How to Answer a PQQ: A Practical Guide for UK Suppliers

A PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire) is the form a buyer uses to decide which suppliers are allowed to bid for a contract. It checks that you're a real, stable, properly insured business that can do the work, before anyone looks at your price. Answer it well and you get through to the tender. Miss one document or one mandatory question and you're out, however good you are.

This guide covers what PQQs ask, how to get through the pass/fail parts, how to write the scored answers, and what's changed for public sector contracts. It's written for the people who fill these in alongside their day job.

PQQ, SQ, PSQ: what's the difference?

You'll see a few names for the same idea:

PQQ is the traditional name, still used by most private companies and main contractors.
SQ or SSQ (standard selection questionnaire) is what UK public bodies used until early 2025.
PSQ (procurement specific questionnaire) is what public buyers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland use now, under the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on 24 February 2025. Procurements that started before then can still run under the old rules.
Supplier questionnaires and onboarding forms from large companies ask most of the same questions, even when they don't call themselves a PQQ.

In construction, many buyers use a shared standard such as the Common Assessment Standard, so one assessment can count for several clients. Scotland's public sector still uses the Single Procurement Document (SPD).

The good news: whatever it's called, it asks roughly the same things. That's what makes them worth getting organised for.

What a PQQ usually asks

Most questionnaires cover some or all of these:

Company details: name, address, company number, VAT number, ownership, who the directors are.
Grounds for exclusion: declarations that the business and its directors haven't been convicted of things like fraud, bribery or tax evasion.
Financial standing: recent accounts, turnover, and sometimes a minimum turnover compared with the contract value.
Insurance: employer's liability, public liability, and often professional indemnity, each with a minimum level of cover.
Health and safety: your policy, accident record, training and accreditations.
Quality and environment: your approach to quality and environmental management, and certifications such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 if you have them.
Policies: equality, modern slavery, data protection, and increasingly cyber security (Cyber Essentials comes up a lot).
Experience and references: examples of similar contracts, with contact details for people who'll vouch for you.
Technical capability: your team, equipment, processes and capacity to take on the work.

The first half of that list is mostly pass/fail. The last two are where you usually get scored.

Before you write a word

Most PQQs that fail, fail for avoidable reasons. Ten minutes at the start saves a lot of pain:

Read the whole thing first, including the instructions and any appendices. Note every deadline, including the one for clarification questions, which is usually days before the main deadline.
Find the pass/fail questions and minimums. Insurance levels, turnover thresholds, required certifications. If you can't meet one, you can stop now.
Decide whether to bid. Do you want this contract, can you deliver it, and do you have examples that match it? A strong yes on all three is worth the effort. A weak maybe often isn't.
List every document you'll need and check they're in date: insurance certificates, accounts, policies, accreditation certificates.
Ask questions early through the buyer's clarification process if anything is unclear. Don't guess.

Getting through the pass/fail sections

These sections don't win you the contract, but they can lose it for you. Treat them as a checklist:

Answer every mandatory question, even if the answer is "not applicable". Blanks can count as a fail.
Give exactly what's asked for. If they want a policy signed in the last 12 months, an older one may not count.
Check your insurance cover against their minimums, per claim and in total. If you're short, talk to your broker before the deadline, not after.
Use the same company name, number and address everywhere. Small mismatches cause awkward questions.
Keep a master folder of current documents with expiry dates, so you're not hunting for them each time.

How to write scored answers

The scored questions are where you stand out. A few habits make a big difference:

Answer the question that was asked. If it asks how you'd manage health and safety on their site, don't paste your general health and safety policy. Use their words in your answer so the evaluator can see you've covered each point.

Follow their structure. If the question has three parts, answer in three parts, in the same order. Evaluators usually mark against a scoring guide, and you want each point to be easy to find.

Prove it. Every claim needs something behind it: a number, a named project, a process, a certificate. "We have an excellent safety record" scores less than "no reportable accidents in the last three years across 40 sites".

Make it about them. Mention their site, their timescales, their risks. Generic answers are easy to spot and score in the middle.

