How to check the tender and documents before preparing a bid?

How to check the tender and documents before preparing an offer

You have found an order that matches your company's activities. The title looks promising, and the deadline has not yet passed. Before asking the supplier for a quote or starting to fill out forms, it is worth checking exactly what needs to be supplied or done.

The openSales procedure card allows you to move from basic information to the contract's lots, attachments, and document previews. The timeline helps you find later documents, and the AI analysis helps you select issues for closer reading.

Below is the order of work that will help you determine what to check before preparing an offer.

1. Start with the basic information on the card

After opening the procedure, check who is running the order, what it concerns, and what the deadline for submitting offers is.

Tender submission deadline and the delivery date are two different dates. The first helps to plan preparations. Look for the second in the documents describing the execution.

If on the card there is no description or detailed information, go to the attachments. An empty field does not mean that the buyer has not specified the given requirement.

2. Check the scope and parts of the order

The title alone is usually not enough for pricing.

Suppose your company supplies warehouse equipment. You find an order for the purchase of a manual forklift with a three-ton lifting capacity. This is a good starting point, but before preparing a price, you need details: the device's parameters, the scope of supply, the collection point, or warranty requirements.

If the parts of the order are available on the card, open them. Check their names, descriptions, and available criteria. Then, determine which attachments relate to the scope that interests you.

When there are several parts, pay attention to whether you are reading the correct specification and price form. The requirements from one part do not have to describe the others.

3. Review the list of attachments before downloading them

Start with the names of the documents and their addition dates. This will allow you to preliminarily identify where to look for the necessary information.

Depending on the procurement procedure, the following may be useful:

• SWZ or request for quotations: rules for participation and preparing the offer;
• description of the subject of the order or technical specification: scope and required parameters;
• draft contract: terms of implementation, settlement, and liability;
• offer or price form: information that must be provided in the offer;
• clarifications and modifications: later responses and changes to the documentation.

File names help with orientation, but only the content allows determining their meaning. A document named "attachment no. 3" may turn out to be a form that determines the preparation of the entire quotation.

4. Open the preview and read the necessary section

With attachments that have an available preview, you can view the document without downloading it to your computer. This is useful during the initial review, when you are just determining whether the order matches the company's capabilities.

Read with a specific question in mind. When supplying equipment, these may be, for example:

• What parameters must the device meet?
• Should the price include transport, unloading, or carrying the goods inside?
• Where and when should the delivery take place?
• What documents must accompany the delivery?
• How is the acceptance and warranty described?

If the answer refers to another point or attachment, also check that section. One paragraph may not contain all the information needed for the quotation.

You can download the documents needed for further work. However, remember that the saved file represents the state at the time of download. Further publications may appear later.

5. Go through the document timeline

Before preparing the offer, check if anything has been published after the initial attachments.

The openSales timeline distinguishes between:

1. Original attachments: documents made available as the first version of the documentation.
2. Attachments added before the offer submission deadline: later publications, e.g., clarifications or modifications.
3. Attachments added after the submission deadline: including documents regarding the further course and results of the procedure.

Imagine this sequence: first the specification and price form appear, then clarifications regarding equipment parameters, and finally a modified form. If you start working only with the initially downloaded files, you might miss information essential for preparing the offer.

The timeline helps locate later publications. From their content, you determine what has changed. A newer document may concern only one requirement or a specific form. Read it together with the section of the documentation to which it refers.

6. Use AI analysis for further checking

In procedures with attachments, AI analysis is prepared automatically. The ready summary and answers help select cases that require closer reading: scope of the order, participation conditions, deadlines, documents, or liability arising from the contract.

For example, you can start with a summary of the delivery conditions, and then return to the document to check a specific clause.

After updating the documentation, including adding new attachments, the analysis is performed again. If you return to the procedure after a few days, check both the later files and the analysis.

We described the detailed way of working in the guide how to analyze tender documentation with AI and check answers.

7. Before preparing the offer, return to the source

On the card, you will find links to the original notice and the website of the organization conducting the procedure. Check there for the full documentation, current updates, and information on how to submit bids.

At this stage, you should be able to answer several questions:

• Do I know the scope of the order or the part I am handling?
• Do I know what needs to be included in the pricing?
• Have I checked later clarifications and modifications?
• Am I using the correct forms?
• Do I know the deadlines and place for submitting the offer?

If something is missing, write down the specific issue to clarify. This means that further work starts from established needs: confirming equipment availability, calculating delivery, collecting documents, or checking the contract terms more thoroughly.

Open the openSales search, select the procedure and go through its card, attachments, and later publications.