The evaluation panel may be new to participating in tender exercises you should provide instructions for evaluators
Each evaluator must carry out an independent evaluation. Individual scores will then be reviewed and debated as a panel. Either a consensus will be arrived at or panel members will be asked to carry out a ‘second pass’ of their evaluations, taking into account the panel discussions.
- As part of the evaluation process ensure that the evaluation plan separates the budgetary (price) and non-budgetary parts of the evaluation – the panel members evaluating the non-budgetary aspects do not (and should not) have access to price/cost information. The Panel Chair will act, as a conduit between each of the teams to ensure any transfer of information is managed appropriately.
- Tenders must be evaluated in strict accordance with the criteria enclosed/attached to these instructions.
- Only information contained in the tender submission is to be evaluated. You may also take into account information obtained from an early stage of the process. No extraneous views, supposition or assumptions should influence your evaluation.
- You must evaluate each submission on its own merit and not in comparison to another submission. While moderation will involve naturally comparing the evaluation of scores across tenders, evaluators can either agree on a consensus or take a mathematical average.
- Clear, succinct but comprehensive notes are required in support of your scores. All evaluation notes and material must be retained for audit purposes
Evaluators should be technically competent to have a place on the panel
They should sign a conflict of interest form
It’s sometimes helpful to have a workshop with evaluators to provide the briefing face to face or over the phone before tenders are circulated.
It’s imperative that the evaluation process is fair and transparent. If conducted improperly this could lead to a legal challenge.
You may also want to read about how to score an evaluation or check out external resources at Scottish Procurement
Or scoring the price