If you intend to do any business with the oil companies you must be pre-qualified. Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) each have a set of pre-qualification documents which have to be completed. In addition to details of your products and services they will also require information on past and current projects plus financial information. Ensure you put in all products and services that you provide, no matter how obvious or irrelevant they may seem. Government Ministries will issue invitations to pre-qualify for certain projects, but in any case your agent should submit your details to all relevant departments. Pre-qualification forms can only be submitted with a valid agency agreement and even though a pre-qualified company has been invited to tender, the tender documents can only be collected on production of a valid agency agreement.

Most Government and some oil sector tenders are announced in the Official Gazette, published weekly in Arabic. Official English language translation of the Gazette, known as the 'Al Yawm' is available on Sunday. The annual subscription is KD 60. Large tenders are often also announced in the local newspapers.

Invitations to tender are also issued directly to the would-be suppliers without any published announcements. This is frequently the case with oil sector requirements, therefore it is very important to ensure that you are properly registered and pre-qualified.

The issuing body and the purchase price of the tender documents will be given in the tender announcements. To collect the documents the following will be required.

1. A covering letter in Arabic

2. The registration documentation from the issuing body (this takes the form of a card with CTC)

Participants are often invited to pre-tender meetings. These are worth attending and are often mandatory, if you don't attend, your bid will not be accepted. They provide a good opportunity to have points clarified, site visits and weigh up the competition. However, if the meeting is to take place in an area which requires a security pass, make sure the pass is obtained in good time.

Ensure that you have a proper translation of the Arabic text and that you fully understand all the terms and conditions. These are not negotiable. It is not appropriate to submit your own terms with the covering letter. If you have signed the tender documents you are committed to the terms and conditions and your bid bond will be forfeited if you withdraw your offer after the tender is awarded.

When submitting your tender you must provide a bid bond, this guarantees your offer to the issuing body and is forfeited if you withdraw your offer during the period of validity of the bond. Bonds have to be issued by a local Kuwaiti bank in Arabic and English and the banks are familiar with their format. Bonds are unconditional and have to be exactly in prescribed format.

After the completion of work, performance bonds may have to be valid for a fixed period. This is to cover things such as warranty and maintenance contracts.

Always, make sure you know where to take the completed tender. Only submit the tender on the date it is due - if it goes in early it runs the risk of getting lost. Also, be sure that it is submitted before 1300 hrs on the due date; arrivals even seconds later than announced time will be rejected.

Go through a check list of all items to be completed and delivered. These will include:

• Original tender documents duly completed in full, signed and stamped with the company seal. If extra copies of the tender are submitted, they too have to be treated in same way as the original. If your company is submitting the tender directly rather than through your agent both yours and agent's company stamp must appear on every page of every document. Similarly all pages where a full signature is not required must be initialed and stamped.

• If an envelope was included with the tender documents your tender submission must go into it (unfortunately, sometimes the envelopes provided are too small).

• All amendments to the tender that may have been issued prior to the closing date are considered part of the tender and must be treated as tender documents.

• The original receipt of purchase of the tender documents (this is often included in the envelope).

• The power of attorney(s) for the signatory(ies) on the tender documents, notarised and attested.

• A copy of your agency agreement - fully notarised and attested. See Representation and Registration.

• Boycott Certificate.

A list of bidders and their bid prices can be obtained by participants of CTC tenders upon production of a copy of the receipt of purchase of the original tender documents. This list, written in Arabic is available 7-10 days after the tender close date.

Obtaining the results of tenders through other issuing bodies is not so straight forward. KOC and KNPC occasionally publicise details but no issuing body apart, from the CTC, has an official mechanism. The Ministries of Defence and Interior have a policy of not publishing the results of their tenderers.

The bids will be examined for technical and commercial companies with tender documents. Bidders should be prepared to answer any questions that may arise. These may take the format of a written questionnaire, which will require formal written answer, or bidders may even be called in for a meeting to discuss and clarify their offer. Once the tender has been submitted, bidders are not allowed to amend their bid in any way, either by altering the price or the technical specification unless called upon to do so by the issuing party.

Local labour is easily obtained on a casual basis - as long as the skill requirements are not too high and there are many civil, mechanical and technical contractors. However, bear in mind the cost of bonds and the effects that contractual payment terms will have. It is not unusual for many months to elapse between the close date of tender and the contract award. During this period you have a bid bond guaranteeing your offer including prices. Ensure your suppliers and sub-contractors keep their offers firm.

The currency in which the bid is to be submitted will be stipulated in the tender documents - this will usually be Kuwaiti Dinars. The price quoted will be the amount paid to the contractor, irrespective of exchange rate fluctuations.