Service
Abnormally Low Tender Explanation (Turkey)
In Turkish public procurement a bid below the threshold value is not rejected outright — the authority asks the bidder to explain it. The explanation is a technical file with a short deadline: for construction works at least five working days (Communiqué art. 45.1.2). Every queried item needs an analysis, every analysis input needs a source, every source needs a document. Wherever that chain breaks, the bid is rejected.
We build that file from the query letter to an EKAP-ready set. Send the letter and get scope and timing the same day: free scope review.
The first 24 hours
The query letter says two things: which work items are queried and which analysis inputs need no explanation. Misreading either weakens the file from the start.
- Scope: the authority selects the items that make up 80% of its estimated
cost from a ranked list; only those are queried (art. 45.1.2.1). An analysis for an unqueried item adds pages, not strength.
- Exempt inputs: inputs at or below 3% of the analysis total are listed in
the letter. They still appear in the analysis, but no document is required. Labour is never exempt (art. 45.1.2.2).
- Analysis format: the format issued with the tender documents or attached to
the letter is binding (art. 45.1.4). A correct analysis in your own format fails on procedure.
- Deadline: it is the e-signed upload time on EKAP, not the moment the file
is finished.
What the defence file contains
- Summary of queried items — item number, description, quantity, bid unit
price and amount; the total matches the bid schedule to the kuruş.
- Unit-price analyses — one per queried item, in the authority's format,
with contractor profit and overhead of at least 10% on the input total (art. 45.1.3).
- Public rate list — for items explained with official unit prices:
institution and item code, for the month of the tender notice (art. 45.1.5).
- Third-party price quotations (proforma) — for special items and market
purchases, supported by cost / sales-value inspection minutes certified by a licensed accountant (Annexes O-5, O-6, O-7) and the stock inspection minute (Annex O-8).
- Transport calculations — using the distances stated in the query letter;
formula and coefficient consistent with the analyses.
- Technical statement — construction method, equipment and site-specific
conditions; answers only the questions asked.
- Index of annexes — one page showing which document closes which item and
which input. The evaluation committee reads the file from here.
Delivered as a numbered PDF set, ready for EKAP upload.
Five working days, step by step
| Day | Work | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Read the query letter; list queried items and exempt inputs | Scope table (free) |
| 1–2 | Quantities and analyses; separate items covered by public unit prices | Analysis set, rate list |
| 2–3 | Collect proformas, get inspection minutes certified, transport calculations | O-5/O-6/O-7/O-8, transport schedule |
| 4 | Cross-check analysis ↔ summary ↔ bid schedule; period and rounding audit | Check report |
| 5 | Technical statement, index of annexes, PDF set | EKAP-ready file |
Why files are rejected
Mostly documents and procedure, not arithmetic. The headings that recur in Public Procurement Authority decisions:
- Rates from the wrong month — one item at March prices, another at July;
a price outside the notice month loses the art. 45.1.5 shortcut.
- Proforma without minutes or signatures — a price quotation alone is not
evidence.
- Analysis without profit — below the 10% floor.
- Wrong format — the authority's analysis format ignored.
- Internal inconsistency — kuruş differences between analysis, summary and
bid schedule; the committee corrects them ex officio, and if the corrected figure exceeds the bid price the bid is rejected (art. 45.1.3).
- Scope errors — explaining an unqueried item, or skipping a queried one.
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.
How the response is structured
There is no template letter that works; the file follows the authority's item list and analysis format. The order the committee expects:
- Cover letter — tender registration number, date and reference of the
query letter, items explained, list of annexes.
- Summary of queried items — total equals the bid schedule.
- Analyses — in item order, authority's format, profit line visible.
- Source index — for each input: public rate (institution + code),
proforma (minute number) or own production record.
- Documents — proformas, O-5/O-6/O-7/O-8 minutes, rate-list pages,
distance letter.
- Technical statement — method, equipment, site conditions.
Why it is different with us
Files are not written one by one; they are produced with our own ADS Generator software, backed by a period-tagged price memory of 308,013 rate lines and 269,301 subcontractor records from forty-five sources (April 2024 – June 2026). In practice: which month's rate supports which item is never in doubt, and the source is shown line by line.
If it is rejected
The route continues with a complaint to the authority and an objection to the Public Procurement Authority. The filing fee depends on the estimated-cost band (64,652 – 258,810 TL in 2026); we tell you before you pay it whether the file can win.