How long do I have to respond to a government tender?

The time you have is set by the buyer within the rules that apply to it. Above set value thresholds, trade agreements, the EU procurement directives and national rules such as the UK's Procurement Act 2023 and Australia's Commonwealth Procurement Rules set minimum bidding times. Those minimums vary by country, procedure and circumstances, and buyers can give longer. Below the thresholds, buyers have much more freedom.

What to expect

• Open RFPs and ITTs for larger contracts: usually several weeks.
• Requests under a supply arrangement, framework or panel: often short, since suppliers have already qualified. Canadian TBIPS requests often allow one to two weeks.
• Low-value quotes: sometimes only days.
• Two-stage tenders: a deadline for each stage.

The closing date can move. Buyers extend it by addendum, often after questions from bidders, so check for changes up to the end.

How much of that time you need

A short RFQ can take a day. A full RFP for a software project usually takes a small firm one to three weeks of part-time effort. The question deadline is often a week or more before closing, so read the tender early.

Next step

When a tender appears, find the closing date, time zone and question deadline first, then decide quickly whether to bid. See how to read a tender in 30 minutes, and upload at least a day before the deadline.