The procurement unit has wide discretion in what it is procuring and under what conditions, as well as which features it emphasizes when making a selection. For procurements exceeding the EU threshold, the content requirements of the request for tenders are defined more precisely in the Procurement Act than in national procurements.
General information about the request for tender
+The procurement unit has wide discretion to decide what it is procuring and under what conditions, as well as what characteristics of the procurement object it emphasizes in the procurement. This must be evident from the procurement documents, i.e. procurement notice, request for tender, invitation to negotiate (used in procedures involving negotiation) or other document to which the procurement entity refers to describe or define different parts of the procurement or procedure.
Based on the tender documents, companies must be able to assess their interest, suitability and potential as candidates or tenderers.
The request for tenders, the invitation to negotiate and their attachments must be prepared in such a way that comparable offers can be given based on them.
The request for tender supplements the procurement notice. If the content of the request for quotation and the procurement notice differ, the procurement notice shall be followed.
Minimum content of the tender request in EU procurement
+The tender request, procurement notice, invitation addressed to candidates or their attachments must contain:
- definition of the procurement object or Project Description and other quality requirements related to the procurement object;
- reference to the published procurement notice;
- deadline for making offers;
- the address to which the tenders must be delivered;
- the language or languages in which tenders must be drawn up;
- other requirements regarding the presentation and format of tender documents;
- in a competitive negotiation procedure, the start date of the negotiations and the language or languages used in the negotiations;
- the economic and financial situation, technical suitability and professional qualifications of the candidates or tenderers and other requirements, as well as the request to complete the common European procurement document and the list of documents that the candidate or tenderer and the winning tenderer must submit for suitability assessment;
- the criteria for overall economic advantage and their relative weighting, a reasonable range or, in exceptional cases, the order of importance of the comparison criteria;
- validity period of offers;
- key contractual terms;
- other information that is of essential importance in the procurement procedure and making offers.
Request for tenders in national procurement
+The Procurement Act does not have more detailed provisions on the content of the request for tenders for national procurement. However, the offer request must be made in writing. A verbal request for a quote is not possible.
The main purpose of the request for tenders is to describe the object of the procurement in a non-discriminatory manner and to ask suppliers to submit their tenders by the deadline. The following can be presented in the tender request:
- description of the object of acquisition
- the economic and financial situation, technical qualification and professional qualification of the candidates or tenderers and other requirements, as well as a list of documents that the candidate or tenderer must submit for this purpose
- the offer selection criteria and possible comparison criteria
- deadline for making offers
- the address to which the offers must be delivered
- validity period of offers.
In the tender request, the information that is of essential importance in the procurement procedure and the making of the offer must be stated, such as the procurement procedure used by the procuring entity or the conditions regarding the suitability of the bidder used by the procuring entity, if these have not already been described in the procurement notice.
The request for tenders must be drafted in such a clear manner that tenderers can submit comparable tenders based on it. According to established jurisprudence, if the content of the procurement notice and request for tenders differ, what is stated in the procurement notice shall be followed.
Procurement documents must be available at the time of publication of the procurement notice
+The procurement unit must make the request for tender, the invitation to negotiations and their attachments and other procurement documents free of charge, without restriction, directly and completely available to everyone in electronic form. Procurement documents must be made available from the day the procurement notice is published. The notice must state the internet address where the tender request and other procurement documents are available in electronic form.