Top 11+ questions related to bidding documents

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1. Can a contractor be named in more than one bid?

Reply: According to point d clause 3 Article 26 Decree 214/2025/ND-CP regulations on preparing bidding documents are as follows:

“3. The tender documents must specify the content for evaluating the validity of the tender documents, including:

d) Not listed in two or more bid submissions as an independent bidder or a member of a consortium;"

Thus, a contractor cannot have its name listed in two or more bid documents as an independent contractor or a member of a consortium.

2. When bidding online, does the contractor have to submit paper documents to the investor or the bidding party?

Reply: No paper application required investor or the bidding party when bidding online. In cases where the bidder is invited by the investor/bidding party to verify the documents, they must submit additional paper copies of the required documents.

3. What is the cost of evaluating bid documents for contractor selection?

Reply: According to point b, clause 5, Article 14 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP, there are provisions as follows: 

“b) Project evaluation costs bid, proposal profile is calculated at 0.2% of the bidding price but the minimum is 3,000,000 VND and a maximum of 60,000,000 VND.”

Thus, the cost of evaluating bid documents is calculated at 0.2% of the bid package price, however, it must be within the minimum range of 3,000,000 and the maximum range of 60,000,000 VND.

4. What is the time for evaluating bid documents according to the new Bidding Law?

Reply: Pursuant to point 1, clause 27, Article 1 Amending and Supplementing Law No. 90/2025/QH15 has the following provisions:

“Article 45. Time to organize house selection bid

1. The time for organizing the contractor selection is stipulated as follows:

a) The time for preparing expressions of interest, pre-qualification documents, and bid documents is calculated from the first day of the invitation for expressions of interest, invitation for bids, etc. Pre-qualification, tender documents are issued up to the deadline for submitting bids;

b) The time for amending the expression of interest, pre-qualification documents, and tender documents must be before the tender closing date;

c) The expression of interest, pre-qualification documents, and tender documents are issued simultaneously with the notice of expression of interest, the notice of pre-qualification, and the notice of tender.”

Pursuant to Clause 7, Article 18 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP stipulates as follows:

“7. Based on the scale, nature, and progress of the project and bidding package, the investor will make the decision. Time to organize contractor selection For each tender package, the number of days from the date of issuance of the tender documents and request for proposals to the date of the contractor selection results, including the evaluation time. If the tender package applies the shortlisting procedure, the time for organizing the contractor selection is calculated from the date of issuance of the pre-qualification documents and expression of interest documents to the date of the contractor selection results. If necessary, the time for evaluating tender documents and proposals, and the evaluation time can be clearly stated.”

Thus, according to the amended and supplemented Law No. 90/2025/QH15, there is no fixed time stipulated for evaluating bid documents. Instead, it is based on the scale, nature, and progress of each project bid, the investor will decide the time for organizing the contractor selection from the time of issuing the tender documents until the time of having contractor selection results. If necessary, the tender documents may specify the time for evaluating tender documents and the time for appraisal to ensure the progress of the contract.

5. What does checking the validity of a bid include?

Reply: According to Clause 1, Article 32 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP stipulates as follows:

“Article 32. Examination and evaluation of proposals bid

1. Check the validity of the bid:

a) Check the components of the bid dossier including: bid form; joint venture agreement (if any); power of attorney of the legal representative of the contractor (if any); bid security; number of original and photocopied bid documents;

b) Check for consistency in content between the original and the copy to facilitate the detailed evaluation of the bid documents.”

Thus, the validity check of the bid documents includes the following contents:

• Check the components of the bid including: Bid form contractor; Joint venture agreement (if any); Power of Attorney of the legal representative of the contractor (if any); Bid security; Number of original and photocopied bid documents.

• Check for consistency in content between the original and the copy to facilitate the detailed evaluation of the bid documents.

6. Can the contractor add or replace key personnel in the bid documents?

Reply: According to Clause 2, Article 29 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP, there are specific provisions as follows: 

“2. Case key personnel (except for key personnel performing the consulting work (E) in the EPC package, If, for EP, EC, or turnkey projects, the main equipment proposed by the contractor in the bid does not meet the requirements or the contractor cannot demonstrate the ability to mobilize personnel (including cases where personnel have already been mobilized for other contracts with overlapping working periods), the investor allows the contractor to supplement or replace them. The contractor may only supplement or replace personnel once for each key personnel position or main equipment within a suitable timeframe.

