Call for Tenders: What It Means and How to Respond Successfully

This guide explains the entire process from start to finish. We cover what a call for tenders actually is, the different types of tender procedures used in Europe, where to find opportunities, how to read tender documents, and, most importantly, how to put together a response that gives you the best chance of winning.

What Is a Call for Tenders?

A call for tenders (also known as an invitation to tender or ITT) is a formal request published by a contracting authority asking suppliers to submit proposals for a specific contract. It is the public sector's way of saying: "We need this product or service, send us your best offer."

In Europe, public procurement is governed by strict rules designed to ensure fairness, transparency, and value for money. The EU Procurement Directives require contracting authorities to advertise contracts above certain financial thresholds and follow defined procedures when selecting suppliers.

A call for tenders typically includes:

• A description of what the contracting authority needs
• The evaluation criteria that will be used to assess bids
• The deadline for submitting responses
• Instructions on how to submit
• Terms and conditions of the contract
• Any qualification requirements suppliers must meet

The term "call for tenders" is used interchangeably with "tender notice," "contract notice," "invitation to tender (ITT)," and sometimes "request for proposals (RFP)", though these can have slightly different meanings depending on the jurisdiction and procedure type.

Types of Tender Procedures in EU Procurement

Not all calls for tenders follow the same process. The EU procurement directives define several procedures, each suited to different circumstances. Understanding which procedure is being used tells you a lot about how the process will work and what is expected of you.

Open Procedure

The open procedure is the simplest and most commonly used. Any interested supplier can submit a bid in response to the contract notice. There is no pre-qualification stage, the contracting authority evaluates all bids received and selects the winner.

When it is used: Standard purchases where the requirements are clear and the market is competitive.

What it means for you: You submit your full bid (technical and financial) in one go. The competition is open, so you are bidding against anyone who chooses to respond.

Restricted Procedure

The restricted procedure has two stages. First, the contracting authority publishes a contract notice and invites expressions of interest. Suppliers submit a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) demonstrating they meet minimum capability, experience, and financial requirements. The authority then shortlists a minimum of five candidates and invites only those firms to submit full bids.

When it is used: Complex contracts where the authority wants to limit the number of bidders to those who are genuinely capable of delivering.

What it means for you: You need to pass the PQQ stage before you get the chance to bid. Focus on demonstrating your credentials clearly and concisely at the pre-qualification stage.

Competitive Dialogue

Competitive dialogue is used for particularly complex contracts where the contracting authority cannot define the technical specifications or commercial terms in advance. After a selection stage, the authority enters into a dialogue with shortlisted candidates to develop one or more solutions. Once the dialogue concludes, candidates submit final bids.

When it is used: Large-scale IT projects, PPP/PFI arrangements, complex infrastructure, or situations where innovation is needed.

What it means for you: Be prepared for a longer, more interactive process. The dialogue phase requires investment of time and expertise, but it gives you the chance to shape the solution.

Competitive Procedure With Negotiation

Similar to competitive dialogue but with a key difference: the contracting authority has an initial idea of what it needs and publishes minimum requirements. After shortlisting, it can negotiate with candidates to improve their tenders. The authority can award on the basis of initial tenders without negotiation if it stated this in the contract notice.

When it is used: Contracts involving design, innovation, or where the nature of the procurement means that risks and pricing cannot be established without negotiation.

What it means for you: Your initial bid is a starting point, not necessarily your final offer. Be strategic about what you propose initially.

Innovation Partnership

The innovation partnership is for situations where no existing solution meets the authority's needs. It combines R&D with the subsequent purchase of the resulting product, avoiding a separate procurement for the purchase phase.

Negotiated Procedure Without Prior Publication

This exception allows authorities to negotiate directly with suppliers without publishing a notice. It is limited to strictly defined circumstances: extreme urgency, exclusive rights, or when no suitable tenders were received in a prior procedure.

Where to Find Calls for Tenders

Finding the right opportunities is half the battle. Here are the main sources:

TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)

TED is the EU's official publication platform for above-threshold public procurement. All contracts above the EU procurement thresholds must be published here. TED covers all 27 EU member states plus EEA countries, and it is free to use.

