How to prepare your tender

Find out how to prepare tender documents and submit your offer.

Get the tendering guide for help doing business with government.

Tendering guide PDF (687.3 KB)
Tendering guide DOCX (673.4 KB)

Start the process

Before you start writing a response, you must:

• read the documents
• check for any mandatory site visits or industry briefs
• check the response schedules and format required.

It is important that you know the following:

• closing time and date to submit your response
• how to lodge your response.

Tender documents

You must respond fully to the requirements in the tender documents.

When responding, you must determine if you can meet mandatory requirements such as:

• assessment criteria against which your response is evaluated
• weightings of each criteria.

Depending on the type of tender you are responding to, you may also need to provide copies of:

• your accreditation
• licenses or
• any other documents requested.

How to write a response

If you meet all the requirements, you can start your response.

You can be competitive by:

• providing requested information
• completing responses in required documents in the standard response schedules
• providing examples of past performance
• must be specific to the request for offer
• focusing on the selection criteria – address what has been asked for.

You must tell government what you have done before, even if you have supplied this in the past.

You should also check that your:

• insurances and accreditation are correct, and up-to-date
• documents are accurate.

Asking questions

You can ask questions about tender or quotation documents.

You must do this during the time frame allowed for clarifications.

Read your documents to find out:

• contact name
• phone and or email
• deadline for submitting questions.

If you ask a question, it will be shared with all the suppliers.

This is called an addendum.

Commercially sensitive information will not be shared.

How to submit

Read your tender or quote documents to find out how your offer should be submitted.

Don’t leave your submission to the last minute.

Late responses are not assessed unless there are extenuating circumstances.

This ensures the process is transparent and fair.

If your response has been submitted by email, make sure you allow time to upload your submission, including all attachments.

The same applies if you use QTOL to submit your response.

For email, you should request a delivery and read receipt.

Check before you submit

Before you submit your response, check it's:

• accurate
• the latest version of your offer
• free of spelling and grammar mistakes
• addresses the selection criteria
• includes any attachments.

After you submit your response, read what happens after you submit your tender.