3 Bidding and evaluation

Bidding and evaluation is the process of selecting prospective suppliers to which a bid or tender proposal will be sent to, soliciting tender proposals from these prospective bidders, evaluating the proposals against defined criteria, and then ranking the proposals to identify a preferred bidder. Contract negotiation follows at the conclusion of this process.

For sole-source bidding processes, such as those involved with inter-governmental agreements, the supplier selection process is essentially pre-determined. However, owners are recommended to undertake a process of evaluating vendor proposals against their own particular requirements (e.g. cost, scope of work, owner requirements, contract terms and conditions, etc.), to ensure that they obtain what they consider an acceptable proposal.