Proposed construction of Gulanze (Bumani) water pan in Ndavaya, Kinango Constituency, Kwale County

What is being bought

Construction of the Gulanze (Bumani) water pan in Ndavaya, Kinango Constituency, Kwale County, under an open national works tender by the Kwale County Government. Contract value and quantities are not stated in the reviewed pages (the Bill of Quantities totals are blank).

Key facts

Closing

Tue 10 Nov 2026, 10:00 am
Tenders must be delivered at the address on or before this date and time; the portal and the invitation both give 10:00 on 10 November 2026. Late tenders are rejected. D1 p.2

Bid / tender security

Tender security is required, in the form of a bank guarantee in the PPRA prescribed format, submitted as an original copy. The amount conflicts: KES 130,800 in the invitation versus KES 130,800,000 in the TDS and evaluation appendix. Valid 30 days beyond the tender validity period. Conflicting D1 p.28

Tender fee

Tender documents may be obtained free of charge electronically; no tender fee is stated. D1 p.2

Site visit

اختياري
No pre-arranged site visit is scheduled (TDS says N/A). Tenderers may visit and inspect the site at their own cost and risk. D1 p.28

Pre-bid meeting

Not stated in the documents we reviewed Not stated D1 p.11

Reserved for

No reservation to any group (SMEs, women, youth or persons with disability) is stated; the invitation says the tender is open to all qualified and interested tenderers. D1 p.2

Contract value

Not stated in the documents we reviewed Not stated D1 p.2

Tender opening

Tenders open publicly immediately after the deadline at the Procurement Office, County Treasury, Kwale; representatives may attend. TDS gives the date but no time. Unverified D1 p.29

Tender validity

Tenders remain valid for 126 days. The start date conflicts: the invitation says from the opening date, while ITT 18.1 says from the submission deadline. Conflicting D1 p.2

Who can apply

• Tendering is open to all qualified and interested tenderers. The tender does not reserve the contract for any group (no AGPO, youth, women or disability reservation is stated). D1 p.2
• A Kenyan tenderer must provide a valid tax compliance certificate issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority to be eligible to tender. D1 p.28
• National Construction Authority (NCA) registration is not a condition for tender, but a selected tenderer must be registered before contract award and signature. Standard rule D1 p.10
• Joint ventures are not applicable: the TDS states the maximum number of JV members is not applicable and the JV clauses do not apply. D1 p.28

Application checklist

Tick items off as you prepare. Your ticks stay on this device only.

Required from every bidder

• Copy of valid certificate of incorporation or business registration (CR12 dated not earlier than one month before tender submission), and clear copies of both sides of national ID cards or passports of the directors. D1 p.34
• Valid tax compliance certificate attached. D1 p.34
• Valid NCA8 certificate for water works (minimum) and valid NCA8 practising licence for water works (minimum). D1 p.34
• Copy of a relevant and valid Single Business Permit from County Government of Kwale, attached as a clear PDF copy. D1 p.34
• Colored bank reference letter on the bank's letterhead, signed and dated within the tender period. D1 p.34
• Sworn affidavits that the tenderer does not engage in corrupt and fraudulent practices, and declaring litigation history. D1 p.34
• Form of tender and all qualification forms fully completed; all declarations must be witnessed by an active magistrate or Commissioner for Oaths. D1 p.34
• Written confirmation authorising the signatory: a valid power of attorney drawn by a Commissioner for Oaths. All declaration forms must be commissioned. D1 p.29
• List of ongoing contracts with the procuring entity, declared or submitted on letterhead. D1 p.28
• Bid security (bank guarantee) in original form, see bid_security item; amount conflicts between sources. Conflicting D1 p.34

Experience, licences and financial capacity

Technical

• Similar works experience: construction experience as prime contractor or JV member for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, with award letter or LSO or contract agreement and completion certificate for each. D1 p.35
• Specific experience with similar works (dams, water pans, earthworks): similar works of KES 8M and above score 9 marks each; lesser value scored proportionally; works under KES 2M not considered. D1 p.35
• Key personnel with CVs and academic and professional certificates: Site Engineer (degree in Civil/Water Engineering), Site Foreman (diploma in Civil/Water Engineering), Mason (Grade 3 trade test certificate for masonry). D1 p.35
• Key equipment with proof of ownership or lease (lease agreements must include logbooks or receipts): tipper with payload at least 10 tonnes (1 no.), pick-up (1 no.), concrete mixer (1 no.), poker vibrator (1 no.). D1 p.35
• Methodology and work plan: a signed and stamped work schedule, plus a technical proposal with work methods, equipment, personnel and schedule. D1 p.36
• Tenderers may propose subcontracting up to 20% of the total value of contracts; proposed subcontractors must be fully qualified for their parts of the works. D1 p.29
• Technical evaluation pass mark is 55 out of 70 marks. D1 p.35
• Specific construction experience: a minimum of 3 similar contracts, each of minimum value KES 6,000,000, satisfactorily completed as prime contractor, JV member, management contractor or sub-contractor between 1 January 2021 and the submission deadline. Conflicting D1 p.40

