Tendering for public sector contracts can be complex and time consuming. We have compiled a list of common mistakes made by tenderers and tips on how to avoid them.
1. Understand the requirements and ask for clarifications
It is important to thoroughly review the tender documents as soon as they are issued. We often see tender documents where the requirements are unclear or ambiguous – the onus is on tenderers to ask for a clarification in these circumstances. This review should include a careful consideration of the terms of the contract to ensure tenderers understand them and can sign up to them. Any clarifications or requests for amendments should be sought as early as possible as the contracting authority will usually not be able to make changes to the contract at a later stage in the process. Make sure you read all clarifications issued by the authority to make sure you understand and track them and adhere to the revised requirements. If necessary, ask a follow up question.
2. Ensure you meet the qualification criteria
We often advise contracting authorities regarding tenders that do not meet all of the qualification criteria. This could be down to a simple mistake, e.g. a document that was not uploaded, or a misunderstanding of the requirements.
As a general rule, the authority is not required to clarify mistakes or request missing documents and often has very little discretion in these circumstances. It may have no choice but to reject your tender as it otherwise risks a challenge from one of the other tenderers who has complied with all qualification criteria. To avoid this, we advise that another person reviews the completed tender documents before submission to ensure that nothing has been missed.
3. Submit a clearly structured tender response that addresses all of the points in the award criteria
Carefully review the tender documents. Provide a clear and concise response to each requirement. Ensure that your answers demonstrate the knowledge, experience and skills of your organisation. Responses should be directly mapped to the requirements in the award criteria, using clear headings and highlighting how your response meets or exceeds the requirements. Make sure you understand the scoring methodology for each question to ensure you maximise your scores. Don't leave any room for confusion or ambiguity as this may result in a lower score.
4. Do not rely on the fact that the authority knows you from previous projects
Tenderers often fail to set out clearly how their organisation can provide what the authority wants, sometimes because the authority already knows them and their offering. It is important to remember that the authority can only evaluate you against the information in your tender. The authority is not permitted to take into account any other information. Also, the evaluation team in a procurement process is often different to the contract managers with whom you have a good relationship. It is therefore important that you include all relevant information in your tender response.
5. Be clear on the team and the roles of each member
We often see inconsistencies regarding team members and their roles and responsibilities. Make sure that the titles, qualifications and experience of team members precisely match the requirements in the tender documents. If permitted, include an organisational chart and clearly describe each team member’s role, highlighting their qualifications and experience, and reporting structures.
6. Do not include hyperlinks in your tender response unless expressly requested in the tender documents
The issue with hyperlinks is that the documents are not under the contracting authority’s control until they are downloaded from the hyperlink. This means that they could be altered after the tender deadline. This scenario was highlighted in a recent EU judgment where the court held that the contracting authority was entitled to reject a tender with a hyperlink, through which the authority could download samples which were required to be submitted by tenderers.
7. Adhere to word/page counts
Word and page counts are often included in tender documents, together with specifications on font and font size. It is vitally important to stick to the specific requirements in the tender document and to clarify any inconsistencies or missing information. For example, do charts, tables and CVs form part of the word/page limit? Is there a numbering protocol for appendices? Depending on the rules in the tender document, the authority will often stop reading once the word/page limit is reached. Therefore, if important information is included in the words or pages beyond the limit, they may not be evaluated and could lead to a lower score or even to disqualification.
8. Price
Calculation errors are among the most frequent mistakes we see – carefully go over your calculations before submission and adhere to the guidance notes on pricing, e.g. are zero rates permitted? Can additional lines be added to the document? Do not make any changes or include any assumptions in your pricing document unless expressly permitted by the authority as this could disqualify your tender.
9. Do not miss the deadlines!
Ensure you have sufficient time for upload of documents. Late tenders will usually not be accepted unless it can be proven that the delay was not the tenderer's fault and that no changes were made to the tender document after the tender deadline.
10. Study the standstill letter carefully
The standstill letter must include certain information, including:
- The name of the successful tenderer
- The standstill period
- Your scores and those of the successful tenderer, as well as
- The characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender
Our recent insight on standstill letters provides further information. The debrief should be sufficiently clear to allow you to understand why you have lost and how you could have improved your tender. If the reasoning in the standstill letter is too bland or is missing information, you can ask for additional debrief information. If the authority is covered by the Freedom of Information Act, you could make a FOI request to get further information. However, if you feel you were treated unfairly, do not delay in getting legal advice as there is very limited time in which you can challenge a tender process.
Conclusion
We guide tenderers through all stages of a public procurement process and advise them on strategy. We also advise on the strengths of a potential challenge and the avenues open to unsuccessful tenderers.
For more information on any public procurement issue, please contact a member of our Public Procurement team.
The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.
