Tender compliance checklist

Before you start drafting

• Full document inventory confirmed. Every document the tender references has either been supplied, or you've logged it as referenced-but-not-supplied and requested it.
• Mandatory conditions separated from scored criteria. A mandatory condition that's missed can disqualify the bid outright, regardless of how well everything else scores. Know which is which before you allocate writing time.
• Closing date, time and submission method confirmed — including timezone, and whether the portal has its own separate cutoff from the stated closing time.
• All addenda logged and acknowledged where acknowledgement is itself a mandatory returnable (it often is).

Governance and eligibility

• Correct legal entity named as the tenderer, matching every certificate and insurance document submitted.
• For consortium/alliance bids: governance structure, lead entity and named delivery partners clearly demonstrated, matching the entity on every commercial document.
• Conflict of interest declarations completed where required — even a "no conflict" declaration is usually a mandatory returnable in NZ public sector tenders.
• Referee/reference contacts confirmed as reachable and briefed, not just listed.

Evidence and certification

• Insurance certificates current, at the required coverage levels, and covering the full contract period — not just current at submission date.
• H&S management system certification (ISO 45001 or equivalent) current for every entity doing site work, not just the lead.
• Resource consents or a clear consenting pathway evidenced for any activity that needs one.
• Financial capacity evidence supplied in the exact form requested — a bank reference letter is not the same as audited financial statements, and tenders are specific about which they want.
• Quality/environmental management certifications current and matching the entities actually doing the work.

The submission itself

• Every mandatory returnable form completed, signed by an authorised signatory, and included — not just referenced in the narrative response.
• Page/word limits respected on every scored section, including appendices where limits apply to them too.
• File format and naming convention match the tender's own instructions, not your organisation's default.
• Pricing schedule completed in the structure supplied — reformatting it, even to make it clearer, is a common cause of non-compliance.
• Final version reviewed against the requirement register one more time, specifically for anything an addendum changed after the first draft was written.