Bid documents, translated before the closing date.
Specifications in the official NMS French, AutoCAD drawings translated in the DWG, addenda in the same terms: your tender package in English or French, on the bid schedule.
The closing date does not move
A federal tender goes out in both languages, and a Quebec public tender goes out in French, so the translation sits between the final design and the publication date. If the translation is late, the tender is late. If it is rushed, bidders find two meanings in the same clause and the questions start. And if the drawings come back as a table, someone retypes callouts into AutoCAD in the last week. A clause should mean the same thing in both languages. The last week before closing is the one where you can least afford to wonder about the translation.
Built around the bid schedule
We plan the translation backwards from the closing date:
- Terms settled first.
- Specifications and drawings translated in parallel.
- Addenda turned around on the same term base.
Your team sees the schedule on day one. Your tender goes out in the languages it requires, with one meaning per clause.
Proof
For Worley’s Iqaluit and Pond Inlet harbour studies, the Government of Nunavut needed 420 pages and 45 AutoCAD drawings in French for a public tender. We delivered in 14 days, and the studies went out with the tender on schedule. Read the case study.
Thank you very much for your excellent work! And for delivering ahead of time! It makes our team’s work so much easier.
Valérie, Natural Resources Canada
Six of the world’s ten largest engineering firms are Technitrad clients.
What we translate for a tender
- Specifications, section by section, with the official NMS French where the text is standard.
- AutoCAD drawings, translated in the DWG, so nobody retypes callouts in the last week, in the same terms as the specification.
- Bid and contract forms, instructions to bidders and addenda.
- Bids, for contractors answering a tender in the other language.
Send the package early
Send the package, even incomplete, as soon as the publication date is known, and request a quote: we answer within one business day, and the schedule is set before the final documents arrive. Bidding regularly? Start with a free, confidential terminology check of a past tender package, drawings included.
Questions
What is included in the bid documents?
Usually the instructions to bidders, the bid form, the drawings, the specifications, the contract conditions and any addenda issued during the bid period. Every one of them may need to be issued in both languages.
How do you say tender in French?
In Quebec, a call for tenders is an appel d'offres, and a contractor's bid is a soumission. The owner issues the appel d'offres; the bidders submit soumissions.
Who prepares bidding documents?
The owner and its design team: the engineers and architects write the specifications and drawings, and the owner adds the bid and contract forms. The bidders prepare their own bid. We translate for both sides.
Can you translate addenda during the bid period?
Yes. Addenda use the term base of the original package, so a revised clause in French matches the clause it replaces.
Your engineers review the translation in minutes, not hours.
Send your package: specs, drawings or reports. We reply with a price and a date.
FreeFree terminology checkUpload a recent translated deliverable. We return a short report of every inconsistent term.