Responding to a construction PMA tender (project management assistance, EU 2026)

The construction project management assistant is neither the design team (architect, engineering office) nor the works contractor: it advises and represents the public or private client (local authority, social landlord, hospital, university, developer, property fund) to secure an operation. These missions, distinct from IT project management assistance, are published as intellectual-service contracts. Several families stand out.

• Programming: helping define the needs, drafting the detailed technical brief, feasibility and target-cost studies before the design team is appointed.
• Environmental / sustainability PMA: support on certifications and labels (energy performance, low carbon, environmental quality) throughout design and construction.
• Legal and financial PMA: structuring the operation, choosing the procedure, assisting the procurement of design and works contracts, monitoring costs and funding.
• Operation management: overall steering of stakeholders, deadlines, costs and risks, from launch to handover and the defects-liability period.
• PMA framework agreements: recurring support missions triggered by subsequent contracts or call-off orders across an estate, over 1 to 4 years.

Across the EU the logic is identical in all 27 member states: a public operator publishes above the European service thresholds on TED, below them on its national platform. An established PMA may bid for a cross-border contract subject to freedom to provide services and recognition of qualifications.

The first challenge is costing. A PMA service is not bought by the linear metre but in man-days: you must estimate the workload per phase of the operation (programming, design-team selection, design, works procurement, construction, handover) and per profile mobilised (project director, engineer, lawyer, quantity surveyor, operation manager), then apply consistent daily rates. Underestimating the workload leads to an abnormally low bid (rejection) or a collapsed margin; overestimating loses on the price criterion. The breakdown must be legible, defensible and aligned with the real duration of the operation.

The second challenge is the methodology proposal. The buyer scores technical value on precise criteria: operation-management methodology, cost / schedule / risk control arrangements, organisation of the multidisciplinary team, steering and client-reporting tools, environmental approach, and guarantees of independence from the design team. Comparable references — operations of similar nature, size and complexity — weigh heavily. A generic proposal copied from one tender to another is penalised: you must answer the consultation rules point by point.

The third challenge is administrative: professional and financial capacity, insurance certificates, team composition and qualifications, and the ESPD/DUME for EU public procurement. False or expired documents lead to rejection — and even criminal penalties for false statements.

The assistant starts from the tender: you upload the tender file (PDF), it extracts the buyer, object, scope of the mission, award criteria and weighting, and the buyer's language. The methodology proposal is then structured to develop the most heavily weighted criteria first (operation-management methodology, risk control, team resources and organisation, comparable references), in the contract's language.

For costing, you enter your profiles and their daily rates (project director, engineer, lawyer, quantity surveyor, operation manager) and your workload assumptions per phase. The assistant builds a man-day breakdown phase by phase and profile by profile (number of days × daily rate excl. VAT), applies VAT and totals, and exports an editable table. No workload or rate is invented: a line without a supplied assumption is marked "to complete".

• Methodology proposal structured around the tender's award criteria.
• Man-day breakdown per phase and per profile costed from your daily rates (table export).
• Pre-filled ESPD/DUME draft for EU public procurement.
• Deliverables in PDF, editable Word and spreadsheet, in the buyer's language.
• Your profiles, daily rates and method templates stay confidential, reusable across tenders.

You stay in control: the assistant produces a solid base that you verify, complete with your real references and workload assumptions, then sign before submission. It replaces neither your operation-management expertise nor legal advice — it removes the hours of formatting and calculation where the risk of error and inconsistency is highest.

A controlled response follows a stable sequence, whether the contract is public or private, in France or elsewhere in the EU.

• Monitoring: spot relevant PMA, programming and operation-management tenders on the platforms (TED, buyer profiles).
• Tender analysis: object, scope of mission, award criteria and weighting, operation duration, required documents, independence requirement vis-à-vis the design team.
• Go/no-go decision: multidisciplinary team capacity, comparable references, workload, absence of conflict of interest.
• Costing: man-day breakdown per phase and per profile, from your daily rates, aligned with the operation's duration.
• Methodology proposal: answer the criteria point by point, operation management, risk/schedule/cost control, team organisation.
• Administrative documents: ESPD/DUME, professional and financial capacity, insurance, references.
• Electronic submission before the deadline, with e-signature where required.

The BoostPro IA assistant handles steps 4 to 6 — the most time-consuming and riskiest — producing proposal, man-day breakdown and DUME in under ten minutes from your real data. You focus your time on strategy (positioning, workload assumptions, references) rather than formatting.