Once the procurement has commenced either by issuing the standard Selection Questionnaire(SQ) for the restricted, negotiated or competitive dialogue or by issuing an Invitation to Tender (ITT), care must be taken and a process put in place to ensure that all correspondence between the suppliers and the institution are carried out in a fair and transparent manner. For example, any question submitted by a supplier along with the answer provided by the institution must be anonymised and circulated to all of the suppliers involved in the process. All questions must be responded to at least six days prior to the date set for tender return.
The use of an electronic tendering system, for example, Intend, will facilitate the receipt and circulation of questions and answers. If you do not use an electronic system, clear instructions and contact details should be provided to the suppliers within the ITT documentation. Communications with all parties during the procurement activity should be coordinated by the Procurement Officer.
If there is a justifiable reason to change the closing date, the necessary approval must be obtained in accordance with your internal governance. If the date is amended, the new date should be notified to all tenderers, and if any tenderer indicates that they have already submitted a tender then they should be given the opportunity of withdrawing the original tender and submitting a revised one.
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