You can search by keyword, CPV code, location, contracting authority, or date. Setting up email alerts is strongly recommended.

National Procurement Portals

Each EU member state operates its own procurement platform where contracts (including those below EU thresholds) are published. Examples include:

• UK: Find a Tender Service for above-threshold and Contracts Finder for lower-value contracts
• Netherlands: TenderNed
• France: BOAMP
• Ireland: eTenders
• Germany: service.bund.de plus state-level portals

Aggregation Platforms

Monitoring multiple portals is time-consuming. Tender aggregation platforms like Bidovate collect opportunities from across European e-procurement portals and present them in a single, searchable interface. This is particularly valuable if you bid across multiple countries or sectors.

Understanding Tender Documents

When you find a call for tenders, download and carefully review the full documentation. Here is what to expect.

The Contract Notice

The published advertisement on TED or the national portal, summarising what is being procured, estimated value, deadline, and procedure type.

The Invitation to Tender (ITT)

The main document setting out the rules: how to structure your response, evaluation criteria, and submission process. Read this first and refer back to it constantly.

Technical Specifications

Exactly what the contracting authority needs, measurements, performance standards, scope, deliverables, and quality requirements. Compliance is typically pass/fail.

Terms and Conditions

The draft contract the winner will sign. Review carefully, as there is often limited scope to negotiate terms in public procurement.

Pricing Schedule

Follow the format exactly. If it asks for unit prices, provide unit prices. Do not restructure the schedule to suit your preferences, this is a common reason for disqualification.

Evaluation Criteria

The most important section. It tells you how your bid will be scored. Under EU rules, authorities must use either:

• Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT): A combination of quality and price criteria, with published weightings (e.g., 60% quality, 40% price).
• Lowest price: The cheapest compliant bid wins.

Understanding the weightings and sub-criteria allows you to focus your effort where it will have the most impact on your score.

How to Prepare a Winning Tender Response

1. Make a Go/No-Go Decision

Not every call for tenders is worth pursuing. Before investing time in a response, assess:

• Do you meet all the mandatory requirements?
• Is the contract a good fit for your capabilities?
• Can you deliver at a competitive price and still make a margin?
• Do you have the capacity to deliver if you win?
• Is the deadline realistic given your current workload?

Bidding for tenders you are unlikely to win wastes resources and demoralises your team. A disciplined go/no-go process is one of the hallmarks of successful bid teams.

2. Read Everything - Twice

Read the entire tender document pack thoroughly. Then read it again. Note every requirement, every instruction, and every deadline. Create a compliance checklist mapping each requirement to where it will be addressed in your response.

3. Ask Clarification Questions

If anything is unclear, use the platform's Q&A mechanism to ask. In public procurement, all questions and answers are typically shared with all bidders (anonymised), so everyone benefits. Do not be afraid to ask, contracting authorities prefer clear, informed bids.

4. Structure Your Response to Match the Tender

Mirror the structure of the ITT in your response. If the ITT has ten sections, your response should have ten sections, in the same order, using the same numbering. Evaluators are often scoring hundreds of pages. Make it easy for them to find the information they need.

5. Answer the Question Being Asked

This sounds obvious, but it is the most common mistake in tendering. If the evaluator asks "Describe your approach to quality management," do not give them your company's entire history. Describe your approach to quality management, using specific examples relevant to the contract.

Every paragraph should earn points against the evaluation criteria. Ask yourself: "Does this sentence help the evaluator score me higher?"

6. Provide Evidence, Not Claims

Anyone can claim to be "the leading provider." Evaluators want evidence. Include:

• Case studies from similar projects, with measurable outcomes
• Named references (with permission)
• Certifications and accreditations (ISO standards, industry-specific qualifications)
• Data and metrics that demonstrate your track record

7. Get the Price Right

Pricing in public procurement requires careful thought. Too high and you lose on price score. Too low and you risk being flagged as an abnormally low tender (which triggers additional scrutiny under Article 69 of Directive 2014/24/EU), or worse, winning a contract you cannot profitably deliver.

