Making an offer

When making an offer, the offeror must take into account e.g. the following points:

• The offer must be delivered as requested and must arrive at the correct address by the given deadline.
• The offer's validity period must be in accordance with the offer request.
• The offer and its attachments must be in the language required in the request for offers, i.e. usually Finnish.
• The offer must cover all the goods, services and works requested in the request for offers in the form presented in the request for offers. The starting point is that the offer must be a complete offer, unless it is explicitly stated in the request for offers that it is possible to offer only a part of the procurement object in the tender.
• Alternative offers can only be made if the submission of alternative offers has been declared as permitted in the procurement notice.
• The offer must include all reports, descriptions, personnel descriptions, reference information, quality management reports and environmental reports requested in the request for tender.
• The offer must include personnel resumes, if this information is requested in the request for offer.
• The offer must include a fleet or equipment list, such as brand, year model, capacity, equipment, if this information is requested in the request for offer.
• All total prices, separate prices, unit prices and additional work prices must be stated in the offer, if this individualized price information is requested in the request for offer.
• The possible price revision conditions of the offer must be in accordance with the request for offer.
• The payment terms of the tender must be in accordance with the request for tender.
• The delivery time and place as well as other delivery conditions stated in the offer must be in accordance with the offer request.
• The contract terms of the tender must be in accordance with the request for tender.
• The working hours presented in the offer must be in accordance with the request for offer.
• In the offer, an answer and explanation must be given to each evaluation criterion of the overall economic benefit stated in the request for offers.
• The offer must not include your own reservations about the request for an offer.
• The offer is binding and obligates its maker. Lowering the price of the offer and other improvement of the offer after the deadline for submitting offers is prohibited.

If the request for tender (or procurement notice) seems to be unclear or contradictory in any respect, or its compliance seems unreasonable, the matter should be clarified with the procurement entity well in advance of submitting the tenders.

Requests for offers should always be reviewed as soon as they arrive, so that possible ambiguities or contradictions can be clarified in good time before the offer is submitted.

The procuring entity can state in the procurement notice or request for tenders how the candidates and bidders together as a group must meet the requirements regarding the economic and financial situation or technical performance and professional qualifications or the special conditions of the procurement contract.

Bidding as a group can also enable small companies to have joint access to larger procurements.

Bidders must take into account the provisions of the Competition Act on cooperation between competitors. In a joint bid by competing companies with large capacity, there may be a risk that the hallmarks of a prohibited restriction of competition will be met if the companies' capacity would have been sufficient to make the offer alone.

Although the starting point in the procurement procedure is the finality of the tenders, in terms of the flexibility and smoothness of the tender procedure, the Procurement Act has given the contracting entity the opportunity to correct immaterial deficiencies, contradictions and errors in the bidders' tender documents. There is no obligation for this.

If the information or documents in the offer are incomplete or incorrect, or if some documents or information are missing, the procuring entity may ask the bidder to supply, add, clarify or supplement the information or documents within the deadline set by the procuring entity. The condition is that the procedure complies with the principles laid down in the Procurement Act, such as the principle of non-discrimination and proportionality. This also makes it possible for the procuring entity not to be obliged to reject bids due to errors or omissions of minor importance in terms of the whole.

The Procurement Act enables tenders to be made as a group. Groupings mean the cooperation of industry players to obtain a procurement contract. The group can be, for example, a temporary labor association. If the conglomerate does not use the resources of parties outside of it, the conglomerate itself must have all the resources required in the tender documents.