How to read tender specifications

If I had to give you a single piece of advice to improve your results in tenders, it would be this: learn to read the specifications. Not to skim them, not to scan them…

2026-05-31 · Public tenders

If I had to give you a single piece of advice to improve your results in tenders, it would be this: learn to read the specifications. Not to skim them, not to scan them looking for the price: to read them with method and understanding what each section means. Most bids that are left out or scored poorly have a single cause: the specifications were not read thoroughly. Here is what to look at, in what order and what mistakes to avoid.

What tender specifications are

Tender specifications are the rules of the game for that specific process. They define what is being bought, on what requirements, on what deadlines, what documents must be submitted, and —most critically— how each bid will be evaluated and how the contract will be awarded. What is in the specifications is binding on everyone: on the supplier bidding and on the body evaluating. What is not in the specifications does not count.

There are administrative specifications (the general rules of the process) and technical specifications (what is being bought). In more complex tenders they are usually separate documents; in simpler processes they may be combined. You must read both.

The key sections you cannot ignore

Subject of the tender: exactly what is being bought. Do not stop at the title of the process; read the technical detail. Sometimes the title says "supply of equipment" and the detail specifies a very particular brand, model or technical standard.
Admissibility requirements: conditions you must meet without exception for your bid even to be evaluated. They are not criteria giving you more or fewer points: they are eliminatory requirements. If you do not meet them, you are out, no matter how much better your bid is on everything else.
Evaluation criteria and their weightings: how much price is worth, how much the technical side, how much experience, deadlines, guarantees or other factors. This section decides how the award is made. It is the one that most influences your chances and the one most ignored.
Process deadlines: the date and time when questions close, when the bid must be submitted, and the estimated award date. Deadlines are exact and the system does not wait.
Documents to submit: the exact list of technical, financial and administrative papers, in what format and under what name. A missing document or one uploaded in the wrong format can make you inadmissible.
Guarantees required: whether the process requires a bid bond or a performance guarantee, how much it is and in what instrument (bank bond, insurance policy or other).

The section that decides most and is most ignored: the evaluation criteria

Most suppliers read the subject, look at the documents and go straight to the price. But the evaluation criteria and their weightings are what really decide who wins. A concrete example: if price weighs 30%, the technical proposal 60% and the delivery deadline 10%, a more expensive bid with an excellent technical proposal can beat a cheaper one with a mediocre proposal. Knowing how much each factor weighs tells you where to invest the effort when preparing your bid.

Read also how each criterion is scored: some processes award points proportionally (the lowest price gets the maximum score, the rest relative to it), others have fixed scores by band. Understanding the evaluation formula lets you calculate how many points you would get under different price and technical proposal scenarios.

How to read the specifications with method

A first complete read: read the specifications from start to finish to get the overall picture. Do not stop to analyse each point: just make sure you understand the structure and the main blocks.
Build a checklist of requirements: in a separate document, note every admissibility requirement and every document you must submit. That list is your control before uploading the bid.
Analyse the weightings in detail: write down how much each criterion weighs and what the evaluation formula is. This defines your bid strategy.
Note every doubt: any ambiguous or unclear point goes to the questions forum. Do not assume anything the specifications do not say explicitly.
Check that you can meet the essentials before investing hours in preparing the bid: if there is an admissibility requirement you cannot satisfy, it is better to know before than after working for days on the proposal.

Frequent mistakes avoided by reading the specifications properly

Bidding without checking the admissibility requirements and being left out over a missing document or an unmet condition.
Ignoring the weightings and competing only on price when the technical side decides the award.
Submitting documents in the wrong format (PDF when they asked for Word, unsigned when they asked for a signature, untranslated when translation was required).
Not asking in the forum about what the specifications left unclear, and assuming a mistaken interpretation.

In short

The specifications define everything: what is being bought, what must be met to be admissible, what documents to submit, the deadlines and how each bid will be evaluated. Reading them in full and with method —with a checklist of requirements and an analysis of the weightings— is the difference between bidding and winning. Whoever masters the specifications has the information needed to put together a proposal that really competes.

— Mindset & Code. Source: ChileCompra and Mercado Público (mercadopublico.cl, chilecompra.cl). Information current as at 2025-2026. Informational content: it does not replace professional advice.