One responsive bid

One responsive bid describes a competitive solicitation in which only a single bid complies with the solicitation and meets all of its mandatory evaluation criteria. Other bids may have been received, but they were found non-responsive. The one that remains is the sole responsive bid.

The expression comes from Canadian federal procurement practice. A responsive bid is one that satisfies the mandatory requirements set out in the solicitation. When only one bid clears that bar, Canada may ask the bidder to justify its price before a contract is awarded. The standard bid template used on CanadaBuys sets out how a bid is declared responsive.

What makes a bid responsive under federal solicitations

In a competitive federal requirement, a bid must comply with the solicitation and meet all mandatory technical evaluation criteria to be declared responsive. Failing a single mandatory requirement can make a bid non-responsive, and a non-responsive bid is not considered further.

Some requests for proposals add a second hurdle. A bid must also reach a minimum overall technical score on the rated criteria before it counts as responsive, as in this Natural Resources Canada RFP. A bid can therefore pass every mandatory item and still fall out if it misses the minimum score.

Price justification for a sole responsive bidder

Federal solicitations state that a sole responsive bidder may be required to provide price justification at Canada's request. The request for proposals 100023331 contains this wording.

Another federal RFP gives examples of acceptable support:

• a current published price list showing the discount available to Canada
• invoices for comparable goods or services sold to other customers

Without competing responsive bids, Canada has no price comparison, so it asks the supplier for evidence instead.

How the award method shapes the outcome

The evaluation method in the solicitation determines how a responsive bid is selected, and so what happens when only one remains.

• Temporary help, right-fit method: a bid must comply with the solicitation, meet all mandatory criteria and satisfy the pricing rules. If only one bid is responsive to the mandatory technical criteria, the identified user should determine that it represents fair market value before awarding a contract. See the temporary help at-a-glance page.
• Lowest price responsive: the responsive bid with the lowest total evaluated price is selected, as described in the PSPC competitive method document.
• Rated criteria: the contract may go to the responsive bid with the highest combined technical-and-price rating, using a stated ratio, rather than to the lowest price. This is shown in RFP 100024134.

A documented example

PSPC fairness-monitoring reporting records a procurement where two bids were received and only one met the mandatory and minimum rated requirements. That left one responsive bid. The fairness monitor's report for the Parliamentary Precinct West Sector program shows how such an outcome is recorded.

What one responsive bid means for a supplier

Meeting every mandatory requirement is what keeps a bid in the running, and it can leave you as the only bidder standing. Submit all required information in the prescribed form and follow the pricing and submission rules exactly.

Prepare for the possibility that you will be the sole responsive bidder. Keep a current published price list and invoices for comparable goods or services ready, so you can answer a price justification request quickly. A sole responsive bid is not an automatic award. Canada can still test the price against fair market value before it contracts.