A PIETERMARITZBURG building services company, Daily Tenders, was inducted as
the fifth associate member of the South African Association of Consulting Engineers (SAACE) at its AGM recently.

The accolade confirms the industry-leader status of Daily Tenders, an Internet-based entity that publishes a continent-wide database of construction-related contracts, updated daily.

It essentially provides three services - publicises construction-related opportunities to the private sector; it disseminates detailed information on open tenders, and access to an industry leading pricing system. Sensing a niche opportunity in 2000, directors Victor Terblanche and Dyrick Hobbs established www.DailyTenders.co.za to service a need in the industry.

"There was a need for comprehensive information on the full spectrum of contracting opportunities services that would add value to operators large and small," said Terblanche.

Hobbs explained that the nature of the industry typically makes for fragmented and incomplete information. "A contractor considers a number of factors in his decision to tender or not, and often the information to make an informed decision simply is not available," he said.

This vacuum Daily Tenders filled with admirable success, judging by the fact that it has played a facilitating role in 48 867 tenders over the past four years. Part of the success is attributable to a heavy focus on customer relation's management in a bid to overcome the facelessness of the technology. Our user-friendly services are very much market-driven and as such, we respond to input from our users. Currently 2 500 users are actively accessing the services of Daily Tenders, of which a substantial portion are subscribing to the pricing system.

"It's an advanced RFQ (request for quote) facility that enables suppliers and buyers to generate business through electronic bills of quantities and live material quotes," said Terblanche.
Operating throughout Africa, Daily Tenders currently lists 200 open tenders in the SADC region.

"The Botswana government alone recently issued 198 tenders for a range of projects, from road upgrades and construction to the building of clinics and schools," Terblanche said.
www.DailyTenders.co.za currently lists a total of 2 160 tenders in South Africa and is listed in the top 20 of both the Yahoo and GOOGLE web search engines.