Bid Solicitation

A bid solicitation is the formal procurement process, and the package of documents, that a buying organization uses to ask potential suppliers for bids, proposals, or quotations. The goods, services, or works being bought are described in that package, and suppliers respond to it. NATO's procurement policy defines solicitation as the formal process used to request bids, proposals, or quotations, and it treats solicitation documentation as the totality of documents the procurement authority shares during that process (NATO procurement policy).

In Canadian federal procurement, the term also names the document itself. A bid solicitation includes the instructions, requirements, evaluation method, certifications, applicable security clauses, and other conditions that a supplier must address when submitting a bid (PSPC bid solicitation guidance).

Bid and solicitation: the two ideas inside the term

The term combines two concepts. A bid is a formal offer to provide goods, works, or services at a stated price and under specified conditions, submitted in response to an invitation for bids. A solicitation is the formal process of requesting those offers. NATO sets out both definitions in its procurement policy, and Canadian practice uses the same working vocabulary.

Related terms include tender, proposal, request for proposal, supply arrangement, notice of proposed procurement, basis of selection, and contracting authority.

Invitation for Bid, Request for Quotations, and Request for Proposal

A solicitation can take several forms. NATO's procurement process uses Invitations for Bid (IFB), Requests for Quotations (RFQ), and Requests for Proposal (RFP) as the instruments it issues to companies (NCIA procurement process). Through these instruments NATO bodies collect bids, answer supplier questions, and evaluate bids against the stated requirements.

Canadian federal solicitations follow a similar pattern. A National Defence requirement issued through PSPC, for example, can be titled Request for Proposal / Demande de proposition and name the PSPC Bid Receiving Unit as the place where bids go (sample federal bid solicitation on CanadaBuys).

How federal buyers run a bid solicitation

Public Services and Procurement Canada acquires goods and services on behalf of federal departments and agencies. Its acquisition-services activities include soliciting bids, responding to supplier inquiries, evaluating submitted bids or proposals, and determining the successful bidder (acquisition services description).

Supply arrangements add another layer. Under Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS), client departments use a defined bid solicitation process for both task-based and solution-based requirements (how TSPS methods of supply work). For the Task-Based Professional Services arrangement, bids are solicited from suppliers that hold the supply arrangement. The solicitation may be posted on CanadaBuys or sent directly to those suppliers, depending on the client's selection methodology (TSPS Task-Based arrangement).

A federal bid solicitation typically identifies the requirement, bid-return instructions, closing date and time, evaluation procedures, basis of selection, certifications, and any security clauses.

What a bid solicitation means for a supplier

The bid solicitation is the rulebook for your response. You must prepare and submit your bid in line with its instructions, mandatory requirements, evaluation criteria, certifications, security requirements, submission method, and deadline. One federal solicitation states that bids must reach the specified PSPC Bid Receiving Unit by the date, time, and place indicated in the document (sample federal bid solicitation).

• Read the whole document, not only the statement of requirement.
• Check the basis of selection and the mandatory criteria before deciding to bid.
• Confirm whether the solicitation is open on CanadaBuys or limited to supply arrangement holders.
• Submit questions through the channel the document names, and meet the closing date and time.