Abnormally low tender explanation

In Turkish public procurement a bid below the threshold value is not rejected — the authority asks the bidder to explain it. The explanation is a technical file with a short, non-extendable deadline.

What the file contains

• Analyses for the items the authority listed
• Rate sources with their period: official rate books, published price lists,

proforma invoices where nothing else exists

• Quantity checks that agree with the bill of quantities
• A cover letter that maps each requested item to the document that answers it

The most common reason files fail

Not arithmetic — documents. In our own archive of 37 defence files from 2012-2014, 15 of the 26 rejected files were rejected for a proforma-invoice reason: a photocopy, a missing brand or specification, or a proforma standing alone with nothing to corroborate it.

Timing

The deadline runs from the authority's letter and does not stop. Send the letter the day it arrives; scope and risk can be assessed the same day.