Financial

• Construction cash flow: access to liquid assets and finance of KES 9,000,000 for post-qualification (Section III) versus KES 5,000,000 in the qualification form. Sources conflict. Conflicting D1 p.33
• Minimum average annual construction turnover: KES 35,000,000 (Section III) versus KES 25,000,000 (qualification form). Sources conflict. Conflicting D1 p.33
• Audited financial statements for the last two years (2023/2024 and 2024/2025), certified by a registered and practising auditor and signed by a company director (scored). The qualification form instead asks for audited statements for the last 3 years. Sources conflict. Conflicting D1 p.35
• Bank statements for the last two years certified by the bank: 2 marks for statements from Jan 2025 to Dec 2025 certified by the bank; 0 for incomplete or no statements. D1 p.36
• Bank reference letter on letterhead, dated within the tender period (scored 2 marks). D1 p.36

How and where to submit

• Tenders must be delivered in hard copy in a plain sealed envelope marked with the tender name and tender number, addressed to the Accounting Officer, Executive Services Finance and Economic Planning, and dropped in the tender box at the front of the Procurement Office, County Treasury, Kwale. D1 p.29
• Submission address: County Department of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwale County Treasury Building, P.O Box 4-80403, Kwale, Chief Officer, opposite Kwale Police post. D1 p.29
• Tenders must be packed in a single sealed envelope, package or container bearing the tender name and reference number, with separate sealed inner envelopes marked ORIGINAL and COPIES. Inner envelopes show the Procuring Entity's name and address, the tenderer's name and address, and the tender name and reference number. D1 p.20
• Number of copies to be submitted is to be specified in the TDS, but the reviewed TDS does not state it. Not stated D1 p.19
• All pages must be chronologically serialised and tender attachments sequentially serialised, and the tender must be submitted in PDF format. This conflicts with the hard-copy submission method. Conflicting D1 p.13
• Scan and upload the signed tender forms and attachments into PDF format, sequentially serialised, as provided in the invitation to tender. Conflicting D1 p.34

Lots and categories

• No lots are identified in the reviewed pages. Not stated D1 p.24

What the addenda changed

• No addenda were provided in the material reviewed, so no changes from addenda can be confirmed. Not stated D1 p.2

Not covered in the documents we reviewed

• Number of copies required (TDS does not state it).
• Contract value or BoQ totals; the BoQ amounts are blank.
• Opening time (only the date is stated).
• Whether a pre-tender meeting is held.
• Any addenda, clarifications or changes after the invitation.
• Part 2 (works requirements, specifications, drawings) and the general and particular conditions were not provided.
• Section IV forms (form of tender, bid-security templates, CON-2, FIN-3, EXP-4 forms).
• Lots, if any.

Terms explained

Tender security

A guarantee submitted with the bid to show the tenderer will honour the bid. Here it must be a bank guarantee in the PPRA format, original, and valid 30 days beyond the tender validity period.

TDS

Tender Data Sheet. It sets the specific tender details that override the general Instructions to Tenderers.

ITT

Instructions to Tenderers, the standard rules for preparing and submitting a bid.

BoQ

Bill of Quantities, the priced list of works items. Front-loading (inflating early items) leads to rejection.

Responsive

A tender that meets all mandatory requirements of the documents; a non-responsive tender is rejected.

NCA8

National Construction Authority certificate and practising licence for the works category (here water works).

CR12

Company return of registered shareholders and directors, issued by the Registrar of Companies.

AGPO

Access to Government Procurement Opportunities for youth, women and persons with disability; no reservation is stated here.

PPRA

Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, which handles procurement complaints and sets the guarantee format.

Commissioner for Oaths

A person authorised to witness sworn declarations and powers of attorney.

Levy

A statutory payment of 0.03% of the signed contract value, excluding taxes, under the Levy Order, 2023.

Lowest evaluated tender

The responsive tender with the lowest evaluated price that meets the qualification criteria, which is recommended for award.