How to create a Tender group

In this article, we will go through how to create a Tender group and configure it correctly, so your individual tenders are structured, traceable, and easy to manage throughout the tender lifecycle.

Tender group

A tender group represents the highest level in the tender structure. It serves as the central framework that brings together the tender organization, shared tender documentation, and all related individual tenders.

Within a tender group, individual tenders are organized and managed according to their current status, giving a clear overview of overall progress.

1. Tender group
2. Tender group organization
3. Tender group files
4. Tender with the status of "Ongoing"
5. Tenders with status of "Draft"
6. Tender with the statis of "Ended"
7. Tender group template

How to create a tender group

To create a tender group, go to TenderHome Create tender group.

This will create a new tender group with the organization and tender group files below.

Tender group template

This is the default template for all tenders created within this tender group. These settings will be used every time you create a new tender in this group, saving you time by eliminating the need to enter the same information for each new tender.

It consists of two elements: “Information for new tenders” and “Tender requirements for new tenders".

Click Edit to change the content, or Copy from company to use tender requirements from your company profile.

You can read more in this article about creating a new tender: How to create a Tender.

Organization

While tender administrators are able to create and manage all tenders across the project, some roles can be set specifically for a tender group. 

These roles can be found in TenderSelect the tender groupOrganization

• Tender responsibles: Manage all tender group information, tender information, create requirements, invite bidders, and more
• Document responsibles: Manage tender documents, answer questions, create global answers
• Tender observers: Can view all content, cannot create or change anything

Set up tender group files

The Tender group files folder is your folder structure for uploading files to the tender group.
To add folders, click on next to Files:

You can add new folders or import them from your company profile. 

Files can also be uploaded without a folder structure.

When adding files to a tender, the folder structure you have set up in this tender group will be copied. Any changes can only be made at the tender group level, not for each tender individually.

Upload files to Tender group

To upload files, select the folder you want to upload files to and click Add. Then either add files directly from your computer or add files from Box:

Alternatively, you can add files from Box by selecting them and clicking MoreAdd toTender:

You can upload a new version of a file here:

Open the fileMoreManageUpload new version

Add files to Tenders

Once uploaded to the tender group files, the files must be added to each tender, unless the tenders are set up to receive them automatically upon upload.

You can read more details on this, in this article:  How to create a tender.

Select the files you want to add to a tender and then click on Add to tenders.

Select the tenders to link the files to.

If a tender is greyed out, this file version is already linked and will not be added again.

Please note:

If a tender box is dark grey and marked with a line, one of the selected file versions is already linked to that tender and NO file versions will be added to this tender.

In the scenario below, one of the file versions you selected has already been added to the tender 'External walls and cladding'. 

Therefore, none of the selected file versions will be added to this tender.

All selected versions have already been added to the tender 'Windows, doors, and external openings'. 

Since the same version cannot be added twice, none will be added.

Check the box to add all new versions to the tender, excluding any that are already added.

Use the Tenders column to see which file version has been added to each tender.

Tender metadata

All files across all tenders, regardless of tender group, use the same metadata structure. 
The metadata consists of Dalux Box default fields, tender-specific fields, and custom fields imported from Dalux Box.

To set up metadata, go to SettingsTender'Metadata'

Default metadata from Dalux Box

This metadata is always available and imported from Dalux Box. It cannot be modified in the Tender module and is indicated by a icon. 

The 'Show for' column determines who can see the content. 
The predefined options cannot be changed—you need to open them to see who can view it.
The 'Not active' status can be changed. See below for the available options.

Add tender specific metadata

To add a new metadata field, click on AddNew.

The name, type, column width, and options behave just like the Dalux Box metadata.

Read this article to learn how to configure them: How to set up Metadata

'Show for' option

The 'Show for' metadata determines who can view the column and content. 

Not active:
Only the Tender administrator can view and manually edit the content. Metadata will still be updated automatically if imported from Dalux Box.

Tender organization:
All users within the assigned groups can view the content. The tender and document responsibles can manually edit the content.

Tender organization and bidder:
All users within the assigned groups can view the content. The tender and document responsibles can manually edit the content.

Changes take effect immediately, and no notifications are sent.

Import custom metadata from Dalux Box

Instead of creating all metadata fields manually, you can import them from Dalux Box. This also links the fields, so they are automatically populated and updated when new file versions are added from Dalux Box.

To import from Dalux Box, click on AddFrom Box.

These fields are marked in the 'Box property' column. 

You cannot change their names, but you can adjust the column 'width', 'options', and 'Show for' settings, as described above.

Bidders will be able to view previous versions and compare documents, drawings, and models to see what exactly has changed.

When uploading a drawing to the Tender group files, ensure you set a scale in the drawing’s metadata so bidders can accurately measure distances and areas. If the file is added from Dalux Box, the predefined metadata will be automatically copied.

If you don't set the scale yourself, your bidders can set a temporary scale.

Tender group log

Tender groups have a log, in which tender activity is tracked. The tender log can only be accessed by the tender responsibles for the tender groups to ensure that unauthorized users cannot access bidder information and other sensitive data.

To access the tender log, go to TenderOpen the tender groupMore Tender group logs:

This will open the log, where you can view all activity, apply filters to find specific information, and export the results to a spreadsheet by clicking 'Export'.

How to create a tender