A buyer emails a pre-qualification questionnaire on Tuesday. It runs to forty-odd questions, half of them pass/fail, and it is due back in ten days. Nobody on your team has opened one since last spring, and the answers you gave then sit in a folder called PQQ final v3. This walkthrough takes a typical PQQ section by section, explains what each part is testing, and shows what a usable answer looks like.
One caveat before we start. Every buyer builds its own questionnaire. Many public bodies base theirs on the standard selection questionnaire format, others add sector questions, and some ask things nobody else does. Read the buyer's instructions first and treat the structure below as a map, not a script.
What a PQQ Is Actually Testing
A PQQ is a filter. The buyer wants a shortlist of suppliers who are legally eligible, financially stable, insured, competent and safe, before anyone spends time evaluating full tender responses. It is not asking how you would deliver this particular contract in detail. That comes later.
That changes how you should write. A PQQ rewards evidence, completeness and accuracy far more than persuasive prose. A missing certificate or an unanswered mandatory question can remove you before a scorer reads your best case study.
Most questions fall into one of three types:
- Information only: company details, registration numbers, contacts. Not scored, but errors look careless.
- Pass/fail: exclusion grounds, insurance levels, mandatory accreditations, turnover thresholds. One fail usually ends the process.
- Scored: technical and professional ability, usually case studies or short narrative answers marked against stated criteria.
Before you write a word, go through the document and label every question with one of those three. It tells you where to spend your time.
Practical rule: Fix the pass/fail questions first. A brilliant scored answer cannot rescue a failed mandatory one.
Section 1: Supplier Information
This is the section people rush, and it is where the small errors creep in. Expect questions on:
- Registered company name and trading name
- Registered office address
- Company registration number and VAT number
- Legal form: limited company, LLP, partnership, sole trader
- Whether you are an SME, a VCSE or neither
- Parent company and ultimate parent, if any
- Main contact for the procurement, with direct phone and email
What a good answer looks like
Exactly what is on Companies House, character for character. If your trading name differs from your registered name, give both and say which entity will hold the contract. If you belong to a group, name the parent and confirm whether it will provide a guarantee, because the financial section may depend on that.
Choose a contact who will actually check the inbox during the procurement. Clarification questions often come with short deadlines, and a contact who is on leave can cost you.
Consortia and subcontractors
Many questionnaires ask whether you are bidding alone, as a lead contractor with subcontractors, or as part of a consortium. If others will deliver a meaningful share of the work, the buyer may want each of them to complete parts of the questionnaire too. Find out early. Chasing a partner's insurance certificate on deadline day is a common and avoidable problem.
Section 2: Grounds for Exclusion
This section asks whether your organisation, or anyone with powers of representation, decision or control in it, has been convicted of certain offences or is in certain situations. The lists vary with the rules the buyer is working under, so read the buyer's own wording rather than relying on memory.
Typical areas include:
- Convictions for offences such as fraud, bribery, corruption, money laundering, terrorism-related offences and modern slavery
- Non-payment of tax or social security contributions
- Insolvency, administration or similar arrangements
- Professional misconduct
- Breaches of environmental, social or labour law obligations
- Previous contracts terminated early for poor performance
- Attempts to unduly influence the procurement or obtain confidential information
Answering honestly when the answer is yes
Most SMEs answer no throughout and move on. If one of these does apply, do not hide it. Buyers can check, and a false declaration is far worse than the original issue. Most questionnaires allow you to explain what happened and what you have done since: changes to people, processes or controls. This is often described as self-cleaning, and a clear, factual account with evidence is the right approach. Take legal advice if a mandatory ground applies.
Exclusion questions are declarations, not writing exercises. Someone with authority should read every answer before it is signed.
Section 3: Economic and Financial Standing
The buyer wants confidence you will still be trading at the end of the contract and that the contract will not be too large a share of your business. Expect some combination of:
- Audited or filed accounts for the last two or three years
- A minimum annual turnover, often set as a multiple of the contract's annual value
- Financial ratios, or a credit reference check run by the buyer
- Management accounts, if your latest filed accounts are old
- A parent company guarantee, if you are relying on a parent's finances
Where small firms come unstuck
Newer companies often lack three years of accounts. Small companies may have filed abbreviated accounts that do not show turnover. Read the instructions for alternatives: many buyers accept management accounts, a statement from your accountant, or a bank reference. If the questionnaire does not say, ask a clarification question early. It is better than guessing.
