Practical field guide / UK construction contractors and suppliers
How to verify an Opportunity Brief
Use this before-action checklist to trace a possible project lead to its source, check what the evidence supports and decide what still needs confirming.
01 / Signal sources
Start with the kind of record
Source type affects what a signal establishes. Follow each summary to the original record or publisher and read it there; do not rely on a summary alone. Different records can show an announcement, proposal, formal procurement step or past decision, and those are not interchangeable.
01 / SOURCE TYPE
Company press releases
Read what the company itself says about a project, plan or appointment. An announcement may describe an intention or milestone without establishing a purchase or procurement route.
02 / SOURCE TYPE
Council news
Council news can report a decision, proposal, consultation or programme. Follow links to the relevant decision, planning or procurement record to check its formal status.
03 / SOURCE TYPE
Planning applications
The application and its documents can identify a site and proposed works. An application records a proposal; it does not by itself establish consent, delivery or a tender.
04 / SOURCE TYPE
Funding announcements
Check who announced the funding, who it is for, what it covers and any stated conditions. A funding notice is not automatically a project budget, contract value or invitation to bid.
05 / SOURCE TYPE
Procurement notices
Use the current notice and its linked documents to check the buyer, scope, lots, deadline, status and amendments. An award notice records an award; it is not an open tender.
06 / SOURCE TYPE
Contractor announcements
A contractor’s own announcement may support a stated appointment or project update. Check exactly what was appointed, by whom and when, and whether a newer record changes the position.
07 / SOURCE TYPE
LinkedIn/company news
A company post can surface a lead or update. Check the named publisher and original wording, then look for a company release, official notice or other original record that supports the claim.
08 / SOURCE TYPE
Local business publications
A publication can provide useful context, but it is a secondary account. Follow its references to the original company, council, planning, funding or procurement record before relying on a detail.
09 / SOURCE TYPE
University/NHS announcements
An announcement from a university or NHS organisation can describe a project, proposal or decision. Check the issuing organisation’s record and any linked approval, funding and procurement information.
10 / SOURCE TYPE
Regeneration announcements
A regeneration announcement may cover a broad programme, multiple sites or future phases. Check which project and phase the evidence refers to; programme news alone does not establish a specific contract.
02 / Before you act
A source-first verification sequence
Open the original record
- Identify who issued or published the record, and open that publisher’s original page, notice, application or document. Do not treat a brief, search result or news summary as the underlying evidence.
- Read the original wording in context. Match each claim in the Opportunity Brief to the part of the record that supports it. If a detail is not supported there, mark it as unverified.
Check the dates and sequence
- Record the publication or announcement date separately from a later update and from any event, decision, start or completion date mentioned in the text.
- Check whether a newer record supersedes the one cited. Keep the date of the evidence visible so an old announcement is not presented as a current position.
Confirm what is current
- Look for newer notices, amendments, changed status, withdrawals, revised documents and conflicting records. Note gaps too; the absence of a record does not prove that a step has or has not happened.
- Before treating work as available to bid for, check the buyer’s current procurement notice and its status, deadline, documents and amendments. Follow the notice’s stated instructions.
03 / Check each detail
Compare the brief with what the source says
Check every field against current evidence. A likely fit is useful context for a contractor or supplier, but it is not the same as a buyer-stated requirement.
- Company
- Confirm the organisation named in the source and its stated role. A client, landowner, developer, funder, contracting authority and contractor may be different parties.
- Location
- Look for the named site or delivery area. Do not treat a town, authority boundary or organisation’s registered address as the project location unless the source makes that connection.
- Announcement date
- Use the source’s publication or announcement date. Record later update dates and dates of events separately when the source gives them.
- Project
- Use the project name, asset and described work that the original record supports. Do not extend a general programme announcement into a more specific project or scope.
- Likely requirement
- Separate a requirement explicitly stated by the buyer from a likely or inferred fit. Label an inference as such and record its basis; it is not a buyer request until the buyer says so.
- Stage
- Use the source’s current status and wording. A proposal, planning application, permission, funding decision, live procurement, award and work underway are different stages.
- Contractor appointment
- Name an appointed contractor only when a current original record supports that appointment. If no appointment is stated, record “not stated” or “unverified”; do not infer “not appointed” from silence.
- Contact
- Use a contact and role published by the relevant organisation or notice. If none is given, mark it “not stated”; do not guess a decision-maker or substitute an unrelated contact.
- Value
- Keep an amount in its source context: project, programme, lot, contract or grant. Label estimates as estimates and do not imply that a project or programme figure is the value of a supplier’s work package.
04 / Keep the record honest
Separate facts, inferences and unknowns
Sourced fact
The original record states it. Keep the source and relevant date with the fact.
Likely or inferred
The record suggests it, but does not say it directly. Label the inference and its basis clearly.
Not stated or unverified
The available record does not establish it. Unknown does not mean zero.
A signal, proposal, planning application, funding notice, announcement or award alone does not establish current buyer demand, an open tender, an appointed contractor or secured work. Describe status only when the current original record supports it.
If an important detail is missing or conflicting, leave it marked as not stated or unverified and check with the relevant publisher or organisation before acting.