Tender deliverables checklist: plan your SDRL
A tender deliverables checklist is the list of engineering and project documents a bid commits to producing and submitting, drawn from the tender's supplier data requirements list (SDRL). Each deliverable carries a category, an owner, a submission stage (for approval, for review, for construction, or as-built) and a due date tied to a milestone. Work through the groups below to confirm every deliverable the tender demands is captured, scheduled, resourced and owned before you commit to it in your bid.
Using this guide
A tender's deliverables are a priced obligation, not an afterthought. The supplier data requirements list (SDRL) tells you exactly what documents you must produce, in what format and by when, and every one of them costs engineering hours you have to carry in the bid. Miss a deliverable at bid time and you absorb it later; underestimate the review cycles and your program slips. Use this checklist to capture every required deliverable, assign it a stage and an owner, and confirm it is resourced before you commit. Adapt the groups to the specific tender; not every deliverable applies to every package.
Design and engineering deliverables
- Single-line diagram (SLD) and general arrangement / layout drawings
- Equipment datasheets and technical specifications
- Design calculations: load, fault level, protection grading, earthing, cable sizing
- Cable schedules, termination schedules and wiring diagrams
- Design basis / design criteria document where the spec requires one
Quality and test deliverables
- Inspection and test plan (ITP) and inspection and test certificates (ITC)
- Factory acceptance test (FAT) and site acceptance test (SAT) procedures and reports
- Type-test certificates to the governing standard for each equipment item
- Material certificates to the required certificate type (for example EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2)
- Non-conformance report (NCR) register and close-out records
Project and commercial deliverables
- Project program / schedule against the buyer's milestones
- Document register (the master deliverables register the SDRL feeds)
- Progress reports at the required cadence, and the project organisation chart
- Health, safety and environmental (HSE) plan and risk register
Operations and handover deliverables
- As-built drawings and the final data book
- Operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals
- Spare parts list and recommended spares holding
- Training materials, and warranty and certification documentation
For each deliverable, capture
- A deliverable ID and title, so it can be referenced unambiguously
- The category and the responsible party (you, a supplier, or a subconsultant)
- The submission stage: for approval (IFA), for review (IFR), for construction (IFC), or as-built
- The due date, expressed against a contract milestone rather than a fixed date
- The submission format and channel (portal, transmittal, file type and naming)
- The review / approval cycle and turnaround, and the current status
Before you commit in the bid
- Every SDRL line is scoped, resourced and priced into the engineering hours
- Review and approval turnaround is built into the program, not assumed instant
- The submission format and document-control rules are achievable with your tools
- Any deliverable you cannot meet is stated as a departure or clarification, not left silent
Drawing versions and engineering review
- Working edit versions are distinguished from formal received and issued drawing revisions
- The selected sheet and source version match the document being sent
- Drawing comments and outstanding design checks have been reviewed
- Required engineering certification and any PE or RPEQ responsibility are recorded
- Exports have been checked for layout, dimensions, units and required format
- STEP-derived GAs have been checked against the imported source and required level of detail
- 01Extract the SDRL from the tender. Find the supplier data requirements list (or document deliverables list) in the tender and pull every required document into one register, reading the spec for deliverables the SDRL itself omits.
- 02Categorise each deliverable. Group each into design, quality and test, project and commercial, or operations and handover, so ownership and effort are clear at a glance.
- 03Assign an owner and a submission stage. Give each deliverable a responsible party and a stage (for approval, for review, for construction, or as-built); the stage determines how many review cycles it carries.
- 04Tie due dates to milestones. Express each due date against a contract milestone rather than a calendar date, so the register still holds when the program shifts.
- 05Price and resource the deliverables. Estimate the engineering hours each deliverable and its review cycles will take, and carry them in the bid. Deliverables are scope, and unpriced scope is absorbed cost.
- 06Flag gaps as clarifications or departures. Where a required deliverable, format or turnaround cannot be met, raise it as a clarification or state it as a departure rather than leaving the register to imply full compliance.
Common questions
What is an SDRL in a tender?
An SDRL (supplier data requirements list, sometimes supplier document requirements list) is the tender's list of documents a bidder must produce and submit across the project: drawings, datasheets, calculations, test records, manuals and as-builts. Each line specifies the deliverable, its submission stage and its timing. It defines a priced obligation, because every listed document costs engineering hours you must carry in the bid.
What is the difference between an SDRL and a document register?
An SDRL is the client's requirement: the list of documents the tender demands you deliver. A document register (or master deliverables register) is your live tracking of those documents through their revisions, submissions and approvals. In practice the SDRL seeds the register: you import every SDRL line, then add revision, transmittal and status columns to manage it from bid through handover.
What do IFA, IFR and IFC mean on a deliverable?
They are submission stages a deliverable passes through. IFR (issued for review) and IFA (issued for approval) are early submissions where the client comments before work proceeds; IFC (issued for construction) is the approved version released to build from; as-built is the final record of what was actually installed. The stage matters because each review cycle adds time and engineering hours to the deliverable.
Why price deliverables at bid time?
Because deliverables are scope. Each document on the SDRL consumes engineering hours to produce, and each review stage adds rework when the client returns comments. A bid that prices only the physical works and treats documentation as free absorbs that cost after award. Estimating the deliverables and their review cycles up front keeps the obligation visible and in the price.
Can building the deliverables list be automated?
AI can help read the SDRL, specification and schedules and prepare a deliverables register with source references. Check it against the tender, including current drawing revisions and any omitted or ambiguous requirements. Your engineering and project team assigns the owner, effort and dates and confirms the final scope.