For quotations, or "Quick Quotes", once the quotation deadline has passed all bids received will be evaluated by the buyer and the winning bid is identified. The preferred bidder from the evaluation process will be asked to provide all documents/certifications required e.g. insurance documents.
The successful and unsuccessful bidders will be notified in writing at the same time on the outcome of the quotation. Once these letters have been issued, the quotation becomes live and is known as a contract.
It is best practice for buyers to provide feedback on unregulated procurements. More information can be found in the Debriefing station.
For tenders, once the tender deadline has passed, all bids received will be evaluated by the buyer and the other members of the evaluation team. Once the preferred bidder from the evaluation process has been identified the bidder will be asked to provide all documents/certifications required e.g. insurance documents, which had been self-declared as part of the SPD process. The buyer will check all documents and, if there are no issues will notify the successful and unsuccessful bidders of the outcome.
Some buyers have additional internal procedures e.g. local authorities (councils) have Boards, who will need to give their approval before a contract award can be made. As a result for some organisations the timeframe from the tender deadline to the contract award can be longer to accommodate these approvals. The buyer will normally have included anticpated timeframes for the tender in the tender procurement documents and, if there is any delay to this, will keep all bidders informed.
For higher value contracts (on or above threshold), the buyer will issue a Standstill Notice to all tenderers as soon as possible after the contract award decision has been made.
Once the Standstill period has passed, the contract will be finalised. Where contract values are on or above £50k excluding VAT for goods and services the public body must publish a Contract Award Notice on Public Contracts Scotland within 30 days of contract award.
All bidders are entitled to ask the buyer for reasons as to why their quotation was unsuccessful. More information can be found in the Debriefing station.