Bid / No-Bid Checklist

A disciplined bid / no-bid decision protects time, working capital and reputation. The objective is not to maximise the number of tenders entered; it is to identify opportunities where the bidding entity is demonstrably eligible, can submit a compliant offer, can deliver the contract, and can accept the commercial and contractual risk.

Gate 1: Can we legally and formally bid?

• The bidding entity and permitted consortium structure match the tender’s eligibility rules.
• The required business registrations, authorisations and portal enrolments are available and current.
• The authorised signatory and Digital Signature Certificate, where required, will be ready in time.
• There is no known conflict, debarment, restriction or tender condition that prevents participation.
• Any MSE, startup, OEM or other status being relied upon is valid and actually recognised by this tender.

Gate 2: Do we meet every mandatory qualification?

Create a hard-stop list of mandatory criteria before scoring strategic attractiveness. Experience, turnover, prior project value, certifications, OEM status, staffing, technical thresholds, local-presence conditions or similar requirements should be mapped to documentary proof. If the tender does not allow aggregation or reliance on affiliates, do not assume that group-company credentials can be used.

Gate 3: Can we meet the technical scope without material deviation?

• The product, service or work method complies with mandatory specifications.
• Required quantities, locations, milestones, service levels and acceptance tests are achievable.
• Dependencies on OEMs, subcontractors, specialist staff or imported components are confirmed.
• Any proposed deviation is permitted and will not make the bid non-responsive.
• The delivery model remains feasible under the buyer’s site, security, integration or operational constraints.

Gate 4: Is the contract commercially viable?

A bid should be evaluated on total contract economics, not just headline revenue. Model direct cost, logistics, taxes, financing, performance security, warranty, service effort, staffing, travel, compliance overhead, payment timing, price variation rules and downside exposure. A price that wins but cannot sustain delivery is not a successful bid.

Decision factor	Proceed when	Investigate or no-bid when
Eligibility	Every mandatory criterion is satisfied with acceptable evidence.	A critical criterion is unmet, ambiguous or depends on an unsupported interpretation.
Technical fit	The offered solution is compliant and deliverable.	Material deviations, unproven technology or unavailable resources are required.
Commercials	Expected margin and cash flow remain acceptable under realistic assumptions.	Payment timing, security, warranty, penalties or input costs create unsustainable exposure.
Capacity	Required people, production, logistics and management bandwidth are available.	Winning would displace higher-priority commitments or exceed delivery capacity.
Timeline	Clarifications, approvals, documents and portal submission can be completed safely before the deadline.	The bid would depend on last-minute signatures, uploads, bank actions or unverifiable documents.
Strategic fit	The buyer, sector and contract strengthen a deliberate market position.	The opportunity is outside capability, has low learning value or creates distracting one-off complexity.

Gate 5: Can we absorb working-capital and security requirements?

Review bid security or EMD where applicable, performance security, payment milestones, invoice dependencies, retention, warranty obligations and the time between expenditure and cash collection. Also consider the cost of bank guarantees, partner payments and mobilisation. Exemptions should be counted only when the tender explicitly confirms eligibility and evidence requirements.

Gate 6: Can we accept the contract risk?

• Payment and acceptance conditions are operationally workable.
• Delay, SLA, liquidated-damages and warranty exposures are understood and priced.
• Liability, indemnity, intellectual-property, confidentiality and data obligations have been reviewed by the appropriate internal owner where relevant.
• Termination, suspension and dispute provisions do not create unmanaged exposure.
• The organisation has authority to accept the final terms if the bid is successful.

Gate 7: Is there a credible reason to compete?

Assess the buyer relationship, installed base, solution differentiation, delivery credibility, relevant references, partner strength and likely evaluation method. Avoid guessing competitor prices or treating incumbent status as destiny. The question is whether your evidence and offer can perform well against the published evaluation criteria.

Gate 8: Is the bid executable before the deadline?

Submission risk is part of the bid/no-bid decision. Confirm that portal enrolment, DSC, bid security or payment, OEM letters, partner documents, certificates, proposal writing, pricing approval and final upload can be completed with contingency. CPPP bidder guidance recommends completing registration and system readiness in advance and submitting before the last moment.

Use a documented go / no-go review

1. Assign one bid owner and one executive decision owner.
2. Record the mandatory eligibility verdict first: pass, unresolved or fail.
3. Record technical, commercial, delivery and contractual risks with owners and mitigations.
4. Separate facts from assumptions; unresolved assumptions must have a deadline for confirmation.
5. Approve the maximum commercial exposure and pricing authority before final bid preparation.
6. Re-run the decision if a corrigendum materially changes scope, eligibility, deadline or contract terms.

Immediate no-bid signals

• A mandatory qualification is clearly not met and the tender provides no permissible route to satisfy it.
• The proposed product or service cannot meet a mandatory specification or delivery condition.
• Required credentials, certificates, authorisations or partner commitments would have to be fabricated, backdated or misrepresented.
• The economics rely on an exemption, payment, change order or future relaxation that the tender does not guarantee.
• Contractual downside is outside approved risk tolerance and cannot be clarified or mitigated.
• The submission can only be completed by bypassing internal controls or relying on a last-minute portal process.

Final pre-submission decision gate

• All mandatory criteria are marked compliant with evidence attached.
• All official corrigenda and clarifications have been incorporated.
• Technical response and price schedule have independent quality checks.
• Commercial approval covers the final price, taxes, security and payment assumptions.
• The correct entity and authorised signatory are used throughout.
• Portal covers contain the correct documents and no prohibited price information is placed in the technical cover.
• The bid is fully submitted or frozen and the official acknowledgement is retained.