Tendering for Government Contracts

Debriefing

Debriefing is giving positive,constructive feedback to competing suppliers on their performance at any evaluation stage of a procurement exercise. Debriefing therefore gives you the opportunity to improve your performance in the future. Debriefing is mandatory for OJEU tendering exercises. For exercises under the OJEU limits, debriefing is not mandatory but is encouraged as good practice.

Debriefing can be written, take the form of a face-to-face meeting with senior company representatives, or a phone call.

Formal debriefing can also help the purchaser by:

• bringing to their attention problems that may have arisen during the exercise; and
• giving them the opportunity to improve their procedures.

Debriefing for OJEU tendering exercises

There is a requirement under the EU Procurement Regulations that require the contracting authorities to debrief bidders following an OJEU tendering exercise. If you are unsuccessful in bidding for a contract you can contact the contracting authority and request the reasons for being unsuccessful. The authority then has 15 days to provide those reasons. If you were unsuccessful at the tender stage, the contracting authority is also obliged to let you know the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender as well as the name of the person awarded the contract.