Modification and withdrawal of bids

Modification and withdrawal of bids is a supplier's ability to change or retract a bid before the solicitation closes. It operates within the submission rules in the tender notice. The closing time and date is the dividing line: before it, a bidder can revise or pull a submission, and after it, the bid is locked in.

In Canadian federal procurement guidance, modifications are generally not accepted after closing. A bid may be withdrawn before acceptance only when it contains a significant and demonstrable error that has been disclosed to the contracting authority. The term is closely related to bid amendments, bid closing, irrevocable bids and bid errors, and it comes from the contract-law question of when a bid becomes a binding offer.

What federal policy says about changes before closing

Treasury Board's former Contracting Policy stated that bids could customarily be modified or withdrawn before the closing time and date, provided the notification was in writing. The same policy is the source for the rule that modifications are not acceptable once bidding has closed. You can read the policy text on the Treasury Board policy site.

Current supplier guidance from Public Services and Procurement Canada says the same thing in practical terms. A bidder can modify and resubmit a bid until the tender is closed, and must follow the tender notice for any amendments, including changed closing instructions. See the bidding guidance on Canada.ca.

What happens after the closing time

Government guidance states that bids will not be accepted after the date and time indicated in the solicitation. The How the government buys page sets out this deadline rule, and it applies to revised bids as well as first submissions.

Withdrawal after closing is much narrower than withdrawal before it. The former Contracting Policy allowed a bid containing a significant and demonstrable error to be withdrawn before acceptance, as long as the error was made known to the contracting authority. A change of mind, a pricing reassessment or a lost subcontractor does not fit that description.

Solicitation-specific submission rules

Individual opportunities on CanadaBuys can add detail. One federal offer-to-purchase notice allowed bids to be revised by email before closing. It required a price modification to state only the increase or decrease, and not to disclose either the original or the revised total price. Non-compliant proposals were to be discarded automatically. The wording is in the offer-to-purchase notice.

Archived federal contracting guidance describes similar discipline for trade tenders submitted through a bid depository. Amendments must reach the depository before its closing time, post-closing changes are prohibited, and late withdrawals are limited to substantial demonstrable error. The guidance is available in the archived Treasury Board document.

Not the same as withdrawing a standing offer

Withdrawing a bid should not be confused with withdrawing a standing offer after award. CanadaBuys guidance says standing offers commonly require an offeror to give 30 days' written notice of its intent to withdraw. Call-ups received before the effective withdrawal date remain legally binding. The details are in the CanadaBuys guidance on revising standing offers.

What this means for a supplier

• Submit any revised bid before the exact closing time, through the method the solicitation specifies.
• Withdraw before closing, using the written or electronic notice procedure the tender requires.
• Label a modification as the solicitation directs, and do not disclose pricing information where the rules forbid it.
• Check every amendment to the tender notice, since closing instructions can change.
• Do not attempt to modify a bid after closing unless the solicitation expressly permits it.
• If you find a significant error, notify the contracting authority promptly and be ready to demonstrate the error.