Writing Bidder Questions: Why 9 out of 10 Have No Effect

Reading time: approx. 7 minutes · Last updated: 2026

Most bidders write bidder questions wrongly – not grammatically, but strategically. They ask about the submission deadline, the lot size, a detail that is stated two pages further on in the service description. Such questions cost time and credibility and change nothing. The few questions that work attack exactly where the tender documents are vulnerable.

What a poor bidder question costs

Every bidder question is public in the sense that the answer goes to all bidders at the same time (principles of equal treatment and transparency). A weak question signals to the contracting authority and, indirectly, to the competition that you have not read the documents carefully – and uses up your limited time window. After all, the effect only arises if the question is asked in time, and that window is shorter than most people think.

To ask or not to ask? The decision tree

Before you send a question, three checks:

1. Is the answer already in the documents? If so – don’t ask.
2. Does the answer change anything about your calculation, eligibility or bid strategy? If not – don’t ask.
3. Does the question expose a contradiction, an unfair requirement or an ambiguity relevant to the evaluation? If so – now the question is worth asking.

Only questions that reach step 3 are effective. Everything else is noise.

3x before/after

The pattern is always the same: exact reference, named conflict, closed question. The “after” version leaves the contracting authority no room for a non-answer.

Timing: the 6-day deadline as a tool

Public contracting authorities must provide additional information, if requested in good time, no later than six calendar days before the bid deadline expires (§ 20 (3) No. 1 VgV). If they fail to do so, the bid deadline must be extended.

That is why many procurement offices set their own question deadline, typically 10 to 12 calendar days before submission. First, a late question fizzles out. Second – the lever – if a question exposes a genuine defect, the contracting authority must correct it, even after the question deadline has passed (Federal Public Procurement Tribunal, decision of 28.01.2017, VK 2-129/16). A precise, timely question can thus delay or reset the procedure.

The formula for every bidder question

Example: “Section 4.2 requires a reference worth €500,000, Annex 3 one worth €250,000. Which value is authoritative for the proof of eligibility? The information is material to the selection of references.”

If you bid regularly

With one tender a quarter, care is enough. Anyone who bids continuously keeps running into the same pattern in ever new packaging. This is where our approach to completing tenders comes in: the tender documents are analysed, critical passages are flagged and suitable bidder questions are suggested before the question deadline expires.

Because a street-sweeper tender works differently from a landscaping contract or a leasing framework agreement, we work with industry-specific trained models instead of a one-size-fits-all solution – the same applies to completing the bill of quantities.

FAQ

Conclusion

Writing bidder questions is a matter of selection and timing, not quantity. Check every question against the decision tree, use exact references and ask closed questions early enough for the 6-day deadline to take effect. You can save yourself nine out of ten questions – the tenth can decide between award and rejection.