Clarifications

A clarification, in Canadian public procurement, is an explanation or confirmation about something already in a bid or proposal. Its purpose is to help the buyer understand what the bidder submitted. It does not change the substance of the bid or its price.

The word covers two situations. During the solicitation period, suppliers ask the buyer to clarify requirements that are unclear. During the evaluation period, the buyer may ask a bidder to explain or confirm information already contained in its bid. In both cases the aim is understanding, not revision.

Clarifications during the solicitation period

Before a bid closes, suppliers use clarifications to resolve uncertainty about what a solicitation requires. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) lists attending a bidder's conference as one way to seek clarification, and it states that suppliers are responsible for monitoring amendments and questions-and-answers throughout the bidding process. Those points are set out in the PSPC guidance on preparing to bid.

PSPC's bidding guidance tells suppliers to contact the contracting authority when they are unsure about a solicitation. Questions go in writing and before the stated deadline, and the designated contracting authority is the only point of contact. Answers are posted as amendments to the tender notice.

Clarifications during bid evaluation

After closing, the direction reverses. PSPC explains in how the government buys that the buyer may contact a supplier to clarify its bid. The supplier must respond by the deadline given, because the evaluation or contract-award process will not be delayed while it waits.

The same approach applies in defence purchasing. The Department of National Defence normally runs supplier competitions in collaboration with PSPC and then evaluates bids, as described in its defence purchases and upgrades process. Clarifications can therefore arise in defence RFPs run through the federal process.

Clarification versus bid repair

The limit on a clarification is that it cannot change the bid. Government guidance based on the Supply Manual, published as PSPC guidance on bid evaluation, allows the buyer to request and accept only clarifications that do not change the substance or price of a bid. Both the request and the response must be in writing.

A response that substantially changes the bid is a bid repair, and it must not be considered in the evaluation. The bidder stays responsible for showing that it meets the mandatory requirements. A clarification cannot fix a non-compliant bid by adding or changing substantive information.

Other federal organizations apply the same principle. Indigenous Services Canada allows a project owner to request clarification, confirmation, additional detail or substantiation after proposal closing. It does not allow proponents to correct or amend their proposals, and the information should be provided in writing. See its tendering policy guidance.

What clarifications mean for a supplier

• Ask early and in writing. Send questions to the designated contracting authority before the deadline, and do not rely on informal contact.
• Watch the tender notice. Answers appear as amendments, and you are responsible for reading them.
• Answer evaluation requests on time. The buyer will not hold up the evaluation or award for a late reply.
• Keep responses within the bid. Explain or confirm what you submitted. Do not add new substance or alter your price.
• Submit a compliant bid at closing. A clarification will not repair a missing mandatory requirement.