For bidding packages held in water, expert teambid form. If the contractor fails to supplement or replace key personnel and main construction equipment, or after clarification, supplementation, or replacement, the contractor fails to provide key personnel and main construction equipment that meets the requirements of the tender documents as committed in the bid, the contractor will be disqualified and their credibility will be assessed according to the provisions of Article 20 of this Decree, and their account will be locked for a period of 03 months from the date the investor publicly announces the contractor's name on the National Bidding Network System.

In cases where a contractor intentionally makes false declarations about key personnel and main equipment in their bid documents to distort the results of the contractor selection, they are not allowed to replace the personnel or equipment, their bid documents will be disqualified, and the contractor will be considered fraudulent according to the provisions of point b, clause 4, Article 16 of the Law on Bidding and will be handled according to the provisions of clause 1, Article 133 of this Decree.”

Thus, the contractor is still allowed to add or replace key personnel in certain cases as stipulated by law. However, additions and replacements can only be made within certain limits and must ensure that the personnel meet the requirements of the tender documents. In case of dishonest declaration or failure to provide suitable personnel after being requested to clarify, the contractor may be disqualified, receive a poor reputation rating, and be dealt with according to current regulations.

7. Will bids that lack supporting documents be disqualified?

Reply: According to Clause 1, Article 29 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP, the principles for evaluating bid documents are as follows:

“Article 29. Principles for evaluating applications bid

1. The evaluation of bid documents must be based on Tender evaluation criteria and other requirements in the tender documents, based on the submitted tender documents, explanatory documents, and clarifications of the tender documents of the contractor to ensure the selection of a contractor with sufficient capacity and experience, and feasible solutions to implement the contract; in case the tender documents If a bid contains provisions that restrict competition as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 26 of this Decree, these provisions shall not be considered as a basis for evaluating the bid.

In addition, Article 30 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP specifically stipulates the clarification of bidding documents as follows:

"1. After open bid, the bidder is responsible for clarifying the bid documents as required by the investor. In case of If a contractor's bid lacks documentation regarding eligibility, similar contracts, production capacity, financial statements, tax declaration and payment obligations, personnel, and equipment, the investor will request the contractor to clarify and supplement the documentation to prove their eligibility. style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">eligibility, capacity and experience, for the construction part in the EC package, construction package, PC package organized for domestic bidding, key personnel content, main equipment, the investor only requires the contractor to clarify and supplement documents to prove for the ranked contractor best.

2. In the event that, after the bidding closes, the bidder discovers that the bid documents lack supporting documents proving eligibility, similar contract, production capacity, financial statements, tax declaration and payment obligations, personnel documents, and specific equipment proposed in the bid dossier may be submitted to the investor for clarification regarding eligibility, capacity, and experience. The investor is responsible for receiving and reviewing these clarification documents from the bidder for evaluation; “Supplementary and clarifying documents are part of the bid dossier.”

Thus, if the bid dossier lacks documents proving eligibility, the bidder may not be disqualified, but after the bid opening, the bidder is responsible for clarifying the bid dossier as requested by the investor.

8. If a contractor does not accept the arithmetic error correction information requested by the bidding party for the bid documents, will they be disqualified?

Reply: According to Clause 5, Article 31 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP, the regulations on correcting errors and adjusting discrepancies are as follows:

“5. After correcting errors, adjusting discrepancies and applying unit prices to the missing discrepancies as stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, the investor must notify the contractor in writing about the correction of errors, adjustment of discrepancies, and application of unit prices to the bid documents of contractor. Within 3 working days from the date of receiving the investor's notification, the contractor must notify the investor in writing of their acceptance of the results of error correction, discrepancy adjustment, and unit price application as notified by the investor. If the contractor disagrees with the results of error correction, discrepancy adjustment, and unit price application as notified by the investor, their bid will be disqualified, except in cases where the investor's error correction, discrepancy adjustment, and unit price application are inappropriate or inaccurate.”