If the turnover threshold is above your last set of accounts, check whether it is a hard pass/fail. If it is, this is a no-bid, and the time is better spent elsewhere. The bid/no-bid analysis post covers how to make that call without agonising.
Section 4: Insurance
Usually a short table: the type of cover, the minimum level the buyer requires, and a confirmation that you hold it or will obtain it before the contract starts. Common types are:
- Employer's liability
- Public liability
- Professional indemnity
- Product liability, where goods are supplied
What a good answer looks like
State your current level of cover for each type, the insurer if asked, and the renewal date. Where the required level is higher than your current cover, most questionnaires let you confirm that you will obtain it if successful. Only tick that box if you have checked with your broker that you can, and at what cost. Keep current certificates in one place so you are not hunting for them each time. The insurance requirements guide goes into the types of cover in more detail.
Section 5: Technical and Professional Ability
This is usually the scored heart of the questionnaire and where most of your writing time should go. Expect requests for:
- Two or three examples of relevant contracts delivered in the last few years
- Contact details for referees on those contracts
- Descriptions of key staff, their qualifications and experience
- Your approach to quality management
- Supply chain management and how you pay subcontractors
Writing contract examples that score
Buyers usually give a word limit and a template: customer name, contract value, dates, a description of the work, and sometimes a box for outcomes. A weak example describes the client and the services in general terms. A strong one shows relevance and results.
Compare two openings for a facilities management example:
- Weak: "We provided cleaning services to a large public sector client over a number of years and received excellent feedback."
- Stronger: names the client (with permission), states the number of sites, the contract dates and value, the scope in specific terms, the arrangements for out-of-hours work and how performance was reported to the client, then gives one or two measured results you can evidence.
The stronger version works because a scorer can tick it against the criteria. Size, scope and setting all line up with the new contract, and every claim could be checked with the referee. Never round up results or invent outcomes. If you do not have a number, describe what you did and how the client judged it.
Choosing your examples
Pick examples that match the new contract on the dimensions the buyer cares about: sector, scale, type of service, and type of customer. A smaller but closely matched contract often scores better than a large one in a different field. Warn your referees before you list them, and make sure their contact details are current. A reference that bounces does you no favours. The guide to presenting case studies covers structure in more depth.
Key staff
Name the people who will actually work on the contract, not your most impressive CVs. Keep summaries short and relevant: role on this contract, years of relevant experience, qualifications that matter for this work. If the questionnaire asks for full CVs, use a consistent format and check each one is up to date.
Section 6: Quality Management
Buyers commonly ask whether you hold a certification such as ISO 9001, and if not, to describe an equivalent quality management system. If you are certified, give the certificate number, the certifying body, the scope and the expiry date, and attach the certificate if asked. Check that the scope actually covers the services in the contract.
If you are not certified, do not treat it as a dead end unless the buyer has made certification mandatory. Describe your system in concrete terms:
- Who is responsible for quality, by role
- How you document procedures
- How you check work, audit and record non-conformances
- How you handle complaints and corrective action
- How you review and improve the system
Attach the policy itself if the buyer asks. A short, real policy that your team follows reads better than a long one copied from a template. The ISO certification explainer is a good starting point if you are weighing up whether to get certified.
Section 7: Health and Safety
Expect questions on your health and safety policy, who is responsible for it, training, risk assessment, and your accident and enforcement record over recent years. In construction and facilities work this section is often longer and may ask about accreditations through recognised schemes.
What a good answer looks like
- Confirm you have a written policy, signed by a director and dated within the last year, if that is what the buyer requires
- Name the competent person, internal or external
- Describe how you assess and control risk, briefly and specifically
- Explain how staff and subcontractors are trained and inducted
- Answer the incident and enforcement questions accurately, including any reportable incidents, with what changed afterwards
Firms with fewer than five employees are not always legally required to have a written health and safety policy, but buyers often ask for one anyway. If the questionnaire asks, provide one. See health and safety compliance for the detail.
Section 8: Environmental Management
Questions here vary widely. Some buyers ask only whether you have an environmental policy. Others ask about environmental certification, carbon reduction plans, waste management, or specific commitments relevant to the contract.
