How to read a tender document in 30 minutes

A public IT tender can run from 15 pages to 300, spread across a main document, appendices, pricing forms and a draft contract. Most small firms read it front to back and only discover on day four that they cannot meet a mandatory requirement on page 87. There is a faster way.

Start with the four facts that can end the bid

Before you read anything else, find these four things. They are usually in the first few pages or in a "key information" table.

1. The closing date and time, and the time zone. Late bids are almost always rejected, often automatically by the portal.
2. How to submit. Which portal, which file formats, page or word limits, and whether you have to register in advance.
3. Who can bid. Some tenders are limited to suppliers on a supplier list, a region, or a set-aside group.
4. The contract value or budget, if it is published. It tells you whether the work is worth the effort and how big a team the buyer expects.

If any of these rules you out, stop. You have saved yourself a week.

Read the mandatory requirements next

Mandatory requirements are pass or fail. Miss one and your bid is not scored at all, however good the rest is. Typical ones for IT work:

• A minimum number of years in business or similar projects delivered.
• Named certifications, such as ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials.
• Staff with specific qualifications or a security clearance.
• Insurance at a stated level.
• Data kept in a particular country.

Copy each one into a list, and next to it write how you will prove it. Anything you cannot prove today is a risk you need to fix or a reason not to bid.

Then the evaluation criteria and their weights

This is where most of the value in the document sits. The evaluation criteria tell you exactly what the buyer will score and how much each part is worth. Look for:

• The split between price and quality. A 70/30 quality to price split rewards a strong technical answer. A 30/70 split means the cheapest compliant bid probably wins.
• The weight of each question. A question worth 25% deserves five times the effort of one worth 5%.
• The scoring scale. Many buyers publish what a 0, 3 and 5 look like. Write to the description of the top score.
• Interviews or demos, which can carry a large share of the marks.

Now read the statement of work

The statement of work describes what the buyer wants delivered. Read it with three questions in mind:

• Have we done this before, and can we name a client who will say so?
• What is unclear? Those become clarification questions.
• What is not said? Missing details about integrations, data migration, hosting or support hours are where projects lose money.

Finish with the contract terms

Small firms often skip the draft contract. Do not. Look for the limitation of liability, who owns the intellectual property, payment terms, service levels with penalties, and insurance. Some buyers do not allow changes to their terms at all, and bidding with exceptions can make your bid non-compliant. Our guide to government IT contract terms covers the clauses that matter.

A 30-minute reading plan

Minutes	What to read	What you decide
0 to 5	Key dates, submission rules, eligibility	Can we bid at all?
5 to 12	Mandatory requirements	Can we pass every one?
12 to 20	Evaluation criteria and weights	Where are the marks?
20 to 27	Statement of work	Have we done this? What is unclear?
27 to 30	Contract terms	Can we live with the risk?

At the end of the half hour, you should be ready to make a bid or no-bid decision.

Common questions

How long does it take to respond to a government IT tender?

A short request for quotation can take a day. A full request for proposal for a software project usually takes one to three weeks of part-time effort for a small firm. Reading the tender well at the start is the cheapest way to cut that time.

What should I do if the tender documents contradict each other?

Ask a clarification question through the official channel before the question deadline. The buyer's answer is usually shared with every bidder and becomes part of the tender.

Do I need to read every appendix?

Read every appendix that you have to fill in or sign, and skim the rest for requirements. Pricing forms and declarations often hide mandatory rules about format.