See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/327231077

How to interpret Terms of Reference (TOR) to write a Proposal

Method · August 2018

CITATIONS READS
0 7,270

1 author:

Benard Lango
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
42 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Proposing Kenyan guidelines for installation of portable smoke detectors View project

Benard Lango Disaster Management Projects Series: Nairobi, Kenya View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Benard Lango on 26 August 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Author Reference
Lango, B. (2018). How to interpret Terms of Reference (TOR) to write a Proposal. Benard Lango Disaster
Management Projects Series: Nairobi, Kenya. August 26, 2018.
Assume a Kenyan government agency is seeking the services of a professional to undertake a Road Safety audit for
the Thika Superhighway. The company or the individual being sort has been enlightened on the following terms of
reference (TOR) in their preparation of the proposal for the same. The big question is, “how would one interpret the
terms of reference to come up with a proposal?” It should be noted that the proposal is an interpretation of the terms
of reference and would indicated the levels of understanding of the TOR and the eventual execution of the project.

Terms of Reference
Purpose: The purpose of the assignment is to conduct a Road Safety Audit for the Thika Superhighway.
Objectives:
1. Identify the current Road Safety Measures in place along the Thika-Superhighway and document how these
measures can be improved.
2. Identify and document potential risks to road users including persons, services, and buildings within Thika
Superhighway and the possible solutions for the same.
3. Assess the current emergency response procedures in place in cases of risks along the Thika-Superhighway
and propose an improvement on the same.
4. Propose a Road Safety standard measures that would be deemed basic for the Thika-Superhighway and the
users of the same road.
5. Document sustainable remedies to address the identified gaps providing an estimated cost to each of the
proposed remedies.

The Interpretation
The proposal for the above terms of reference can be presented in the following norm but it is not lost to the writer
that some TOR provides the contents of the expected proposal. Again the expected contents will more or less be in
tandem with the following contents.

1. About your Company

Give a brief background about your company, its location, core services, scope of operations and current service or
product on offer vis-à-vis the current request for proposal. It is important not to forget that this section is an
introduction about your company and not the proposal itself and should not cover more than half a page in statement
for projects below the cost of one million Kenyan Shilling and not more than one and half page for projects above one
million Kenyan shillings. It should also be noted that other TORs would specify the exact requirement for this section.

2. Understanding the Terms of Reference

This section of the proposal merely paraphrases the TOR as received without changing its meaning and restating the
requirements as deemed in each of the terms stated. When doing the proposal, give an understanding of the agency
seeking the proposal and the broad objectives it intends to achieve in the long term. The big question that this section
should answer is whether you have an understanding of the bigger problem that occasioned the request for proposal.
It therefore lists the specific objectives which must be achieved at the final end of the project once executed.

3. Purpose of the Assignment

The proposal should indicated the main purpose in a line or two depending on the components of the TOR. The
purpose summarizes the bigger problem described in section 2 above.

4. Scope of Work
In this section define the specific activities which will be undertaken in order to achieve the stated objectives under
the understanding of terms of reference. In a nutshell, for each of the stated TORs, indicated the activities that will be
undertaken to achieve them and the area of coverage at the end of each activity. It cannot escape this writing that most
of the proposals submitted by companies re-write the TORs in doing word to accomplish this section’s requirement.
As a starter in the proposal writing, the scope of the proposal document activities to be undertaken for each and every
TOR listed in the Request for Proposal document in order to achieve the broad objective.

5. Proposed Methodologies
In this particular section, propose the method or set of methods you would be using to execute the project stating
clearly what each and every method intends to achieve. Each and every TOR can be executed using an independent
method but this will depend with the kind of project being undertaken. For purposes of the above TORs the methods
will be interdependent and run concurrently. The proposed method would therefore be:
a) Preliminary meeting with the road safety managers; the users, property owners, and security officers;
b) Observation;
c) Reconnaissance survey;
d) Site interviews;
e) Review of reference materials;
f) Review of road safety agency documents and other secondary documents.

6. National, Regional, and International Benchmarks

Based on the TORs indicate the policies, regulations, legal and institutional frameworks that will be the focal point
providing a synopsis of the ideal requirement. The national benchmarks in this case therefore will be provided by the
frameworks that are with the Kenyan territory, the East Africa Community and African Union frameworks forming
the basis for regional benchmarks while the international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Labour
Organization among others forming the international benchmarks of which clear and relevant frameworks from these
bodies must be quoted in this section and the executors of the project be well aware of. For purposes of the above
TORs the following will be national, regional and international benchmarks:
 The Kenyan Traffic Act Revised Edition 2015 [2013] and its subsidiary regulations.
 The Kenyan National Transport and Safety Authority Act. No. 33 of 2012. Revised Edition 2014 [2012]
 The Kenyan Occupational Safety and Health Act 2007 and its subsidiary legislations including the Fire Risks
Regulation Rules Legal Notice No. 59 of 2007;
 The East African Community (EAC) Vehicle Load Control Act, 2013.
 The World Bank Safeguard Policies
 ILO-OSH 2001 “Guideline on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems”
 ISO 14001 “Environmental Management Systems”
 IFC and World Bank Environment, Health and Safety Guidelines

