Guide
How to read tender documents without drowning in them
Tender documents (förfrågningsunderlag) are a set of documents with different jobs: the administrative provisions govern the procurement and the criteria for your company, the specification describes what is to be delivered, and the contract terms say what you commit to. Read them in the order that gives you a no fastest: the provisions first, the contract terms next, the specification last.
What parts make up the tender documents?
The names vary between authorities and procurement systems, but the content usually falls into the same boxes. If you know which document answers which question, you do not have to read everything from start to finish.
| Part | Answers | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative provisions | How the procurement works and who may take part | Tender deadline, procedure, qualification criteria, evaluation method |
| Specification (kravspecifikation) | What is to be delivered | Mandatory criteria for the service or goods, award criteria |
| Contract terms | What you commit to if you win | Contract period, price adjustment, liquidated damages, liability, insurance, payment |
| Price schedule | How the price is to be given and calculated | Price items, volumes, what counts in the comparison |
| ESPD | That the company is not excluded and meets the qualification criteria | Which parts the authority has chosen to ask for |
| Questions and answers, corrections | How unclear criteria are to be understood | Clarifications and changes during the tender period |
What is in the administrative provisions?
The rules of the game: the tender deadline, how the tender is submitted, how long it must remain valid and which procedure is used. This is also where you find the two things that matter most: the criteria for your company and how tenders are evaluated. Under LOU chapter 14, section 1, qualification criteria may only concern authorisation to pursue the professional activity, economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability. Always start here.
How do I read the specification?
The specification describes the assignment. It contains mandatory criteria, which you must meet, and often desirable criteria, which give points or deductions in the evaluation. The Swedish National Agency for Public Procurement (Upphandlingsmyndigheten) describes them like this: a mandatory criterion is a minimum level every tender must reach, while a desirable criterion is an award criterion you do not have to meet but which affects the evaluation.
Read it with a pen in hand. Your tender must meet every mandatory criterion in full, not roughly. How to pick them out quickly is covered in the guide on mandatory and qualification criteria.
Why should I read the contract terms before I write?
Because that is where a contract you won can turn out to lose you money. The contract terms apply for the whole contract period, often with extension options, and they normally cannot be negotiated in an open procedure. A tender with reservations against the terms risks being rejected as a conditional tender.
- Price adjustment: can the price change during the contract period, against which index and how often?
- Liquidated damages: what does a late or faulty delivery cost?
- Liability and insurance: what liability do you take on, and does it require insurance you do not have?
- Payment terms and invoicing: when do you get paid, and in what format must you invoice?
- Volume: are the volumes guaranteed or estimated, for example in a framework agreement?
What is the ESPD for?
The ESPD, the European Single Procurement Document, is a standardised self-declaration that the company is not subject to any grounds for exclusion and that it meets the qualification criteria. Above the thresholds the authority must accept it as preliminary evidence. The form is set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7.
Preliminary means the evidence comes later. The authority can ask for it, often from the tenderer next in line to be awarded the contract. Never tick anything you cannot prove.
Why do I need to follow the questions and answers?
During the tender period suppliers can ask questions, and the authority publishes the answers to everyone. The answers and any corrections become part of the tender documents and can clarify, and sometimes in practice change, how a criterion is to be understood. Read them right up to the tender deadline, not only when you start writing. If something is unclear, ask yourself. Never guess which reading the authority meant.
In what order should I read?
Skim the administrative provisions
Tender deadline, procedure and evaluation method. Does the procurement belong in your market at all?
List the criteria for your company
Turnover, credit rating, certificates, references, authorisations. Check them against your own documents, with dates.
Go through the contract terms
Liquidated damages, liability, price adjustment and payment, before you get caught up in the assignment.
Read the specification
Only once you know you may take part and want to take part.
Read the questions and answers last, and again before you submit
Answers and corrections may have added or changed criteria since you started reading.
In short: most people read the specification first, because that is where the assignment is. But it is the criteria for your company and the contract terms that most often decide whether the tender is worth writing. Use the order above as the first part of your go/no-go decision.
Can Procura read the tender documents for me?
Procura is a Swedish service that shows suppliers which public tenders they qualify for and, where the price has been published, what similar contracts were awarded for. Procura reads the procurement's criteria and checks the criteria for your company against your profile: certificates, turnover, reference projects and staffing. You get one of three verdicts, qualified, qualified with gaps or disqualified, and the criterion that blocks you is always named. You can try it on a single procurement in the free tender analysis.
Sources
- Swedish Public Procurement Act (2016:1145), riksdagen.se, in Swedish: chapter 14, section 1
- Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7 on the ESPD, eur-lex.europa.eu
- Upphandlingsmyndigheten, in Swedish: guidance on criteria, award criteria and the ESPD
Frequently asked questions
Are the answers to questions during the tender period binding?
Answers and corrections the authority publishes during the tender period become part of the tender documents and apply to every tenderer. Read them right up to the tender deadline.
Do I have to meet desirable criteria?
No. A desirable criterion is an award criterion: you do not have to meet it, but it affects the evaluation. Work out what it is worth before you leave it out, see the guide on lowest price or best value.
Can I make reservations against the contract terms?
It is risky. A tender with reservations against the terms can be rejected as a conditional tender. Ask a question during the tender period instead, so every tenderer gets the same answer.
Where do I find the tender documents?
In the procurement system or notice database where the procurement is advertised. The notice on TED or in a Swedish notice database links there. You often have to register to download the documents and receive corrections.