Changes to the solicitation

Changes to the solicitation are modifications made to an active bid or proposal request before the closing deadline. They can alter the requirement, the specifications, the participation conditions, the evaluation criteria, the submission requirements or the timetable. Whatever the subject, the change has to reach every prospective bidder through a formal amendment or addendum.

The term is used across public procurement to describe changes to solicitation documents before contract award. Related terms include solicitation amendment, addendum, procurement notice modification and clarification. For a Canadian supplier, the practical point is simple: the solicitation you bid on is the original document plus every amendment issued before closing.

What can change in an active solicitation

An issuing authority can change any part of the solicitation package while the bid period is open. The most common changes fall into a few groups:

• The requirement or technical specifications.
• Participation conditions that determine who may bid.
• Evaluation criteria used to score or rank bids.
• Submission requirements, including format and content.
• The timetable, including issue and closing dates.

A timetable change can stand alone. A NATO NCI Agency amendment notice, for example, changed the anticipated dates for issuing and closing an RFQ and left the other requirements unchanged. The notice is available on the NCI Agency website.

How amendments are issued and recorded

NATO's competitive-procurement procedure says solicitation documentation must address amendment procedures. Amendments are therefore a built-in part of the solicitation process, not an exception to it. The procedure is published on the NATO website.

NATO Allied Command Transformation requests for proposals state that necessary solicitation amendments and addenda are incorporated into the RFP. The same document states that verbal interpretations are not binding. Only a written amendment changes the solicitation, and a conversation with a procurement officer does not. See the Allied Command Transformation RFP for the wording.

Amendments also make changes easy to find. A NATO Allied Command Transformation amendment identifies the changes in red, so bidders can see what differs from the prior version. An example is the first amendment to RFP 026029.

What the Canadian accessible procurement standard says

The Government of Canada's accessible-procurement standard, CAN/ASC-41, addresses this topic in section 13.5, titled "Amending (or modifying) a solicitation." It states that when an inquiry results in a significant change, the remaining bid period should be adjusted if necessary. It also states that an amendment must be issued and communicated to bidders in the required format when solicitation requirements have changed.

Two obligations follow from that text. The issuer must put the change in an amendment, and the issuer must consider whether bidders still have enough time to respond. The full text is in the bidding and contract award section of CAN/ASC-41.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Treat every amendment as part of the solicitation. Monitor the procurement authority's official communications for the full bid period and obtain every amendment issued. Read each one against your draft, then update your pricing, technical response and schedule to match the revised requirements and deadlines.

Submit a bid that conforms to the solicitation as amended. Do not rely on verbal answers, because only written amendments carry weight. The CAN/ASC-41 excerpt covers issuing and communicating amendments and adjusting the bid period. It does not set out a universal acknowledgement procedure, so check each solicitation for its own instructions on confirming receipt of amendments.