Answer the question asked, with evidence. If you have a carbon reduction plan, give its date and where it is published. If you do not, and the buyer requires one, find out whether it is a pass/fail requirement for this contract value before you go further. The environmental compliance post covers the common requirements.
Section 9: Equality, Diversity and Modern Slavery
Expect a short set of questions: do you have an equality and diversity policy, have you had any findings of unlawful discrimination against you, and how do you address modern slavery risks in your operations and supply chain. Larger organisations above the relevant turnover threshold must publish a modern slavery statement, and buyers may ask for a link to it.
A good answer is short, honest and matches your actual policies. If you are below the statement threshold, say so and describe the steps you do take, such as supplier checks and fair payment practices.
Section 10: Social Value and Sector-Specific Questions
Some PQQs include early questions on social value, data protection, safeguarding, information security or business continuity. These depend on the contract. A cyber or IT contract may ask about Cyber Essentials. Work with children or vulnerable adults will ask about safeguarding policies and checks. Work involving personal data will ask about UK GDPR compliance.
For these, the same rules hold. Read the exact question, answer it directly, and attach evidence where asked. If social value appears, avoid vague pledges. Describe what you already do and what you could realistically commit to on this contract. The posts on social value tender questions and Cyber Essentials go further on both.
Section 11: Declaration and Submission
The final section asks someone with authority to confirm that the information is accurate and complete, and that you understand the consequences of a false declaration. Do not leave the signatory until the last afternoon. They should read the whole questionnaire, not only the signature page.
Before you submit
- Check every mandatory question is answered. Blank boxes are the most common avoidable failure.
- Check word limits. Anything over the limit may not be read.
- Check every attachment. Right file, right name, right format, opens properly.
- Check dates on certificates and policies. Expired documents can fail you on a pass/fail line.
- Check the submission route. Portal, email or post, and the exact closing time.
- Leave a buffer. Portals slow down near deadlines and uploads fail.
The bid review checklist works well as a final pass.
Common Mistakes That Lose PQQs
Most PQQ failures are not about capability. They are about admin and evidence.
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Leaving a mandatory question blank | Often an automatic fail | Label every question before writing and tick them off |
| Expired certificates or policies | Fails a pass/fail requirement | Keep a single dated register of documents |
| Generic contract examples | Scores low against specific criteria | Match examples to the new contract's sector, scale and scope |
| Out-of-date referee details | References cannot be verified | Confirm contacts with referees before listing them |
| Copying last year's answers unchecked | Wrong staff, old numbers, wrong buyer's name | Reuse the substance, then check every fact against current records |
| Ignoring clarification deadlines | Questions go unanswered | Note the clarification cut-off on day one |
| Over-claiming capability | Creates risk at evaluation and after award | Only claim what you can evidence |
Building a PQQ Library So the Next One Is Faster
The good news is that PQQs repeat. Company details, exclusion declarations, insurance, quality, health and safety, environmental and equality answers barely change from one buyer to the next. Even technical examples recur, because you will draw on the same handful of strong contracts.
That makes the real job keeping your existing answers organised and current. A workable library holds:
- Standard company information, checked against Companies House
- Current policies with owners and review dates
- Certificates with expiry dates
- Insurance certificates and renewal dates
- Approved case studies, each with permission to name the client and current referee details
- Short staff profiles
- Your best past answers to scored questions
Review it on a schedule rather than when a PQQ lands. The guide to building a knowledge base walks through one way to set that up.
Where software fits
Bidwell is built around this kind of reuse. Its knowledge base reads the past bids, policies, case studies and accreditations you upload, or your website, and makes every answer you have given searchable. Building it is free, with no card and no time limit, and you can export it whenever you want. Drafting is the paid part: drop in a blank PQQ and Bidwell answers each question from your own material, citing the document each answer came from, so you can check it before it goes to a buyer. You can see your first three answers before you pay, and export to Word and Excel. A human still reviews and signs every response. More detail is on the PQQ use case page.
Software does not remove the checks above. It removes the hunting and retyping, so the review time goes on the pass/fail lines and the scored examples.
If your answers to the last PQQ are scattered across old folders, start by gathering them in one place. Bidwell turns your past bids, policies and case studies into a searchable knowledge base for free, then drafts your next questionnaire from it with the source shown for every answer, ready for you to review.
