Appeal a tender award
The justification came, you weren't selected, and something doesn't add up. Here is how to read the award notice correctly, assess whether you have grounds for a complaint to the buyer or to KOFA, and act within the 10-day deadline.
The challenge
10-day deadline — and five days gone before you've made up your mind
The standstill period is 10 days from award notice to contract signing. Inside that window you have to read the justification, compare against your own bid, assess the grounds and decide whether to appeal. In practice, half the time is gone before you've gathered what you need.
standstill after award
The deadline to request a temporary injunction or file a complaint before the contract is signed is tight. Once the contract is signed, the chances of reversing it are far lower.
are often vague or thin
Many award notices give little concrete information about why you lost. The first step is often to ask the buyer for a more detailed justification.
when the grounds are solid
A complaint is worth filing when it rests on a concrete breach of the rules, not on dissatisfaction with the result.
Here is how to do it
Structured complaint assessment — within the deadline
A complaint should not be based on emotion. It should be based on an actual assessment of whether the buyer has broken the procurement rules. Tenderen keeps the documents together so you can make that assessment quickly; the legal judgement is yours or your lawyer's.
Request a detailed justification immediately
Send the request the same day you receive the award notice. Every day you wait is a day lost from the standstill period.
Compare bids point by point
Upload the justification next to your own bid and ask Tenderen AI to compare them against the award criteria. Check every point it raises against the documents yourself.
Identify concrete breaches
Conflicts of interest, predetermined outcomes, accepted reservations, errors in the scoring model: list the possible grounds and test each one. Whether a ground holds is a legal judgement.
Build the complaint with the right legal basis
Complaints rest on the procurement regulations and the Public Procurement Act. Tenderen keeps the tender documents, clarifications and your bid in one place; have a lawyer check the legal basis and KOFA practice before you file.
How it works
Three steps from award notice to submitted complaint
Upload the award notice
Tenderen AI reads the justification and your bid and points out where the scoring and your answers seem to differ, with references to the documents.
Assess the grounds for complaint
Go through the possible grounds with the documents in front of you. Tenderen does not search KOFA decisions; check practice at kofa.no or with a lawyer.
File the complaint — or don't
Write the complaint from the facts you have collected, or decide not to, so you don't spend time and money on a complaint that won't succeed.
Complain when you have a case — let it go otherwise
Use the standstill period to assess the grounds properly, and complain only when you have a case.
Standstill period
Tender documents, clarifications and your bid
Check it with a lawyer before you file
Start the assessment the day the notice arrives
Don't talk yourself out of a complaint you should have filed.
Upload the award notice and your bid, and work through the assessment before the standstill period runs out.