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01Fire Stopping · Sussex · No Win, No Fee

Fire Stopping bid writer in Sussex — no win, no fee.

You price the work. We craft the proposal. Founder-led bid writing for passive fire protection contractors tendering £50k–£5m packages.

Book a 15-minute callRequest the sample pack
£1,500 minimum success fee · 2% above £75k · Founder-led · Also covering Surrey, Kent, Hampshire
02The honest problem

Fire-stopping bids are now won on evidence, not price.

Since the Building Safety Act and the post-Grenfell competency shift, fire-stopping tenders have changed. Main contractors are personally liable for the passive fire envelope, and they evaluate fire-stopping subcontractors more like they evaluate a structural engineer than a finishes trade.

Third-party certification (LPCB, Warrington Fire, IFC), gap-survey methodology, witness regimes, FIRAS / BAFE installer competency — all of that needs to be in the bid pack, framed correctly. Not stapled on.

Most fire-stopping firms have the certifications. Few of them communicate that capability the way the responsible person wants to read it.

03What’s hard about it

The three problems that cost you the appointment.

  1. 01

    Third-party certification mapped to the build

    LPCB or Warrington Fire approval against a specific seal type — not a generic certificate. Most subcontractors send the generic. The few who map it to the actual penetration types in the spec win evaluation points immediately.

  2. 02

    Gap-survey methodology that holds up

    Pre-installation gap surveys are now standard on most commercial builds. Tenders want to see a documented methodology, recording approach, and rectification protocol — not just 'we survey first'.

  3. 03

    Installer competency evidence

    FIRAS / IFC / BAFE accreditation at company level isn't enough. The bid pack needs named-installer competency records, training matrix, and a witness regime that proves the work as it's installed.

04Sussex market context

Why bid evaluation in Sussex works the way it does.

Sussex sits between the South-East commercial corridor and the South-Coast economic strip. Bid activity is heavier in the Brighton, Crawley, Gatwick Diamond, Worthing and Eastbourne corridors. The mix is commercial fit-out, hospitality refurb, schools and universities, healthcare estates, and a steady stream of council-framework work.

Most Sussex subcontractors win locally on relationships and lose nationally on submissions. The big main contractors running South-East frameworks (Wates, ISG, Willmott Dixon, BAM, Vinci) want the regional sub's site capability — but evaluate the bid pack against the same standard they apply to their tier-1 supply chain. That's where well-priced Sussex firms get out-bid by national rivals with bigger bid teams.

05How it works

From tender on the desk to submission-ready pack.

  1. 01

    You send us the tender

    Brief, scope, return-by date, your draft price.

  2. 02

    We write the proposal pack

    Method statement, programme narrative, fire stopping-specific compliance evidence, and the supporting documents your evaluator wants to read — in the main contractor's QS language, not yours.

  3. 03

    You review and submit

    Your name on it. Your win.

  4. 04

    You pay only if you win

    £1,500 minimum, 2% of contract value above £75k. Don't win, don't pay.

Founding-team UK firm. Sussex-covering. Karl runs it.

06Inside the pack

What you get in a fire stopping proposal pack.

  • 01
    Method statement
    Penetration-by-penetration approach, seal types, primer and substrate prep, witness points.
  • 02
    Third-party certification framing
    LPCB / Warrington Fire / IFC certification mapped to the specific seal types in the spec.
  • 03
    Inspection & witness regime
    Hold points, photographic records, sign-off protocol — written to the main contractor's compliance burden.
  • 04
    Gap-survey methodology
    Pre-installation survey approach, recording, defect log, rectification protocol.
  • 05
    Installer competency evidence
    Named-installer records, training matrix, FIRAS / IFC / BAFE accreditation — at individual not just company level.
  • 06
    Programme narrative
    Tied to live-site sequencing — fire-stopping after first fix, before ceiling close-up.
  • 07
    Defect & rectification approach
    What happens if a follow-on trade breaches a seal — your protocol, not the main contractor's problem.
  • 08
    Experience matrix
    Mapped to the tender's evaluation criteria with comparable projects.
07Why no win, no fee

A first-tender risk-sharing offer.

We only get paid if the bid wins. £1,500 minimum success fee (binds on contracts up to £75k), 2% on contract value above £75k. Eligible on opportunities over £50k. Founding offer — capped at the first ten Sussex contractors who take it up.

08Sample pack

See what one actually looks like.

We’ve put together a sample bid pack — fictional contract, watermarked, real format. Request it via the link below. No commitment to engage; we just want you to see what one looks like.

Request the sample pack →
09Frequently asked

Fire Stopping bid writing — practical answers.

01How much does a no-win-no-fee bid writer cost for a Sussex fire stopping tender?
£0 if your bid doesn't win. £1,500 minimum if it does, or 2% of contract value on tenders above £75k. There's no upfront fee, no retainer, no hourly rate. The fee is invoiced once you confirm the contract award. Eligible on opportunities over £50k.
02What's included in a fire-stopping proposal pack?
Method statement, third-party certification (LPCB / Warrington Fire / IFC) framing mapped to the spec, inspection and witness regime, gap-survey methodology, installer competency evidence (FIRAS / IFC / BAFE) at individual level, programme narrative tied to live-site sequencing, defect rectification approach, and experience matrix.
03How do you handle Building Safety Act compliance in the bid pack?
The bid pack frames third-party certification, named-installer competency, witness regime and gap-survey methodology in a way that addresses the responsible person's burden directly. We write to the BSA Gateway 2 / 3 obligations rather than pretending fire stopping is still a routine finishes trade.
04How long does a fire-stopping bid pack take to write?
A standard sub-package takes 2–4 working days. Frameworks for hospital, school, or high-rise residential work — where the certification mapping is heavier — take 5–10 days. We won't compromise on the certification and witness-regime detail to hit a tight return-by.
05Are you tied to any particular fire-stopping system?
No. We write to whatever system you've priced (Hilti, Promat, Rockwool, FSi, Sika, Tremco illbruck, Quelfire). The proposal frames your chosen system's third-party certification and seal-type mapping in the main contractor's language.
06Do you understand the Sussex / South-East tender market?
Yes. Sussex is part of our warm geography. We work with the regional supply chains around Gatwick, Brighton, Crawley, Worthing, Eastbourne and Chichester — and the frameworks run out of those corridors (universities, healthcare, schools, council estates). We also cover Surrey and Kent within the same warm region, and we work UK-wide on cold opportunities up to £5m contract value.
10Next steps

Worth a 15-minute call?

If you’ve got a live fire stoppingtender on the desk now, let’s look at it together. Karl will run through what the proposal pack would cover, and we’ll agree the engagement terms before any work starts.

Book a 15-minute callRequest the sample pack
Karl
Bidwright · bidwright.co.uk
Prefer email? karl.gleave@bidwright.co.uk