PQQs and Selection Questionnaires: A Guide for Trades

Updated 4 November 2026

Before a buyer looks at your price or method, they usually want to know whether your business is suitable. That check used to be called a PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire), and for public contracts it became the standard SQ (selection questionnaire). The names vary, and main contractors use their own versions, but the questions are similar. Getting this stage right is mostly about preparation.

What the questionnaire is for

A selection questionnaire checks that a supplier is legitimate, financially stable, insured and competent to do the work safely. For larger contracts, buyers use it to shortlist a small number of firms who are then invited to tender. Fail a pass/fail question and your bid can be excluded, however good the rest of it is.

What changed under the Procurement Act 2023

For procurements in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that started on or after 24 February 2025, the Procurement Act 2023 applies. Under the Act, suppliers keep their core information, such as company details, connected people and financial information, on the central digital platform (Find a Tender) and share it with buyers, rather than retyping it every time. Buyers then set "conditions of participation" for each contract, which do the job the old selection stage did.

The Act also says that for lower-value contracts below the main thresholds, public buyers generally cannot run a separate pre-selection stage to filter suppliers out before they bid. For small trade firms, that means more lower-value public work should be open to anyone who can meet the requirements set out in the tender itself. Main contractors are not bound by these rules for their own supply chains, so expect to keep filling in their pre-qualification forms. Scotland has its own rules and its own Single Procurement Document.

What you will usually be asked for

• Company details: registered name, number, address, VAT number and ownership.
• Exclusion grounds: declarations about criminal convictions, insolvency, tax, and serious misconduct.
• Financial standing: recent accounts, and sometimes a minimum turnover or a credit check.
• Insurance: employers' liability, public liability and sometimes professional indemnity, at stated levels.
• Health and safety: your policy, accident records, training and how you manage subcontractors.
• Accreditations: for example CHAS, Constructionline or SafeContractor, and trade schemes relevant to your work.
• Experience: two or three examples of similar contracts, usually with a reference contact.
• Quality and environmental management, equality, modern slavery and data protection statements, depending on contract size.

Trade-specific evidence

Some trades need specific proof of competence. Gas work requires Gas Safe registration. Electrical contractors are often asked for membership of a recognised competent person scheme. Asbestos removal of licensable work needs an HSE licence. Fire-stopping and passive fire protection contracts increasingly ask for third-party certification and product training records, because of the higher scrutiny on fire safety in buildings. Scaffolders are usually asked about operative training cards and design checks. Collect these documents in one place and check their expiry dates.

Common reasons firms fail

• Insurance cover below the level asked for. If you are close, ask your broker whether you can raise it for the contract.
• Missing a pass/fail declaration or leaving a question blank.
• References that do not match the type or size of the work.
• Out-of-date certificates or policies.
• Answering a different question to the one asked.
• Missing the deadline because a portal upload took longer than expected.

Build a bid library

The best time saver is a simple bid library: a folder with your latest accounts, insurance certificates, health and safety policy, accreditations, method statements for your common jobs, project case studies with photos, and short CVs for key staff. Update it whenever something renews. When a new questionnaire arrives, most of the work becomes copying and tailoring rather than starting from scratch.

Tips for answering experience questions

Experience questions often carry a lot of weight, and smaller firms sometimes undersell themselves. Choose examples that match the contract as closely as you can in type of work, size and setting. For each one, give the client, the location, the dates, the approximate value, what you did, and a result the buyer can check, such as a completed handover with no defects or a repeat order. If most of your experience is as a subcontractor, say so plainly and name the main contractor; subcontract work is still relevant experience. Ask your referees beforehand, so they expect the call and remember the job.

Main contractor questionnaires

Main contractors use pre-qualification to build their supply chains, and many accept the industry common assessment standard through schemes such as Constructionline, CHAS and SafeContractor, which saves you completing a separate health and safety questionnaire for each one. Ask each contractor which schemes they accept before applying, and register on their supply chain portal if they have one.

Keep it honest

Declarations in a questionnaire are legal statements. Only claim accreditations, experience and capacity you actually have; buyers can and do check, and false declarations can lead to exclusion from future contracts.

Next steps

Once your paperwork is ready, find contracts to use it on. Browse open tenders by trade, check tenders closing this week, and read how to win council tenders as a subcontractor for help with the quality and price stage.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Always read the official notice and tender documents, and check current rules on GOV.UK.