How does a public tender work?
A public buyer publishes what it needs, companies submit sealed offers before a deadline, and the contract goes to the offer that best meets published criteria.
Governments and state companies are not supposed to pick suppliers privately. They publish a notice that describes the work, the qualification requirements and the deadline. Anyone who qualifies can obtain the bidding documents, which contain the technical specification, the draft contract and the evaluation rules.
Bidders submit their offers before the closing time, normally with a bid security from a bank. Offers are opened on a fixed date, often in public. An evaluation committee checks each one against the published criteria, and the buyer announces the intended winner. Many systems then allow a short standstill period in which losing bidders can complain before the contract is signed.
The deadline is absolute. An offer that arrives one minute late is returned unopened, which is why people who bid for a living track closing dates the way traders track prices.
- Usual sequence
- Notice, documents, questions, bid submission, opening, evaluation, award
- Late bids
- Rejected without being opened
Explainers describe how things generally work. They are not advice for a specific project or country. See our editorial policy.