Guides
Guides to public procurement
These guides explain what a supplier needs to know to bid in Swedish and European public procurement: how to tell whether you qualify, how to price, how evaluation works, what an award decision contains and which mistakes most often cost a contract.
The guides are written for people who bid now and then, not full time: owners and managers at smaller health and social care providers. They are based on the Swedish Public Procurement Act (2016:1145), LOU, and on guidance from the National Agency for Public Procurement (Upphandlingsmyndigheten). Where we refer to a section of the law, it is written out so you can check it yourself.
Which guides are there?
Mandatory criteria and qualification criteriaHow to read tender documents and quickly see whether you qualify, with a checklist.
How to price a tenderStep by step: the evaluation model, your own costing, previous awards and what secrecy hides.
Award decisions and winning pricesWhat the decision contains, how the standstill period works and how to request documents.
Lowest price or best price-quality ratioThe three award bases in LOU and how a quality deduction is calculated, with a worked example.
Common tender mistakesTen concrete mistakes that get small companies' tenders rejected, and how to avoid them.
How to read tender documentsWhat each document in the tender pack decides, and the order to read them in to reach a no fastest.
Go/no-go: should we bid?Three steps and twelve questions that decide whether a tender is worth writing, with a printable checklist.
What does it cost to win a public contract?Why your share of tenders won decides the cost, and how to run the numbers on your own figures.
Go/no-go checklist, printable (in Swedish)The checklist on one sheet: fill it in for every procurement you are considering.
GlossaryProcurement terms from A to Z, explained in plain English.
What do all the terms mean?
Procurement has a language of its own: ESPD, standstill period, review, award basis. The glossary explains each term briefly and links on to the right guide. Start with, for example, qualification criteria or award decision, or read the whole glossary.