7. Deliverables
On the basis of the methodologies stated, this section lists the tangible outcome as a result of execution of each of the
TORs. This section should lists these outcomes based on the requirements of the TORs and where there is none a
generic one should be developed focusing on the TORs execution. The following are the typical deliverables for each
project being executed:
a. An Inception Report
b. Draft Findings Report
c. Draft Findings Report Incorporating comments from proponent
 d. Final Report

8. Proposed Work Plan

This section of the proposal outlines the list of activities to be undertaken in accomplishing the project and executing
its TORs. To develop the work plan, the focus is majorly on the scope, TORs, and the required deliverables. Each and
every proposal for a project will have a specific work plan that focuses on achieving its scope coverage, its TORs
execution, and delivering the required output. For purposes of this article, the work plan for the above project with the
TORs indicated would be:
a) Developing a Road Safety Assessment and Analysis Tool specific to Thika Superhighway.
b) Desktop review of the existing Road Safety legal, institutional, policy and institutional frameworks.
c) Desktop review of existing Road Safety management documents for Thika Superhighway.
d) Developing evaluation questions specific to Thika-Superhighway.
e) Drafting the Inception Report and Submission to Proponent
f) Meeting with Key-Personnel, Road Users, and Property owners on Road Safety Issues along Thika
Superhighway.
g) Site visit and data collection along the Thika – Superhighway.
h) Presentation of raw findings on-site to the Key-Personnel, road users, and property owners along
the Thika-Superhighway.
i) Document the Draft Road Safety Audit Report for Thika-Superhighway
j) Review and submission of the Draft Road Safety Audit to the proponent
k) Review of Draft Road Safety Audit Report with Comments from the Proponent.
l) Submission of Final Road Safety Audit Report of Thika – Superhighway.
m) Closure and Termination of Project.

Once the activities have been listed as above, the proposal then tags a timeline that it will take to achieve the stated
activities. Each activity listed must be given a time duration and this duration computed to give the total time the
project would take to its completion.

9. Professionals Assigned to the Project

This section of the proposed in brief describes all the professionals that would be attached to the project and their
location of operation. This is essentially a summarized CV that describes the project team leader, the assistants and
the other technical expertise and support to the project. Most companies would also supply these details as an appendix
which still stands but these unless expressly stated in the RFQ, should be stated immediately after the activities.

10. Summarized and Detailed Budget

This section of the proposal is referred to as the financial proposal, while the previous section is the technical proposal.
The financial section will give a summary of all the costing including taxes in the first table and a detailed costing in
the next table tabulating each cost contribution to the summary cost. The detailed budget section of the proposal has
three fundamental inclusions which are:
 Professional Fees
 Reimbursable costs
 Taxes
The professional fees and the reimbursable costing should be calculated based on standards known with the range on
which the project is based. Bodies such as the World Bank and other funding agencies have standardized fees based
on the number of days a professional is assigned to a project. Always refer to these rates when the not sure of what
rate to charge in a proposal.

11. Payment
 An easily forgotten section of the proposal, it is always important to indicate the mode of payment and the credit
period for which you can allow payment to extend. In cases where the project requires a percentage payment before
commencement, it is also in this section where this is noted.

12. Appendix
These are supporting documents attached to the proposal mainly relevant to this particular proposal. This documents
will include:
a) Company certificate of incorporation,
b) Kenya Revenue Authority Tax PIN
c) Kenya Revenue Authority Tax Compliance Certificate
d) CV of Professionals attached to the project
e) List of Recent Similar Assignments and Contact Persons.
f) At least three relevant contract or LPOs copies.
g) Statement of Integrity – Very important in Kenya today.

The contents described above should help you develop a standard proposal based on a set of Terms of Reference and
with time this can be improved to your company specific such that it is unique. There are professionals with skilled
training in proposal drafting and fund sourcing and most would see this content as too basic. But this writing is meant
for business start-ups with little knowledge in proposal writing, otherwise too much knowledge does not unite the
brain with the desires of the heart.

Benard Lango, PhD Projects Management, MA. PPM

An accomplished Project Management researcher in the field of public safety service delivery specializing
in PMIS use in disaster management, Author of several books and articles, A trainer in public safety
management, a policy developer in the area of disaster projects management. An Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Audit (EA) Lead Auditor registered with NEMA Kenya. A Member of
the Environmental Institute of Kenya (EIK), A practicing member of Professional Trainers Association of
Kenya (PTAK), A member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) the regulatory organization of the
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
benard.lango@gmail.com, or bernard.lango@jkuat.ac.ke

View publication stats