Receipt of Tenders

If your organisation does not use an electronic tendering system, you should refer to your Procurement department or internal governance procedures for information on how to manage this stage of the Procurement Journey. Some basic guidelines are provided below:

• All formal tenders must be returned to the named individual within the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document
• Any tenders mistakenly returned to any other person must not be opened and should be forwarded immediately to the named individual within the ITT document
• To ensure tenders remain unopened until the pre-defined opening ceremony, the ITT should include a tender return label for the supplier to attach on the exterior envelope or package
• The named individual within the ITT document is responsible for storing the unopened tenders in a locked cabinet or secure room

Best practice suggests that you should obtain at least three responsive tenders where possible. The Regulations require that a minimum of five tenders are invited for the restricted process, where the five are capable of delivering the requirement. Similarly in the competitive procedure with negotiation, the competitive dialogue procedure and the innovation partnership procedure it shall be a minimum of three.

Where tenderers issued with a copy of the ITT do not submit a response, you should ask for reasons why and record these on file to inform future strategy development.

In a case where only one tender is received it must be decided whether to restart the competition or to proceed as a Non-Competitive Action (NCA). Where an NCA is required it is mandatory that the Procurement Officer receives approval from the appropriate person in their organisation e.g. Head of Procurement, before proceeding with the process.

It is the responsibility of all suppliers to ensure that their bid is submitted in accordance with the rules of the competition and before the specified deadline. In exceptional circumstances it may be permissible for a bid that arrived after the deadline to be accepted into the competition. The policy for addressing tenders returned after the due date/time will be subject to the internal governance for your organisation, and possibly legislation. If there is any doubt about whether to allow a late bid into the competition professional procurement and/or legal advice should be sought. There will need to be a clear audit trail in respect of the handling of late bids and any decision taken.

If an electronic tendering system is being utilised, the Procurement Officer will be able to identify the suppliers who have submitted late tenders and determine whether to open the late tender or reject it.

It is considered best practice for the Procurement Officer to notify the supplier if the late tender has been accepted or rejected.

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