Work through a realistic tender — Culture & heritage

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to defend a bid decision and prepare a consistent submission.

Common to all countries

Make a decision that survives delivery

A bid review has three separate gates: admissibility, a credible route to a competitive score, and the ability to deliver at an acceptable return. A high score cannot cure an inadmissible offer; a technically possible offer can still be commercially unsound. Give each unresolved issue an owner and a decision deadline before the submission cut-off.

Assemble the final response from the controlled requirements and evidence registers. Check names, totals, document versions, signatures, portal fields and uploaded files. Use an independent read-through to find contradictions between the method, staffing and price. After a permitted test of the submission workflow, allow time for the actual upload and retain the receipt. A finished PDF on your computer is not a submitted offer.

Worked example — Create a travelling exhibition

This is a fictional teaching case. Quantities, prices and contractual conditions below are assumptions for the exercise, not legal requirements or market benchmarks.

A museum commissions an exhibition that will travel to two venues. It must tell a coherent story, protect borrowed objects and work for different audiences. The purchase of exhibition services is distinct from a grant supporting an artist’s own project.

Review position. The team can deliver the base requirement, but one clarification remains open and the extra cost below is not included in its original price. Submission is five working days away; this is a case assumption.

The second venue’s loading access and display dimensions are missing. Request site information before assuming the same crates and installations can be used at both locations.

A lender changes a handling condition before shipment. The team must reassess packing, transport and insurance before committing. A transport quote alone does not prove that every leg and custody transfer is insured.

Item	Cost (currency units)
Curation and design	18,000
Displays and installation	22,000
Transport, rights and insurance	10,000
Total	50,000

Total cost is 50,000. To retain 20% of the selling price as profit, price is 50,000 ÷ 0.80 = 62,500. If “Revised packing and movement” adds 5,000 to cost without a price increase, profit becomes 7,500, or 12% of price. Preserving 20% would require 68,750, only where the procurement permits that price. A cost increase does not automatically entitle the supplier to a contract price increase.

Country specific — what to verify

Check heritage and cultural-property movement rules, artist contracting, customs where relevant, accessibility and funder conditions. Do not assume an artistic purchase automatically qualifies for an exception to competition. The legal form of a grant, prize, loan and services contract matters.

Local cultural tender versus grant or prize documentation. Use the destination-country module and the actual tender pack. The sources below are references with their own scope; they do not form a single worldwide regime. For the general method, revisit the foundations.

Put it into practice

Prepare a final review with four decisions: admissibility, clarification, return and submission. State the conditions for a yes and the conditions requiring a no. Produce three response headings linked to requirements.

Model answer

Model decision: conditional bid, not immediate approval. Obtain the official clarification, confirm evidence and resources, then decide the price or withdraw before submission. Do not conceal non-compliance in a prohibited qualification. The three response sections are understanding the need, method and resources, then controls and acceptance. Use signed condition records at each handover, an approved installation checklist and a register of cleared interpretation assets. Document the return of objects and the ownership or future reuse of exhibition elements.

Keep this worksheet in your working file. The quiz below checks the lesson’s decisions; passing it is neither a professional qualification nor a guarantee of an award.