Understand the pricing model, build your costs from the bottom up, and check your arithmetic. Pricing errors in public procurement are usually not correctable after submission.

8. Review, Review, Review

Build in time for at least two rounds of review:

• Compliance review: Does the response meet every stated requirement? Is it formatted correctly? Are all requested documents included?
• Quality review: Is the writing clear? Are the arguments persuasive? Does each section address the evaluation criteria?
• Commercial review: Are the prices accurate? Is the pricing schedule filled in correctly? Are there any errors in the arithmetic?

9. Submit Early

Do not leave submission to the last minute. E-tendering platforms enforce deadlines strictly, if the portal closes at 12:00 and your upload finishes at 12:01, your bid will be rejected. Aim to submit at least 24 hours early to allow for technical issues.

Common Mistakes That Lose Tenders

Learning from others' mistakes is cheaper than making your own. Here are the most frequent errors:

• Non-compliance: Failing to meet a mandatory requirement, missing a document, or not following formatting instructions.
• Generic responses: Submitting boilerplate text that does not address the specific contract. Evaluators can spot this immediately.
• Ignoring evaluation criteria: Spending pages on topics that carry no marks while giving one paragraph to a heavily weighted criterion.
• Poor presentation: Disorganised responses, inconsistent formatting, spelling mistakes, and unclear language all undermine credibility.
• Late submission: No excuses, no exceptions. If you miss the deadline, you are out.
• Unrealistic pricing: Prices that are clearly too low raise red flags about your ability to deliver.

Using Technology to Improve Your Tender Responses

Modern tender management platforms replace scattered email chains and shared drives with centralised document management, deadline tracking, collaboration tools, and reusable content libraries.

Bidovate combines tender discovery with bid management, giving you a single platform to find opportunities, manage your pipeline, and coordinate your response. When responding to calls for tenders across multiple countries, having everything in one place improves both efficiency and win rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a call for tenders and a request for proposals (RFP)?

In European public procurement, the terms are often used interchangeably, though there are subtle distinctions. A call for tenders typically follows a more structured format where the contracting authority defines what it needs and suppliers respond to a fixed specification. A request for proposals may allow more flexibility for suppliers to propose their own approach. Under EU procurement law, the formal procedures (open, restricted, etc.) govern the process regardless of what the document is called.

How long do I have to respond to a call for tenders?

It depends on the procedure. Under EU Directive 2014/24/EU, the minimum time limits are: 35 days for open procedures, 30 days for restricted procedures (from the contract notice to the deadline for expressions of interest), and 30 days for the tender submission stage of restricted procedures. These periods can be reduced if the contract notice was published as a prior information notice or if electronic submission is accepted. Always check the specific deadline in the tender documents.

Can I submit a joint bid with another company?

Yes. EU procurement rules allow joint bids from groups of economic operators (often called consortia or joint ventures). The contracting authority cannot require you to have a specific legal form before submitting, but it may require the winning group to adopt a particular legal form if necessary for contract performance. Each member of the consortium will typically need to demonstrate they meet the selection criteria, and you should clearly explain the roles and responsibilities of each partner in your bid.

What happens if I am unsuccessful in a call for tenders?

Under EU procurement rules, contracting authorities must notify unsuccessful bidders of the outcome and provide the reasons for their decision. You have the right to request a more detailed debrief, which the authority must provide within 15 days. This feedback is invaluable for improving future bids. There is also a standstill period (typically 10 calendar days) between the award decision and contract signature, during which you can challenge the decision if you believe the rules were not followed.

How do MEAT evaluation criteria work in practice?

MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) means the contracting authority evaluates bids on a combination of quality and price, not just the lowest price. The authority publishes the criteria and their weightings in the tender documents, for example, 60% quality and 40% price. Quality might be further broken down into sub-criteria such as technical approach (25%), team experience (20%), and project plan (15%). Each criterion is scored, the scores are weighted, and the bid with the highest combined score wins. Understanding these weightings helps you allocate your effort where it will earn the most points.