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Business Continuity Plan Checklist for Texas Public Bids

A fill-in worksheet for small service firms (about 1 to 25 staff): pest control, janitorial, hood cleaning, lift station and grease trap, grounds, security, and facilities work.

Download the Word worksheet (.docx) or print this page.

Many Texas cities, counties, school districts, and other agencies ask service contractors to show how they will keep work going when something goes wrong. Sometimes it is a full section of the response. Sometimes it is one question. Either way, the buyer wants to see that a missed truck, a sick crew lead, or a storm will not leave their buildings without service.

This worksheet walks you through six plain questions. Answer them in the blanks, and you will have most of what you need to write that section in your own words. Keep it short and specific. A one-page answer with real names, real phone roles, and real times reads better than five pages of general promises.

Before you write anything: check your solicitation's own continuity clause and notification window and use its exact wording. If the agency says "notify within 2 hours," your plan should say 2 hours, not "promptly." If the solicitation has no such clause, keep your answer brief and match whatever form or page limit it gives.

The six questions: 1. What must keep running? · 2. What can go wrong at this site? · 3. Who covers whom, and how fast? · 4. Who do we call, and when? · 5. How do we get back to normal? · 6. How do we keep it current?

Start here: the basics

Fill this in once. Copy it into each bid and update the solicitation lines.

Question 1: What must keep running?

List the services this contract actually buys, and how long each one can slip before the agency has a real problem. This tells you where your backup plans matter most.

• Look at the scope of work and the schedule of visits. Use those words.
• "How late is too late" is about the agency's risk, not your convenience. A missed grease trap pump-out or a lift station alarm is different from a weekly mow.
• Write the bare minimum you would do in a bad week, so the agency knows what to expect.

Question 2: What can go wrong at this site?

Pick the problems that could realistically stop you on this contract. Skip the unlikely ones. For each, write what it would stop and the first thing you would do.

• Common ones for small Texas service firms: a key person out sick or quitting, a truck or main piece of equipment down, a supplier out of a product, phones or scheduling software down, and site access problems (badges, keys, gate codes, closed campuses).
• Weather is a real item in Texas: hurricanes and tropical storms near the coast, flooding, hard freezes, and extreme heat. Note how each would change your work at this site.
• Rate how likely each one is as low, medium, or high. Be honest; buyers can tell.

Question 3: Who covers whom, and how fast?

For each job that only one person knows how to do, name a backup. Then say how quickly the backup can step in. Do the same for trucks, tools, and supplies.

• Use roles in the bid ("Crew Lead 2") and keep names in your own copy if you prefer.
• If the work needs a license or certification, the backup needs it too. Note it in the table.
• If you would bring in a subcontractor, check whether the solicitation allows it and what approval it requires first.

Trucks, tools, and supplies

Question 4: Who do we call, and when?

Write down who gets told, by whom, how, and how fast. This is the part buyers check most closely, and it should match the solicitation's notification window word for word.

• Put the agency's contract contact first. Note whether they want a phone call, an email, or both, and whether a written follow-up is required.
• Name who on your side makes the call, plus a backup caller.
• Your response may become a public record under the Texas Public Information Act. Consider listing office or role phone numbers rather than personal cell numbers, and follow the solicitation's instructions for anything you consider confidential.

Our notification window, copied exactly from the solicitation: ____________________

Question 5: How do we get back to normal?

Once the problem is handled, list the steps to catch up and close it out. Buyers want to know missed work gets made up and that there is a record of what happened.

• Include catching up missed visits, re-checking anything that was skipped, and updating service logs.
• If the agency wants a written incident report, say who writes it and by when.
• Give a target time for each step. A realistic number is better than an impressive one.

Question 6: How do we keep it current?

A plan with a date from three years ago does not help you. Decide when you review it, and keep a short log of practice runs and real events.

• Review it at least once a year, when a key person changes, and before each new bid.
• A practice run can be simple: have the backup crew lead run a route, or call down the contact list and see who picks up.
• Write down what you learned and what you changed. That log is good evidence if an agency asks.

Turning your answers into the bid section

Most solicitations want a short narrative, not these tables. Write one or two sentences per question, in order, using your table answers. Attach the tables only if the solicitation allows attachments. Keep the agency's terms (“contract administrator,” “service request,” and so on) wherever they use them.

Worked example: Sample Pest Control LLC (fictional)

FICTIONAL EXAMPLE. Sample Pest Control LLC is a made-up company used only to show how the blanks might look. It is not a real firm, a real bid, or a real result.

Basics

Sample Pest Control LLC, 6 staff, structural pest control for a school district's campuses (monthly interior and exterior service, plus call-outs). The solicitation's notification window would be copied exactly from the bid in a real plan; here it is shown as "[copy exact wording from solicitation]".

1. What must keep running

2. What can go wrong

3. Who covers whom

4. Who we call

5. Back to normal

6. Keep it current

Sample narrative (fictional): “If our lead technician is out, our second licensed technician takes the route by the next business day. If a storm closes campuses, we pause on-site work, confirm reopening dates with the district contact, and finish missed campuses within 10 business days of reopening. We notify the district contact [copy exact window from solicitation] by phone, then email, and send a short written summary once service is caught up. The owner reviews this plan each year and before each new bid.”

Before you submit

• ☐ The plan uses the solicitation's exact notification wording and time window.
• ☐ Every role in the tables has a backup, or you say plainly that you don't have one and what you do instead.
• ☐ Times are realistic for your crew size.
• ☐ Any license or certification the work needs is held by the backup too.
• ☐ Subcontractor use, if any, matches what the solicitation allows.
• ☐ You've checked page limits and required forms.
• ☐ The plan owner and review date are filled in.
• ☐ Someone other than the writer has read it once.

This worksheet is drafting help, not legal advice. It does not tell you whether you meet any requirement, and using it is no guarantee of award. For questions about your contract, insurance, or licensing, ask your attorney, insurance agent, or the agency's purchasing contact.