Documents and notices
Invitation to tender(ITT)
Definition
A formal document issued by a buyer inviting suppliers to submit a tender for a specific contract, containing the specification, evaluation criteria, terms and conditions, and submission requirements.
An invitation to tender (ITT) is the core document in any procurement. It tells you exactly what the buyer wants, how they will evaluate your response, what terms you are agreeing to, and when your bid is due. Everything you need to make a bid/no-bid decision and write a winning response is (or should be) in the ITT.
A typical ITT contains several components: the specification or statement of requirements (what they want), evaluation criteria and weightings (how they will score you), terms and conditions (the legal framework), pricing schedules (how to present your costs), and submission instructions (format, deadline, portal).
Reading the ITT carefully — truly carefully — is where experienced bidders separate themselves. The evaluation criteria and their weightings tell you exactly what the buyer values most. If quality is weighted 70% and price 30%, your bid should be a quality-led response, not a race to the bottom on cost.
Why it matters for bidders
The ITT is your blueprint for winning. Misreading the evaluation criteria, missing a mandatory requirement, or misjudging the weighting between quality and price are among the most common reasons SMEs lose tenders they could have won.
How Skim helps
Skim's Bid Analysis agent breaks down ITT documents, highlighting evaluation criteria weightings, mandatory requirements, and key dates — giving you a structured bid/no-bid assessment in minutes rather than the hours it takes manually.
Related terms
Evaluation criteria
The specific factors and their weightings used by a buyer to assess and score tender responses, typically covering technical quality, methodology, staff, price, and social value.
Contract notice
A formal advertisement published on procurement portals announcing that a buyer intends to award a contract, inviting suppliers to express interest or submit tenders.
Selection questionnaire(SQ)
A standardised pre-qualification document used in restricted procedures to assess whether suppliers meet the minimum requirements to be invited to tender, covering financial standing, technical capability, and relevant experience.
Quality score
The score awarded to the non-price elements of a tender response, assessed against published evaluation criteria and typically representing 60–80% of the total evaluation in quality-led procurements.