Respect the word limit. Anything over the limit may not be read. Short and specific beats long and vague.

Here's an illustration of the difference, for a question like "Describe how you will manage health and safety on this contract."

A weak answer:

We take health and safety very seriously and are committed to the highest standards. All staff are trained and we comply with all relevant legislation.

A stronger answer:

Before work starts, our site manager will carry out a risk assessment with your facilities team and agree a method statement for each task. Every operative on this contract holds a current CSCS card, and we'll brief them on your site rules on day one. We report near misses as well as incidents, and you'll get a monthly safety summary. Over the last three years we've had no reportable accidents across our commercial contracts.

The second one answers the question, refers to the buyer's site, and backs up its claims. Only write what's true for your business, though. Evaluators check, and references get called.

Choosing your examples and references

Pick examples that look as much like the new contract as possible: similar size, similar sector, similar type of work. For each one, give the client, the dates, the value, what you did and what the outcome was.

Always ask your referees first, and tell them what the contract is so they're ready if someone calls. A referee who doesn't remember you does more harm than no referee.

Public sector bids since 2025

If you bid for public contracts in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the process now starts with registering on the government's Find a Tender service, which the Act calls the central digital platform. Registration is free.

You enter your core supplier information there once: basic company details, financial information such as recent accounts, connected persons such as people with significant control, and exclusion declarations. You keep it up to date and share it with each buyer using a share code, instead of typing it into every questionnaire.

The PSQ then covers what's specific to that contract, such as the conditions of participation. Those conditions should be proportionate to the contract, so a buyer shouldn't be asking a small supplier for things the work doesn't need.

GOV.UK has a short guide to the central digital platform that explains registration.

Why PQQs fail

The most common reasons are boring ones:

A required document was missing or out of date.
A mandatory question was left blank.
Insurance cover was below the minimum.
The answer was generic and didn't address the question.
The word limit was ignored.
It was submitted late, often because the portal was slow at the last minute.

Spend your time on the questions that win

Here's the thing most suppliers notice after a few bids: a large part of every questionnaire is the same. Company details, insurance, policies, accreditations, standard descriptions of how you work. Yet each time, someone senior spends days digging through old bids and shared drives to find and adapt those answers, and the scored questions get whatever time is left.

The fix is an answer library: one place holding your best, current answer to every common question, plus your documents with expiry dates. Whether you use a bid writer or do it in-house, a library means the routine half takes hours, not days.

We build tools that go a step further. They read a new questionnaire, find the best existing answers, draft the responses and flag the questions that need a person. We built a working demo on a 16-question framework questionnaire for an engineering firm. See tender and PQQ response automation for how it works, or book a free 30-minute call.

Common questions

What does PQQ stand for?

Pre-qualification questionnaire. It's the first stage of many tenders, used to shortlist suppliers before they're invited to bid in full.

Is a PQQ the same as a tender?

No. The PQQ decides whether you get to bid. The tender, often called an invitation to tender (ITT), is where you set out how you'd deliver the contract and at what price.

Do I need ISO certifications to pass a PQQ?

Not always. Some buyers ask for them, others accept evidence of an equivalent approach, such as your written policies and how you follow them. Check whether it's a requirement or just scored, and answer accordingly.

How long does a PQQ take to complete?

It depends on the length and how organised your information is. The first one usually takes longest. With an up-to-date answer library and document folder, the routine sections become quick and most of the time goes on the scored questions.

Can I use AI to help answer a PQQ?

It can help with first drafts, especially from your own past answers. Check every answer before it goes out, and never submit a fact, figure or reference you can't stand behind. Some buyers ask how suppliers use AI, so read the instructions.

What is a PSQ?

The procurement specific questionnaire, used by public buyers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since the Procurement Act 2023 came into force. Your core details live on the central digital platform, and the PSQ covers what's specific to each contract.

Last checked on 22 October 2026. Procurement rules change, so check the buyer's instructions and current GOV.UK guidance for each bid.

How to answer a PQQ: a practical guide for UK suppliers