Work through a realistic tender — Goods, furniture & equipment

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to defend a bid decision and prepare a consistent submission.

Common to all countries

Make a decision that survives delivery

A bid review has three separate gates: admissibility, a credible route to a competitive score, and the ability to deliver at an acceptable return. A high score cannot cure an inadmissible offer; a technically possible offer can still be commercially unsound. Give each unresolved issue an owner and a decision deadline before the submission cut-off.

Assemble the final response from the controlled requirements and evidence registers. Check names, totals, document versions, signatures, portal fields and uploaded files. Use an independent read-through to find contradictions between the method, staffing and price. After a permitted test of the submission workflow, allow time for the actual upload and retain the receipt. A finished PDF on your computer is not a submitted offer.

Worked example — Supply and install furniture at five offices

This is a fictional teaching case. Quantities, prices and contractual conditions below are assumptions for the exercise, not legal requirements or market benchmarks.

A public body needs 100 workstations delivered, assembled and ready for use across five offices. Packaging removal, warranties and future spare parts form part of the service. The catalogue unit price covers only part of the commitment.

Review position. The team can deliver the base requirement, but one clarification remains open and the extra cost below is not included in its original price. Submission is five working days away; this is a case assumption.

The buyer asks for delivery to five sites but provides quantities for only four. Request the allocation and access details before pricing transport and assembly teams.

A component becomes unavailable before production. Verify whether a proposed substitute meets requirements and obtain the required approval; a supplier cannot silently replace an approved sample with a cheaper model.

Item	Cost (currency units)
100 workstations	30,000
Delivery and assembly	6,000
Warranty and administration	4,000
Total	40,000

Total cost is 40,000. To retain 20% of the selling price as profit, price is 40,000 ÷ 0.80 = 50,000. If “Approved component substitution” adds 4,000 to cost without a price increase, profit becomes 6,000, or 12% of price. Preserving 20% would require 55,000, only where the procurement permits that price. A cost increase does not automatically entitle the supplier to a contract price increase.

Country specific — what to verify

Check product safety, applicable standards, labelling, import duties and environmental obligations for the destination. Confirm whether the tender permits equivalents and what proof is accepted. Tax, warranty and public invoicing rules require separate verification.

Local product schedules and conformity evidence. Use the destination-country module and the actual tender pack. The sources below are references with their own scope; they do not form a single worldwide regime. For the general method, revisit the foundations.

Put it into practice

Prepare a final review with four decisions: admissibility, clarification, return and submission. State the conditions for a yes and the conditions requiring a no. Produce three response headings linked to requirements.

Model answer

Model decision: conditional bid, not immediate approval. Obtain the official clarification, confirm evidence and resources, then decide the price or withdraw before submission. Do not conceal non-compliance in a prohibited qualification. The three response sections are understanding the need, method and resources, then controls and acceptance. Record accepted quantities and locations, installation checks, damage and outstanding items. Link serial or batch information where applicable to warranty records. Do not invoice rejected items as accepted unless the contract expressly provides a different milestone.

Keep this worksheet in your working file. The quiz below checks the lesson’s decisions; passing it is neither a professional qualification nor a guarantee of an award.