Tender debrief: write down what you assumed before you bid
Before you submit a tender, record what the bid assumes about the buyer's criteria. After a loss, use the record to identify what to ask and what the feedback can test.
You lost a formal software tender. The buyer's feedback cannot show what your team believed about the criteria when it decided to bid, unless someone wrote that down before submission. With a short record of those assumptions, you can identify questions for the buyer and test each assumption against the feedback: is it confirmed, contradicted or still open? The rules the buyer works under decide what you get and how fast you must ask: under US federal FAR Part 15 you have 3 days to request a debriefing, while a UK assessment summary arrives without a request if your tender was assessed.
What the buyer's rules give you
Read the rule that applies before you submit, because it decides which of your assumptions the written feedback can ever settle.
With a private buyer, check what feedback the RFP promises and ask at the question stage what the buyer will give, so that an assumption only its scores could test has a way to be tested.
| Rules the buyer works under | What you receive | When to ask | What is withheld or not required |
|---|---|---|---|
| US federal, FAR Overhaul Part 15 (15.301-1) | What you receive The significant weaknesses or deficiencies in your proposal; the overall evaluated cost or price and technical rating of the winner and of you; past performance information on you; the overall ranking, if one was developed; a summary of the rationale for award | When to ask Written request within 3 days after receipt of the award notice | What is withheld or not required Point-by-point comparisons with other offers; the names of individuals who gave reference information |
| UK, Procurement Act 2023 (section 50) | What you receive An assessment summary of your tender and of the most advantageous tender, including how the winning tender scored against each of the criteria | When to ask No request needed if your tender was assessed: you receive it before the contract award notice is published | What is withheld or not required Not required: a direct comparison between your tender and the winner's |
| Scottish public bodies (Procurement Journey) | What you receive A standstill notice with a summary of the reasons you were unsuccessful and the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful bid | When to ask Ask in writing; the buyer must then provide further debrief information within 15 days | What is withheld or not required Commercial terms and other bidders' innovative ideas |
| Canada, federal (CanadaBuys; archived Supply Manual 7.40) | What you receive The winner's name, the contract value and the winner's overall evaluation result; the reasons your bid was not successful, referring to the evaluation criteria; the archived manual adds your scores on all rated criteria | When to ask Once you are notified of the results; the archived manual says bidders should ask within 15 working days | What is withheld or not required Confidential commercial information of other bids |
| Australia, Commonwealth (Department of Finance guidance on the Commonwealth Procurement Rules) | What you receive The reasons your submission was not successful; the guidance says feedback should also cover areas of weakness or non-compliance and suggestions for future submissions | When to ask On request after the award | What is withheld or not required Not listed: scores by criterion |
| Private RFP | What you receive What the RFP or your agreement with the buyer provides | When to ask Before you submit, at the question stage | What is withheld or not required Depends on the buyer: ask before you submit |
The US federal text has moved
US federal agencies are moving to the FAR Overhaul text of Part 15, where the postaward debriefing is section 15.301-1; it was issued on 30 September 2025 and is adopted agency by agency, as the FAR Overhaul deviation guide shows. The codified FAR 15.506 keeps the same 3-day window; one difference in content matters for your request.
The codified text gives the "overall evaluated cost or price (including unit prices)" of the winner and the debriefed offeror; the overhaul text leaves out the words in parentheses. If the winner's unit prices matter to your next bid, ask for them in the request. Check which text your solicitation cites before you decide what to ask for.
If you were excluded before award, the overhaul text puts the preaward debriefing in 15.206-2, with a written request within 3 days after the notice of exclusion. If you do not ask in time, you need not be given either a preaward or a postaward debriefing.
Past performance and references
If references are scored, a US federal debriefing gives you the past performance information on your own offer and leaves out the names of individuals who provided reference information.
Check whether the RFP publishes a weight for references, as some of the score sheets written by buyers do. In the record, note which customers you name, what you expect them to confirm, and the result you expect under that criterion. A score can test the expected result; the reasons given may help explain how the references contributed to it.
After the loss: read and ask in the right order
Treat each line of the record as an evidence claim, the way opportunity qualification treats every qualification element.
1. Where the feedback arrives first, as a UK assessment summary or a Scottish standstill notice does, read it against the record, then ask in writing about the lines still open.
2. Where you must request the debriefing first, as under US federal rules within 3 days after you receive the award notice, send the questions your record marks "only if asked" with the request. Under the overhaul text, the contracting officer may offer a chance to submit follow-up questions after the debriefing "If time permits", so do not count on it.
3. A late request may be accommodated, but under the overhaul text it does not extend the deadlines for filing protests.
4. Read the debriefing against the record and mark each assumption confirmed, contradicted or still open.
Why the evaluators decided as they did is a separate conversation, covered in win/loss interviews.
The pre-bid assumptions record, with an invented example
Write the record at the bid/no-bid decision and update it until you submit. Let the Sales Engineers write the technical lines. During the question stage, ask how the buyer will make the trade-offs between criteria before you treat the criteria as known.
For each line, the record holds:
1. The criterion as the RFP states it, with its weight.
2. What the bid assumes about how it will be scored.
3. The evidence you have for that assumption now.
4. Whether the feedback under the buyer's rules can confirm it: yes, only if asked, or no.
5. The question to send in the debrief request if the feedback cannot settle it.
Keep the record with the bid. After the debrief, the contradicted lines are what the team checks first at the next bid decision.
| What the bid assumes | Evidence before submission | Can the feedback settle it? | What the written feedback can show | Question for the request |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integration with the buyer's finance system is scored under functional fit | Evidence before submission Not stated in the RFP; clarification question asked, answer general | Can the feedback settle it? Only if asked | What the written feedback can show Your score and the winner's under functional fit, with the reasons | Question for the request Under which criterion was integration assessed? |
| Our tender will receive full marks on price | Evidence before submission Estimate based on the RFP's price method and the price we plan to submit | Can the feedback settle it? Yes | What the written feedback can show Your price score | Question for the request None |
| Our references cover the track record criterion in full | Evidence before submission Not every named customer has agreed to act as a reference | Can the feedback settle it? Only if asked | What the written feedback can show Your score under track record, with the reasons | Question for the request Which part of the track record answer lost marks? |
| The demonstration is scored under functional fit | Evidence before submission The RFP says shortlisted suppliers demonstrate; how it is scored is not stated | Can the feedback settle it? Only if asked | What the written feedback can show Your score and the winner's under functional fit, with the reasons | Question for the request Was the demonstration scored, and under which criterion? |
Sources
- FAR Overhaul Part 15: Contracting by Negotiation. Acquisition.gov (General Services Administration), 30 September 2025.
- FAR Parts and Agency Deviations. Acquisition.gov (General Services Administration), undated.
- FAR 15.506 Postaward debriefing of offerors. Acquisition.gov (General Services Administration), 13 March 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, section 50: Contract award notices and assessment summaries. legislation.gov.uk, 2023.
- Guidance: Assessment Summaries. Cabinet Office, undated.
- Procurement Journey, Route 3: Debriefing. Scottish Government, undated.
- Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Award of contracts and issuance of standing offers and supply arrangements (archived). Public Services and Procurement Canada (CanadaBuys), 21 July 2022.
- Following up on a bid. CanadaBuys (Public Services and Procurement Canada), undated.
- Providing Feedback. Department of Finance, Australia, 19 December 2025.
Facts last checked on 6 November 2026.