Practice 01 · Public Sector & Bids
Find, qualify and win public work.
We watch the tenders across BC and Canada, tell you which are worth pursuing, and build submissions written to the evaluation criteria.
Outcomes
What changes for you
Fewer missed opportunities
We track the federal, provincial, municipal and institutional portals daily, so relevant work reaches you while there is still time to prepare.
Better decisions on what to chase
Each opportunity gets a plain bid or no-bid view, based on the requirements, the scoring, the competition and your capacity.
Proposals that score
We structure each response around the evaluation grid, with every mandatory requirement checked and every rated criterion answered.
Services
What we do
- Opportunity sourcing and qualification
- Daily monitoring of CanadaBuys, BC Bid, municipal and institutional portals; fit scoring; bid or no-bid recommendations
- Bid and proposal management
- Compliance matrix, response plan, writing, editing, pricing-form coordination and final quality review
- Teaming
- Finding and structuring the partners, sub-consultants or primes a pursuit needs
- Cost estimating and quantity surveying
- Delivered with a partner professional quantity surveying firm
- Project controls and scheduling
- Baseline schedules, progress reporting and change tracking as a sub-consultant on the delivery team
- Community and Indigenous engagement
- Engagement planning and delivery where a project or an evaluation calls for it
Indigenous participation
Indigenous participation in public work.
Federal departments must award at least 5% of the total value of their contracts to Indigenous businesses, and many public tenders ask every bidder to show how Indigenous Nations and businesses will take part. We help firms meet that standard honestly.
Know which rules apply
The federal 5% target and the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) shape who can bid on what. Some opportunities are set aside for Indigenous businesses. Others are open to all and rate participation. We read each solicitation and tell you which applies.
Understand how it is scored
Where a tender rates Indigenous participation or benefits, evaluators score your plan against the criteria in the document, like any other rated requirement. We build the response around that grid, with specifics in place of general statements.
Partnerships that are genuine
We help firms identify and approach Nation-owned and other Indigenous businesses as partners for the work they are suited to do, with real scope, real pricing and real roles. We advise against pass-through arrangements, where a partner is named but does not do the work.
Credible participation plans
We help write plans with commitments that can be measured: subcontracting, employment, training and capacity, grounded in the engagement you have actually carried out.
Engagement planning as a sub-consultant
Where a project or an evaluation calls for engagement with Nations or communities, we plan and deliver it as a sub-consultant on your team, working to each Nation's own protocols and timelines.
We do not speak for any Nation or Indigenous business. Source for the target: Indigenous Services Canada, mandatory minimum 5% Indigenous procurement target.
Audience
Who we work with
- Engineering, architecture and construction firms that want a steady, well-chosen public pipeline without building a full bid department.
- Public buyers and prime contractors who need a dependable sub-consultant for bid management, project controls or engagement.
Engagement
How we engage
Single pursuit
One opportunity, from the bid or no-bid decision to submission.
Ongoing pipeline
Continuous sourcing and qualification, with proposals as the right work appears.
On the team
Surbiton named as a sub-consultant for project controls, scheduling or engagement on the delivered contract.
Questions
FAQs
Do you guarantee awards?
No one honestly can. We improve your odds by choosing the right work and answering the evaluation fully.
Will you work for our competitors on the same tender?
No. We work with one firm per opportunity.
Will Surbiton be named in our proposal?
Only when we deliver part of the contract as a sub-consultant. Otherwise the submission is entirely yours.
Do you work outside British Columbia?
Yes. Most of our work is in BC, and we pursue federal and out-of-province opportunities where they fit a client.
Can you act as the prime?
On professional engineering or architectural work, the licensed firm leads. We support the pursuit and the delivery.
Start a conversation
Have a tender in view?
Send us the notice, or tell us the kind of work you want to win.