7 things to check in a tender notice from Doffin

A new contract notice lands in the inbox, and you do not really have time to read the entire tender documentation right away. How do you know if it is worth pursuing, or whether it should be set aside? What we see in the suppliers we talk to is that there are a few points that decide whether a competition is worth pursuing. If you get an overview of them early, you save a lot of work later in the process.

Here are seven things worth looking at when you go through a new notice from Doffin. (In Norway specifically, Doffin is the national notice database where the public sector publishes its tenders.)

1. Which qualification requirements apply

The qualification requirements decide whether you can participate at all. This is where the ESPD form, certificates, turnover figures, references, and any certifications come in. The first thing you should figure out is whether you are qualified in the first place. If not, most other things are irrelevant.

What we often recommend is to go through the list before you do anything else. If you are missing a mandatory certification or a particular reference type, it is best to know it right away. Then you can either pass on the competition, or use the time to bring in what is missing. It is much worse to discover that something is missing after you have written half the response.

A third option is dialogue with the buyer. If your product or service fits the need well, but you do not meet all the qualification requirements, it can be worth asking directly. Many buyers get few or no responses to their competitions, and may be open to a conversation about whether the requirements actually reflect what they are after.

2. What the buyer is actually buying

Once you have confirmed that you are qualified, the next step is to understand what the buyer really wants to achieve. What is the real need behind the competition? CPV codes and categories give a rough direction, but the actual scope description and the background information say more about what the buyer is after.

What we often see is that suppliers go straight to the requirement specification without reading the introductory paragraphs that explain why the procurement is being made. That is a weakness. What the buyer actually wants to achieve affects both how the award criteria should be interpreted and how the bid should be built. Spend a few minutes understanding who will actually use what you will deliver, and what kind of problem you are solving.

For those who want to go a little deeper, there are some extra questions that often give an edge:

• Who owns the contract today, and why is it in the market now?
• Who from the buyer side is involved in the process, and what are their roles?
• What has this buyer historically weighted in similar competitions?
• Do we have any relationship with key people who can give context or professional input?

You rarely find all the answers in the tender documents. Much of this insight has to be brought in alongside, through market insight, previous contract awards, and dialogue with people you know in the industry.

3. What the award criteria actually weight

The award criteria do not just say what the buyer will evaluate, but also how much each criterion counts. The difference between 60/40 quality/price and 40/60 is often the difference between whether you can win or not.

It is about being honest with yourselves about the odds. If you are strong on quality but price is weighted higher, it can still be a competition worth participating in. Ask yourselves: is the weighting in our favour? If the answer is no, it can be smart to spend the time on a different competition instead.

4. The submission deadline and the timeframe you have

The submission deadline is not just about when you have to deliver, but also about how much time you realistically have to write a good bid. A short deadline means a competition about time and people as much as about professional strength.

Also check when information meetings and any question deadlines are. They are often earlier than people think, and if you have questions for the buyer, they must go in before the question deadline. What we see working well is to set an internal deadline well ahead of the formal one, so you have a buffer against technical surprises at the last minute.

5. Which attachments and documents are mandatory

The tender documentation lists what must accompany the bid. It can be more than you first think: ESPD, certificates, reference lists, CVs, drawings, price form, and sometimes quite specific forms that the buyer wants filled in.

What we often hear is that suppliers discover missing attachments close to the delivery deadline. That is an unnecessary stress situation. Make a short checklist of all mandatory attachments as soon as you have decided to participate. Then you know what needs to be collected, and who is responsible for each document.

6. Contract period, options, and volume

It is not enough to win the tender. You also have to win a contract that is worth the work. The notice usually states the contract period (for example two years with an option for two more), expected volume or estimated contract value, and whether it is a framework agreement or a fixed contract.

What we see is that many suppliers focus so much on the competition itself that they forget to assess whether the contract is actually attractive. A small framework agreement without guaranteed volume can be less profitable than a mid-sized fixed-price contract with a clear deliverable. Evaluate the contract as if you had won, before you start writing the bid.

7. Special requirements and reservations that can decide whether to participate

Many notices have details that are easy to overlook, but which can be decisive. Examples: requirements for security clearance, mandatory presence at the delivery site, restrictions on the use of subcontractors, exclusivity provisions, or specific privacy measures.

What we see is that it is these small details that often decide whether you can participate at all. Look through the points in the tender documents and note anything that seems unusual or restrictive. If you are in doubt about something, send a question to the buyer before the question deadline. It is better to clarify early than to discover a stop midway through the response.

Closing thoughts

These seven points do not cover everything that is in a notice, but they are the cornerstones of a good first assessment. What we see is that suppliers who use a simple checklist spend less time on Go/No-go than those who read everything end to end.

For those who want a helping hand to pull these points out of the tender documents, our feature for evaluating tenders with AI does a lot of the manual work. You can read more about what separates winning bids from the rest in our article on winning tenders.

We at Cobrief are happy to sit down and look at how you can assess notices more effectively. Just reach out if you have questions.