How it works

Three quotes, one place

Communities and organisations that plan works — energy upgrades first of all — need comparable quotes before they can apply for grants, and a defensible record of how they got them. e-tender.ie is that process in one place: describe the works once, put them in front of contractors, receive comparable bids, and export the comparison your grant application needs. The platform stops at award.

For communities and organisations

Post the tender. Describe the works once — title, description, categories, location and deadline. It saves as a draft; nothing is visible until you publish.
Answer the category questions. Each category carries a short set of questions contractors need to price accurately — roof access, attic area, current heating and so on. Attach anything useful: BER reports, surveys, photographs, drawings.
Choose who sees it. Public tenders go on the open listing and contractors registered for the categories and county are emailed. Closed tenders are visible only to people you send the invite link to — and you can revoke the link at any time.
Publish. Queries from bidders arrive up to the query deadline; your answers are published to every bidder so all are pricing the same information. Bids arrive up to the tender deadline. Bids are not sealed — you see prices as they arrive, and bidders are told so.
Compare and award. The comparison view puts every bid side by side with both VAT columns computed for a like-for-like read, then exports to PDF — the document an SEC attaches to a grant application. Shortlist, decline and award with one action; unsuccessful bidders can be notified with a single email, on by default.
After award, it’s yours. Contracting and the works continue directly between you and the contractor by email. The full record of the process stays available to you.

Committee members can be added as collaborators on any tender — they see everything, while publishing and awarding stay with the tender owner. And one thing that stays your job: checking that a bidder actually meets the requirements you set — insurance, registrations, references — before you award.

For contractors

Create a business profile. It carries your company name on bids, and it is free. Registering categories and counties gets you an email whenever a matching tender is published — that registration is also free.
Bid before the deadline. Price with an explicit VAT basis, add a cover note, attach your proposal. You can edit or withdraw right up to the deadline; edits keep their history.
Ask questions early. Queries close a few days before bids do. Answers are published to every bidder; your identity is not shown to competitors.
Know the ground rules. Bids on this platform are not sealed — the tenderer sees prices as they arrive. Your bid is never visible to other bidders.

Where the platform stops

e-tender.ie hosts the process and keeps the record. It is not a party to any contract, it does not verify credentials, and it is for below-threshold work only — public bodies with spending above EU or national thresholds must use the Government’s eTenders platform, with which e-tender.ie has no affiliation.

More questions? See the FAQs or read the terms of use.