CHAPTER VIII 



TENDEKS 



1. Definition whether writ- 

 ing necessary ... ... 93 



2. Advertisement for tenders... 94 

 3. Statement of conditions to 



be observed on tendering 94 

 4. Costs of preparing tender... 95 

 5. Withdrawal of invitation for 



tenders 95 



6. Preparation of form of 



tender 95 



7. Simple form of tender ... 96 

 8. Necessity for care in pre- 

 paring tender 96 



9. Effect of a tender ... 97 



10. Tenders for uncertain 



quantities 97 



11. Withdrawal of a tender ... 97 



12. Damages for withdrawal of 



tender 99 



13. " The lowest tender " ... 99 



14. Fraud in relation to tender 101 



15. Agreements not to tender 101 

 Ifi. Tenders to local authorities 102 



1. Definition whether writing necessary. A tender 

 amounts to an offer to execute works upon certain terms for 

 the person inviting the tender. Although it is usually put into 

 writing, it need not always be written. Prudence, however, 

 dictates that the initial step in what may be a transaction 

 involving thousands of pounds should be taken with the 

 utmost caution, and a written tender is much more certain 

 than a mere verbal offer. Again, although an oral tender and 

 acceptance may sometimes amount to a contract, where either 

 party is a company the contract must be put into writing. In 

 an old case, a contractor sent in a tender to a railway company 

 for the execution of part of the works either with a double or 

 a single line of rails. He was informed that his tender was 

 accepted, and that intimation was confirmed by the directors 

 upon his attendance at one of the board meetings. No 

 document was drawn up. The line being afterwards aban- 

 doned, the contractor sought to recover from the company the 

 loss which he had sustained in preparing for the works. His 

 action failed. Still greater caution is necessary when dealing 

 with a local body, for where one of the parties is a corporation, 

 the seal of the corporation is necessary to create a valid 

 contract. The mere sealing of a letter containing a tender 



