Two types of meetings are common during the time the tender proposal is being prepared. One type is internal to the contractors organisation. Attendees include the cost estimating staff, personnel expected to be in supervisory positions on the project if the contractor is selected and representatives from general company management. During a series of such meetings, topics comprise all those discussed above under preliminary job planning, plus the cost estimate as it is developed and the final version of the tender before it is submitted. In addition, in some cases, much time and effort in these meetings is devoted to quantifying the various project risks as the contractor continues to study whether to proceed with the tender.
The other type of pre-tender meeting is conducted by the owner and/or its project manager or design professional. All general contractors who have obtained contract documents, thus signifying their interest in the project, are invited; sometimes major subcontractors and material suppliers are included as well. Held part way through the tender preparation process, when contractors have had a chance to become familiar with the project, its purpose is to review the general project requirements, clarify technical and procedural matters and answer questions. The contractor is well advised to prepare for this meeting by reviewing the documents thoroughly and developing a list of questions. To treat each tenderer equally, the owner or its representative must provide clarifications in writing to all; if changes in the documents result from the meeting, they are issued as addenda to all who hold bidding documents. The contractor may be involved at this stage in other meetings such as those with local authorities, political figures and interested joint venture partners.
