Checking a draft against the requirements

A good draft can still fail on a technicality. A skipped question, a missing form or a blown word limit can cost you points or the whole bid. Checking is a separate job from writing, and it works best done in a set order.

Round one: build a requirements map

Start from the checked tracker you made when reading the tender. It should list every question, mandatory item, form and limit, each with a page reference.

Add two columns: where your response answers it, and the proof that backs it up. An empty cell is a gap.

Wikipedia describes a tender as a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers.¹

Round two: mandatory items first

Mandatory means pass or fail. Go through them before anything else:

• Does the response say yes, no or "partly", clearly, in the place the buyer asked?
• Is the evidence attached, named as the buyer asked, and in date?
• Are forms complete, signed and in the right format?
• Is the price in the layout the schedule demands?
• Have you met the file type, size and naming rules for lodging?

If something is only partly met, say so plainly and don't hide it in soft wording. That is a business decision for a person, not a tool.

Round three: let a tool hunt for gaps

Now a tool is useful. Give it the requirements map and the draft, and ask:

• Which questions have no matching answer?
• Which answers don't address what the question asked?
• Where does the draft promise something not in the evidence column?
• Which terms from the buyer's criteria never appear in the answer?

Treat each reply as a lead. The UK government note says care must be taken both in using these tools and in assessing returns that have used them.² A tool can report "all covered" when it isn't, so you go and look.

Round four: a fresh pair of eyes

Hand the full response, not the draft notes, to someone who didn't write it. Ask them to answer these from the page alone:

• What are we promising?
• Is every promise something we can deliver?
• Does any answer contradict another, for instance on dates, staffing or price?

Contradictions are common when many answers are drafted separately. A person reading in order finds them quickly.

Think about what comes after you submit

Some buyers follow up. UK guidance tells buyers to consider extra clarification and due diligence checks "to ensure that tender commitments are deliverable".³ Its possible steps include site visits, clarification questions or supplier presentations.²

So each commitment should be one your team understands and could explain in a call. If a sentence came from a tool and nobody can say where it came from, remove it.

That guidance is for UK central government buyers, but the habit travels well. Other buyers can ask similar questions.

Final sign-off

Name one person as the approver. Australian guidance wants a person overseeing any AI in use.⁴ Here, that person reads the finished response end to end against the map and signs only when no cell is empty.

Before anything goes to the buyer, check what the tender says about AI itself. Any AI rules should be in the pack, as the later notes on buyer rules explain.