Work Plan and Schedule in a Technical Proposal: A Guide

The work plan and schedule in a technical proposal show when each deliverable will be completed, who will do the work and what you need from the entity along the way. Build them from the tender booklet's deliverables, key dates and payment stages, show the critical path, and commit only to dates your resources can support, because once the entity approves your programme the contract holds you to it.

What does the booklet ask for in the work plan and schedule?

The entity decides, so start with your booklet's work programme section. In several of the Ministry of Finance's model booklets it is where the entity sets out the execution phases and the actual times to complete the work, and asks for a plan distributing your staff and labour across them. In the general construction model, the example technical offer structure lists the work methodology, the work schedule, experience, the team and, where required, targeted local content.

That model asks for a schedule with the bid showing the work sequence and your method, then a detailed programme within 30 days of receiving the site, described as:

• charts and tables covering all activities, on and off site;
• equipment, devices and materials needed, with delivery dates;
• sequence, timing, rates of progress and links between all elements of the work;
• manpower by category and skill, and a full description of your plan.

Once approved, it becomes the contract programme. Resequencing is allowed only if it does not slow the completion of works or parts with fixed finish dates, does not affect other contractors working for the entity, and has the entity's prior approval; anything else needs a change order. Trace every activity back to your technical methodology.

How do you set milestones that match deliverables and payments?

Start from the booklet's fixed points: duration, key dates, deliverables and acceptance conditions. Name each milestone as the booklet names the deliverable, so evaluators can match it to a requirement.

Then connect milestones to payments. The model asks the bidder for a payment schedule stating each payment's value, its percentage of the offer value and the stage at which it falls due. Under the current Regulations the entity may ask for changes, the schedule is agreed with the bidder when offers are examined, and the winner may refuse a different one when the contract is drawn up. In the model the payment schedule is a financial offer document, so keep amounts out of the technical file and refer to payment stages by milestone.

How should you present the Gantt chart, critical path and resources?

Give evaluators a one-page Gantt summary they can read in a minute, with detailed sheets behind it. Show phases, milestones as markers, durations, the links between activities and the critical path, the chain that fixes the finish date. Build the calendar around official holidays, Ramadan and the summer months.

Load resources onto the same activities. The model asks for manpower by category and skill, so add a resource histogram that matches your team section and your manpower cost build-up.

How do you show what you need from the government entity?

List every input that sits with the entity: site access, approvals of drawings and samples, permits, data, and staff for testing and training. Give each a needed-by date and an assumed review time. If the booklet is silent, ask in the inquiry window; under the current Regulations, questions and answers are shared with all bidders without naming the asker.

Recording these inputs also builds your evidence. The current law and the new law, which takes effect in early January 2027, allow a contract to be extended and the delay fine waived in five cases: additional work, insufficient annual appropriations, delay attributable to the entity or to exigent circumstances, reasons beyond your control, and suspension by the entity for reasons not attributable to you. Under the current Regulations, for the entity-delay and beyond-your-control cases, the consultant (if any) reports within 21 days of your request, the entity studies it and its examination committee recommends within 30 days, and the schedule is revised within 7 days of approval. The new law leaves the procedure to its new Implementing Regulations; check the tender booklet. Under the current Regulations, letting you finish late with the fine deducted is not a fine-free extension.

What makes a schedule realistic, and what does an unrealistic one cost?

The current law and the new law, which takes effect in early January 2027, both require a contract's period to be proportionate to the size and nature of the works and the project's annual appropriations. Test that period against your own quantities and resources: durations built from productivity and crew sizes, lead times backed by quotations, and no compression you cannot resource.

Fines make optimism expensive. The current law caps a delay fine at 6% of a supply contract's value and 20% for other contracts; the new law keeps 6% for supply and lowers the other cap to 15%. Both let the Minister approve a higher cap if bidders are told before they bid. In the model the entity states the calculation method and a total cap, and the main contract objectives are linked to the fines schedule, so treat your key milestone dates as dates a fine can attach to.

How do you plan mobilisation and handover?

Mobilisation starts once the contract is concluded (or, up to SAR 300,000, the exchange of correspondence that the current law accepts instead of a contract; the new law, which takes effect in early January 2027, accepts the award decision), because the current Regulations do not allow work to begin earlier. In the general construction model, an initial schedule of deliverables is due within 30 calendar days of the award decision, and the baseline schedule, health, safety, security and environment plan, quality plan, key staff, insurance certificates and a completed pre-start checklist are required before dues are paid, so plan them into the first weeks.

Show handover as a phase with its own activities, not a date at the end. The model asks for the testing and commissioning plan and the handover plan within the first month. Training required before final acceptance must be finished first, and as-built drawings are due before any completion certificate. In general construction the current Regulations have the entity form a committee to begin inspection within 15 days of your completion notice, and the project then stays under your warranty for at least one year from initial receipt. For continuing services, see our guide to operation and maintenance proposals.

Frequently asked questions

Our team lays out technical offers, from Gantt charts to org charts and infographics, through our proposal design service.