Evaluation criteria in a tender: how you are scored and how to use it in your favour

You can have the best product or service on the market and still lose a tender if you do not understand how you are being measured. The evaluation criteria…

2026-06-10 · Public tenders

You can have the best product or service on the market and still lose a tender if you do not understand how you are being measured. The evaluation criteria are the heart of any public procurement process: they determine the score you get, how price is weighted against the technical proposal and, ultimately, who wins. Learning to read them properly is a competitive advantage few suppliers exploit.

What the evaluation criteria are

The evaluation criteria are the dimensions the buying body will use to score the offers and rank them from highest to lowest. The Ley N.° 19.886 on Public Procurement and its Regulation provide that every public tender must include at least two criteria: one economic and one technical. They must be published in the tender terms with their respective weighting before the offer period opens.

This is not a technicality: the body is legally obliged to evaluate you on exactly the criteria it published. It cannot add or change criteria after receiving the offers. If you see the evaluation report using a criterion different from the published one, that is challengeable.

The components of the evaluation: technical and economic

Most tenders split the total score between two large blocks:

Economic criterion (price): how competitive your price is against the rest of the bidders. The most usual method is to assign the maximum score to the lowest offer and calculate the others proportionally.
Technical criterion: covers several subfactors such as previous experience, the work team, the methodological proposal, delivery time, technical warranty or certifications. Each subfactor has its own weighting within the technical block.

A typical distribution: price 40%, technical 60%. In that case, an offer that is technically excellent but expensive can beat a cheap offer with a weak technical proposal. The key is identifying which block weighs more in the tender you are interested in.

Complementary criteria: gender, local business, social economy

The reform in Ley N.° 21.634 (2023) introduced the possibility for bodies to add complementary criteria aimed at promoting the participation of social-economy enterprises, gender equality or the inclusion of under-represented groups. These criteria:

Are optional: the body may include them or not.
Can never prevail over the technical and economic criteria.
Must have a weighting lower than that of the technical-economic set.
Cannot exclude or prevent the participation of other bidders.

If you are a smaller company, a cooperative, a woman-led business or a third-sector entity, check whether the tender includes criteria of this kind: they can give you extra points at no additional cost.

How to read the evaluation table in the terms

The terms must present a table or scheme setting out: the criteria and subfactors, the weighting of each, and the method for calculating the score. As you read it, ask yourself:

How much does price weigh? If price carries 70% of the weighting, the focus has to be on being competitive on price; if it only weighs 30%, there is more room to differentiate on the technical side.
Which technical subfactors carry most weight? Verifiable experience, professional team, methodology, delivery time... identify the two or three subfactors that concentrate the most points within the technical block and work on them with particular care.
How is the price score calculated? The most frequent method is lowest offer / your offer × weighting. Estimate your score by comparing yourself with the market price of the good or service.
Is there a tie-break criterion? When two offers tie on score, the terms must state the tie-break criterion. In some cases it is the lowest price; in others, the delivery time. Knowing it in advance can shape your strategy.

A practical example: simulating your score before bidding

Imagine a training-services tender with this weighting: price 40%, accredited experience 30%, technical proposal 20%, start time 10%. You have three regular competitors in that sector.

Before sending your offer, estimate: if your price sits 15% above the lowest on the market, you will get roughly 34 out of 40 points on price. On accredited experience, if you have three similar documented contracts and the others have two, you will probably beat them on that subfactor. Add up the estimated scores and check whether your profile is competitive before investing hours in preparing the offer.

This simple simulation lets you decide whether it is worth taking part or whether it is better to wait for a tender where your value proposition is closer to what weighs most in the evaluation.

Frequent mistakes when reading the criteria

Ignoring the technical subfactors: many suppliers only look at price and do not work on the technical part. If price is only worth 40%, winning on the technical subfactors can be decisive.
Not evidencing experience the way the terms require: having experience is not enough; it has to be documented exactly as the subfactor demands (signed contracts, invoices, certificates of conformity). If they ask for three references and you provide only two, you lose points on that subfactor.
Not understanding the calculation method: some bodies use methods other than the standard one. Read the full formula; a difference in method can change your estimated score significantly.
Confusing admissibility with evaluation: some documents are admissibility requirements (without them you are out before being evaluated) and others are documents that get scored. Work out which is which in the terms.

In short

The evaluation criteria are the map of the process: they tell you exactly what the body values and in what proportion. Reading that table carefully before deciding to take part, simulating your estimated score and working on the technical subfactors with the most weight are habits that steadily improve your award rate.

— Mindset & Code. Sources: Ley N.° 19.886 on Public Procurement; Ley N.° 21.634 (2023 reform); ChileCompra — Tenders for suppliers. Information current as at 2025-2026. Informational content: it does not replace professional advice.