The cheapest bid looks risky. How should we evaluate it?
Price-only procurement decisionCompare capability, delivery assumptions, lifecycle cost, support, and relevant risk using the approved evaluation process. A low initial price is not automatically the lowest-cost usable outcome.
What to do now
- Confirm mandatory requirements
- Evaluate evidence against consistent criteria
- Clarify material assumptions and exclusions
- Document the authorized selection rationale
When to escalate
Escalate when
The bid fails a mandatory requirement or contains unexplained material risk.
Who decides
The authorized procurement or commercial owner
Example
A low bid is assessed for missing support and migration work before its apparent saving is accepted.
Mistake to avoid
Changing evaluation criteria after seeing preferred prices.
Prevent a repeat
Compare supplier evidence with agreed obligations; refer contract interpretation and remedies to qualified owners.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Vendors
- Documents
- Tasks
- Approvals
Keep supplier commitments and evidence linked to the project, assign follow-up work, and route commercial decisions to authorized owners. See the platform
Related cases
- How do we evaluate vendor performance fairly?Inconsistent supplier assessment
- The procurement process will finish after the required start date. What can we do?Procurement lead-time mismatch
- How do we manage changes in a fixed-price contract?Commercial change boundary
- Testing is scheduled only at the end. How can we reduce risk now?Late quality feedback