PQQs in construction, and how to answer bids faster

What a PQQ is, what public buyers ask for now, and how to cut the hours your team spends answering the same questions every month. The method is a library of your approved answers that AI can draft from, with every bid still read and priced by your people.

What is a PQQ in construction?

A PQQ (prequalification questionnaire) is the first stage of many construction tenders. The client checks whether you're suitable before inviting a full bid. It asks about your company, finances, insurance, health and safety, quality, environment and past projects. Many of the same questions come up in every PQQ, often worded differently.

Is PAS 91 still used?

PAS 91 was the British Standards Institution's specification for construction prequalification questionnaires, and it has since been withdrawn. Many construction clients now look for Build UK's Common Assessment Standard instead. You're assessed against it through schemes such as CHAS and Constructionline.

What do public buyers ask for under the Procurement Act 2023?

For public procurements started on or after 24 February 2025, the old Standard Selection Questionnaire no longer applies above threshold. You register your basic details on the Central Digital Platform. Each buyer sets its own conditions of participation and may use a Procurement Specific Questionnaire. For construction work, expect to show Common Assessment Standard evidence as well.

Why do PQQs take so long?

Most of the time goes on finding and reworking answers you've written before: policies, accreditations, case studies, CVs and project lists. They're scattered across old bids and inboxes, and each buyer phrases the question slightly differently.

How to answer PQQs and bids faster

Six steps. The last one feeds the first, so the library gets better with every bid.

1. 1

   Build an answer library.

   Collect your best past answers by topic, along with current policies, certificates, CVs and case studies.

2. 2

   Keep one set of project facts.

   Hold the value, dates, client, scope and outcome for each project in one place.

3. 3

   Draft from the library.

   Use it, by hand or with AI, to produce a first draft for each new questionnaire.

4. 4

   Tailor every answer.

   Match it to this buyer's questions and scoring.

5. 5

   Check compliance.

   Go through the buyer's list of requirements before you send.

6. 6

   Add new good answers back into the library.

   Do it after each bid, while the answers are fresh.

Can AI write bids and PQQs?

AI can draft PQQ and bid answers from your own library of past answers, case studies and CVs, so your bid lead starts from a draft instead of a blank page. It can also check a draft against the buyer's requirements. Pricing, commitments and the final read before submission should stay with your bid lead.

Before your team puts bid documents into AI, agree what can go in. The AI policy template covers it in two pages, and the AI in construction guide shows the other office jobs it can help with.

What's the difference between bid writing and tender writing?

In UK construction the two terms are used almost interchangeably. Both mean writing the written responses for a tender. A "bid" sometimes refers to the whole submission, while a "tender" is the formal process the buyer runs.