line with expectations, the real differentiator becomes the quality of your technical response. This is your opportunity to show that you not only understand fire safety in a general sense, but that you understand the specific needs of this client, their estate, their residents or service users, and their strategic priorities.
Buyers will usually ask a series of written questions, each scored against a published marking scheme, often using a 0 to 5 scale. While the wording varies, most fire safety tenders touch on the same core themes.
- Technical Delivery
How will you deliver the service? This covers your inspection and testing regime, response times, planned versus reactive work, and your approach to risk mitigation.
You should explain not only what you do, but how you do it. Avoid vague phrases and bring in your actual processes, forms, systems and team roles.
- Health and Safety
Health and safety is absolutely critical in fire safety contracts. You need to clearly explain how you manage risks onsite, including safe systems of work, control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH), working at height, hot works permits, isolation procedures, and emergency protocols.
- Competence and Training
It is not enough to say your engineers are trained. Buyers want to know about your onboarding process, refresher training cycles, CPD structure, toolbox talks, and how you monitor and maintain ongoing competency.
If you deliver passive fire protection, do you ensure your installers are assessed under FIRAS or an equivalent scheme? How do you keep up with changing standards and building safety legislation?
- Quality Assurance
A well-structured QA section can significantly lift your score. This should include how you carry out audits, how you handle non-conformance, your escalation process for quality issues, and how you use customer feedback to improve service delivery. Reference your ISO certifications where relevant.
- Social Value
More and more fire safety tenders, especially from councils and housing providers, include a social value weighting.
This could involve commitments to local employment, training, apprenticeships, environmental responsibility, or supporting vulnerable people.
Fire safety work often involves entering homes or high-risk settings, so being community-conscious and person-centred can give you a serious edge.
- Tailored Content
Throughout your responses, aim to tailor your content. If the contract is for a school trust, show you understand educational environments. If it is for supported housing, speak to resident safety and trauma-informed working.
Specifics are key. Generic answers will not score well, no matter how competent your team is. Ensure that you are using the contract’s context and the bid specification to your full advantage.
What About Pricing?
While price usually carries less weight than quality, it still matters and can sometimes be the deciding factor between two equally strong bids.
That said, there is often a temptation to go in as cheap as possible to gain an edge. As previously stated, in fire safety tenders, this can backfire.
If your pricing is based on unrealistic assumptions or misses critical elements like out-of-hours attendance, replacement parts, or engineer travel time, you risk making the job undeliverable – buyers can usually spot this very quickly.
It is much safer to offer a realistic, transparent pricing structure with clear inclusions and exclusions. If you suspect that your price is higher than your competitors, use the quality section to demonstrate why. For example, you might include additional site visits, faster response times, or more thorough engineer training.
Some examiners use a purely mathematical formula for pricing (the lowest compliant bid gets full marks and everyone else is scored proportionally). Others take a more nuanced approach and assess overall value for money. Either way, make sure your rates are easy to follow and well-justified.
Final Thoughts
Fire safety tenders are scored with care and precision, and rightly so. These contracts protect lives, property and public trust. To win them, you need more than just the right accreditations or equipment, you need to show that your team can deliver consistent, compliant and community-conscious fire safety services.
Here is what to keep in mind:
- Always meet every pass/fail requirement – no exceptions.
- Tailor every answer to the client, their environment and their needs.
- Balance cost and quality – cheap alone will not win.
- Be specific, not generic. Show the buyer you understand the contract.
If your business is serious about securing long-term fire safety contracts, investing time in a strong, structured and well-evidenced bid is more than worth it. If you ever need help developing responses that stand out on both quality and compliance, professional support can make all the difference.
Are You Ready to Win Fire Safety Tenders?
While fire safety tender writing can be done internally, professional bid writing companies (like us at Bid Writing Service) can significantly boost your chances of fire safety tender success through expert bid writing and end-to-end guidance throughout the entire bidding process.
Have a fire safety tender submission coming up? Why not utilise our expert fire safety tender writers? Contact us at michael.baron@bidwritingservice.com or lauren.moorhouse@bidwritingservice.com to discuss your needs, or, fill out the form below!
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