A practical bid/no-bid checklist for contractors

Check the gates before weighing the upside

Start with conditions your team cannot compensate for through enthusiasm or a strong price. Can you meet the stated mandatory requirements? Are you eligible for the process? Can the required people and evidence be ready in time?

Mark each gate yes, no or unresolved. An unresolved item needs an owner and a decision deadline. A confirmed mandatory condition you cannot meet should stop the bid effort unless the buyer formally changes or clarifies that condition.

Use six decision questions

1. Eligibility: Can we demonstrate the required qualifications, relevant experience and any applicable registration?
2. Scope: Do we understand the work, interfaces and responsibilities well enough to estimate?
3. Capacity: Can we resource both the bid and the delivery schedule?
4. Commercial fit: Can we accept the proposed contract conditions and obtain required insurance, security or bonding?
5. Response window: Can we meet site visits, clarification deadlines, subcontractor quote dates and submission requirements?
6. Strategic value: Does this work support the buyers, trades and regions we want to pursue?

Review these against the actual documents. Ontario’s supplier guidance describes the importance of following the procurement instructions and evaluation criteria.

Official reference: Ontario supplier guidance.

Separate a risk from a missing answer

“We have not read the geotechnical report” is an information gap. “The schedule requires a crew we cannot provide” is a capacity problem. Write down which kind of issue you have; the next action is different.

For questions about the solicitation, use the buyer’s designated process before its question deadline. Keep the resulting clarification with the bid documents so the decision rests on the same information the estimating team will use.

Record a decision someone can act on

Copy this record into your bid log or print this page. Revisit the decision when a material amendment changes scope, timing or requirements.

Use a recommendation as the start of review

An automated fit score can identify an apparent match. It cannot decide whether your company can accept the contract or deliver the project. A high score should trigger review, not bypass it.

A practical no-bid reason also improves future monitoring. Share “outside our travel range” or “consulting-only scope” instead of simply “irrelevant.” See how Tender Intelligence recommendations work.