Tips for Bidders

When preparing a bid for a government procurement, it’s crucial for the bidder to pay attention to the data and documents required to prove compliance with the conditions set by the contracting authority. It’s important to submit these documents along with the bid.

Conditional bids are generally not allowed.
Bidders must provide the information and documents specified in the basic procurement documents.
Merely reading the introductory sentence of a condition is often insufficient; it’s necessary to thoroughly examine the detailed explanation of the condition. There might be nuances in the detailed description that can help in preparing a correct bid.
If the bidder has participated in the same procurement procedure in previous instances, the contracting authority might not set the same conditions in the new procurement. Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly review the conditions of each new procurement.
It’s important for the bidder to indicate in the bid which information constitutes the bidder’s trade secret and provide reasons for classifying the information as such. It’s important to note that the bid price or installment payments cannot be marked as trade secrets if they are considered in the evaluation of bids, nor can numerical values characterizing bids according to criteria for bid evaluation, as these are partially disclosed to all participants during bid opening and to the successful bidders after the decision to award the contract. Properly marking information as a trade secret ensures that the bidder’s sensitive information remains confidential.

In organizing government procurements, the contracting authority is obliged to follow these principles:

The contracting authority acts transparently, in a controllable and proportionate manner when organizing government procurements.
The contracting authority treats all individuals residing or established in Estonia, other European Union member states, other European Economic Area Agreement countries, or countries that have joined the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization equally and ensures that all restrictions and criteria imposed on individuals are proportional, relevant, and justified in relation to the objectives of the government procurement.
The contracting authority ensures effective use of competition in government procurement, with the participation of a public law legal person or a private law legal person using public funds not distorting competition through the use of public funds.
The contracting authority avoids conflicts of interest damaging competition.
The contracting authority uses financial resources economically and efficiently, concludes a contract for government procurement based on the best possible ratio of price and quality, and conducts government procurement within a reasonable period.

Following these principles, the contracting authority prepares the basic procurement documents, describing the object of the procurement and setting out all the essential requirements for bidders and bids.

Unfortunately, discrepancies might occur in the basic procurement documents prepared by the contracting authority. The contracting authority greatly appreciates it if these discrepancies are brought to their attention before the deadline for submission of bids, allowing the authority to rectify the deficiencies in the basic documents before the deadline for submission of bids. Proper basic documents make it easier for bidders to submit their bids.

It’s essential for each bidder that the contracting authority ensures the confidentiality of the information contained in the bid that constitutes the bidder’s trade secret. To ensure this, when preparing the bid, the bidder must specify which information in the bid constitutes the bidder’s trade secret and also justify the classification of the information as a trade secret. It’s important to note that the bid price or installment payments cannot be marked as a trade secret if they are considered in the evaluation of bids, nor can numerical values characterizing bids according to criteria for bid evaluation, as these are partially disclosed to all participants during bid opening and to the successful bidders after the decision to award the contract. Properly marking information as a trade secret ensures that the bidder’s sensitive information remains confidential.

Similarly, the contracting authority expects bidders to keep information provided by the contracting authority during the procurement procedure, marked as intended for internal use in the institution, solely in the bidder’s possession and not disclose it to persons unrelated to the bid submission. This information is intended solely for the bidder’s bid submission and contract performance.