How to read RFP and tender requirements
RFP requirements (and tender requirements) are the rules and asks in the pack: what you must lodge, what is scored, and what is only admin. Sort them before you write so you do not invent answers for the wrong job.
Key takeaways
- Requirements are not one list: separate mandatory gates, scored answers, and admin rules.
- Must / shall / mandatory wording is your first compliance pass.
- Should / may is not the same risk as must, but still respond to scored preferences.
- Unclear items belong in clarification, not in a guess inside the bid.
- A [compliance matrix](/guides/compliance-matrix) is how you track coverage once you have sorted the list.
- Buyers write requirements. Suppliers read and respond to them.
What RFP and tender requirements are
RFP requirements are the conditions, specifications, evaluation criteria, and returnable schedules in a request for proposal. Tender requirements are the same job under public-sector wording (RFT / ITT): what a conforming response must include and how it will be judged.
People also search requirements for rfp when they mean either writing a buyer brief or decoding a pack they received. This page is for suppliers reading a pack: how to extract and classify what you must do.
If you skip this step, teams often draft a long methodology and still fail on a missing form, wrong file name, or unread mandatory insurance limit.
Requirement triage board
Paste items from the pack, then sort each into mandatory, scored, admin, or unclear. Unclear becomes your clarification list.
Mandatory
1
Scored
1
Admin
1
Unclear
0
Lodge via the portal before the closing time
Describe your delivery methodology
Name files exactly as the checklist specifies
Triage looks clear
Sorted 3 requirements. Build mandatory evidence first, then scored answers, and keep admin rules on the lodge checklist.
Copy triage summary
RFP / tender requirements triage Mandatory: 1 | Scored: 1 | Admin: 1 | Unclear: 0 Mandatory - Lodge via the portal before the closing time Scored - Describe your delivery methodology Admin - Name files exactly as the checklist specifies Unclear (none)
Mandatory, scored, and admin
Mandatory requirements are gates. Miss them and the bid can be set aside before scored quality matters. Examples: lodging channel and time, compulsory forms, minimum insurance, conflict declarations, page or format rules labelled mandatory.
Scored requirements earn marks. Method, team, experience, social value, innovation. You can write a beautiful answer and still lose if a mandatory schedule is blank.
Admin requirements are process rules that do not always look like “evaluation criteria”: file naming, portal upload slots, number of copies, labelling of envelopes or electronic folders. They fail bids quietly.
Unclear means the pack conflicts, omits a definition, or uses wording you cannot price or deliver against. Raise it in the official clarification channel before the question cut-off. Do not resolve it with a private assumption in your method chapter.
An rfp requirements example for a supplier is not a fake company answer. It is a short sorted list from a real pack: three mandatory items, two scored criteria, one admin rule, and one unclear item headed for clarification.
Must / shall / should highlighter
Paste a short clause. Hard obligations, softer preferences, and permissions are flagged so you do not treat every sentence as the same risk.
Highlighted text
The Tenderer must lodge via the portal before the closing time. Submissions should be written in English. The Tenderer may propose optional value-adds. Insurance certificates are mandatory. The Commonwealth shall not be obliged to accept the lowest priced tender.
- Hard obligationTreat as binding unless an addendum changes it. Missing this can make the bid non-conforming.
- Soft / preferredStrong guidance, not always a hard gate. Still address it; do not ignore it.
- Permission / optionAllowed or optional. Do not invent a mandatory duty from “may.”
Copy scan summary
Obligation scan Hard: 3 | Soft: 1 | Permission: 2 - [Hard obligation] "must": The Tenderer must lodge via the portal before the closing time. Sub… - [Soft / preferred] "should": …al before the closing time. Submissions should be written in English. The Tenderer may propose o… - [Permission / option] "may": …uld be written in English. The Tenderer may propose optional value-adds. Insurance certificat… - [Permission / option] "optional": …en in English. The Tenderer may propose optional value-adds. Insurance certificates are mandatory.… - [Hard obligation] "mandatory": …value-adds. Insurance certificates are mandatory. The Commonwealth shall not be obliged to accept… - [Hard obligation] "shall not": …ficates are mandatory. The Commonwealth shall not be obliged to accept the lowest priced tender. Hard wording is your first compliance pass. Soft wording still needs a response. Permissions are not duties.
Where requirements hide in the pack
Do not rely on the evaluation criteria table alone. Scan:
1. Instructions to tenderers / conditions of tendering
2. Statement of requirements or specification
3. Returnable schedules and forms list
4. Draft contract and schedules (especially if a statement of compliance points there)
5. Addenda and published clarification answers
6. Portal checklist and file rules
Then put the extract into a compliance matrix or your triage export so owners can clear gaps. For pursue / decline timing, see how to evaluate a tender. For drafting after the list is clear, see how to respond to an RFP.
First-pass reading order
Closing date, time, and timezone
Clarification question cut-off
Lodging channel and mandatory file rules
Returnable schedules list
Evaluation criteria and weights
Minimum insurance / licences / clearances
Every addendum issued so far
Buyer vs supplier jobs
Buyers write RFP requirements: scope, rules, criteria, and forms. Searches like “how to write RFP requirements” are that lane.
Suppliers read those requirements, clarify ambiguity, and respond with evidence. Mixing the jobs wastes time: a supplier should not redesign the buyer’s brief inside the bid.
If you are the buyer, this page still helps you see how suppliers will parse your wording: hard musts get treated as gates; vague shoulds get debated in clarification.
Soft product path: Proposit helps teams check what a pack requires against their own documents before they write. Request access if that matches how you bid.
Tip
When wording fights itself
If one schedule says mandatory and another says optional for the same item, do not pick the easier reading. Ask through the official channel and wait for an addendum or published answer.
FAQ
They are the rules and asks in a request for proposal: mandatory conditions, specifications, evaluation criteria, and returnable schedules. Tender requirements are the same idea under RFT or ITT wording.
That is usually the buyer’s task: define scope, mandatory rules, evaluation, timelines, and forms clearly. Suppliers should not rewrite the brief; they should extract and respond to it. If you are buying, keep mandatory gates explicit and share clarifications with all tenderers.
A practical supplier checklist covers closing time, clarification cut-off, returnables, mandatory evidence, scored criteria, admin file rules, and addenda. The triage board on this page is one way to build that list from the pack.
The buyer or their procurement adviser. Suppliers create the response, not the RFP itself.
An RFI (request for information) usually gathers market information and is lighter than an RFP. An RFP sets requirements for a formal proposal that may lead to award. Read the pack: if it scores a solution and asks for price, treat it closer to an RFP even if the email says RFI.
Examples include mandatory portal lodgement by a stated close time, a completed pricing schedule, minimum insurance limits, and scored methodology questions. Sort each example as mandatory, scored, or admin before you draft.
Early access
Know what the pack requires before you write
Join the list for Proposit early access.
Proposit helps teams check coverage against a tender pack using their own documents. Request access if that matches how you bid.