Thus, after receiving notification of error correction, adjustment of discrepancies, or application of unit prices from the investor, the contractor must provide written acceptance within 03 working days. If the bidder disagrees with the results of error correction, discrepancy adjustment, or unit price application as announced by the investor, the bid will be disqualified, except in cases where the investor's error correction, discrepancy adjustment, or unit price application is determined to be inappropriate or inaccurate according to regulations.

9. What are the procedures for handling discrepancies between photocopies and originals in tender documents?

Reply: Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 66 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP, there are specific provisions as follows:

“3. Work Evaluation of bid documents is performed on photocopies, the bidder is responsible for the consistency between the original and the photocopies. In case of discrepancies between the original and the photocopies that do not change the ranking order of the bidder, the original will be used for evaluation. In case of discrepancies between the original and the photocopies leading to If the evaluation results on the original differ from the evaluation results on the copy, changing the ranking order of the bidders, then the bidder's bid will be disqualified, the bidder will be considered to have committed fraud and will be handled according to the provisions of point a, clause 1, Article 133 of this Decree. ”

“Article 133. Prohibition from participating in fighting activities bid

1. The period of prohibition from participating in bidding activities for organizations and individuals with violations, including individuals belonging to the investor, expert team, and appraisal team:

a) Prohibition from participating in bidding activities from 3 to 5 years for one of the violations of Clauses 1, 2, 4 and Point a of Clause 3, Article 16 of the Law on Bidding;

b) Prohibition from participating in bidding activities from 1 to 3 years for one of the violations of Points b, Point c of Clause 3; Clause 5; Points g, i and l of Clause 6; Clause 8; Clause 9, Article 16 of the Law on Bidding;

c) Prohibition from participating in bidding activities from 06 months to 01 year for one of the violations of points a, b, c, d, e, clause 6 and clause 7, Article 16 of the Law on Bidding;

For joint venture contractors, the prohibition from participating in bidding activities applies to all members of the joint venture when one or more members violate the regulations in Article 16 of the Law on Bidding, except in the following case: if a member of the joint venture violates the regulations in point c, clause 3, clause 4, points b, c, d, e, clause 5, points a, b, c, d, e, g, clause 6, clause 7, points a, b, and b, clause 8 of Article 16 of the Law on Bidding, then only that member is prohibited from participating in bidding activities, not the rest of the members. the remaining members.”

Therefore, the contractor is responsible for ensuring consistency between the original and the photocopied versions of the bid documents. If there are discrepancies that do not alter the ranking results, the evaluation will be based on the original. However, if the discrepancies change the evaluation results and the ranking of the contractors, the bid will be disqualified, and the contractor will be considered to have committed fraud and will be penalized according to the provisions of point a, clause 1, Article 133 of this Decree.

10. What information must be included in the bid evaluation report?

Answer: According to Clause 5, Article 30 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP, the bid evaluation report must include the following information:

• Evaluation results for each bid;

• List of bidders considered, ranked, and their ranking order;

• List of bidders who did not meet the requirements and were disqualified; reasons for disqualification;

• Name of the bidder proposed to win the bid, proposed winning bid price, contract type, contract execution time, and contract execution time;

• Comments on the competitiveness, fairness, transparency, and economic efficiency of the bid selection process. If competitiveness, fairness, transparency, and economic efficiency are not ensured, the reasons must be clearly stated and corrective measures proposed;

• Contents of the tender documents that are inconsistent with the law on bidding or that may lead to unclear or differing interpretations during implementation or may distort the bid selection results (if any); proposed corrective measures;

• Points to note (if any).

• Content required in the bid evaluation report

11. What is the cost of submitting a bid on the new National Online Bidding System?

Answer: According to point b, clause 9, Article 14 of Decree 214/2025/ND-CP, the specific regulations on the cost of submitting bid documents on the National Online Bidding System are as follows:

• 330,000 VNĐ per bid package (including value-added tax) for open bidding, limited bidding, and online bidding under the normal procedure.

• 220,000 VNĐ per bid package (including value-added tax) for competitive bidding.

Above are 11 frequently asked questions related to bidding documents that DauThau.info has compiled and answered. We hope this information will help your business better understand current regulations and provide a basis for effectively handling situations that arise during the preparation and participation in bidding processes.

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