Mandatory vs desirable tender requirements: what actually gets a bid excluded

The painful losses aren't the close calls on price. They're the bids that never got scored because a form wasn't signed, a certificate was missing or the upload finished four minutes late.

This guide explains the categories of requirement you'll meet in Australian government and council tenders, which failures are fatal, which can sometimes be fixed, and how to check your bid before you lodge.

The three gates every bid goes through

The words differ between jurisdictions, but the shape is the same. The clearest version is in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs), which federal agencies must follow.

1. Conditions for participation. These are minimum conditions you must show you meet to take part, or for your submission to be considered (CPRs, Appendix B). They must be limited to what ensures a supplier has the legal, commercial, technical and financial abilities to do the work (para 10.14). Typical examples are holding a licence, being registered on a scheme, meeting a financial test, or holding insurance where it's required at tender stage.
2. Minimum content and format requirements. These are criteria your submission itself must meet to be eligible for further consideration (Appendix B). Only submissions that meet them are considered further (para 10.34). Typical examples are using the response form, signing the declaration, lodging by the stated method and following the file format rules.
3. Evaluation. Everything that survives is assessed against the published criteria. The contract goes to a tenderer that satisfies the conditions for participation, is fully capable of doing the contract and offers the best value for money (para 10.35).

State and council processes use different words for the same idea. A NSW council may only consider a tender that was submitted before the deadline, submitted in the way the tender documents specify, and otherwise complies with the tendering rules (Local Government (General) Regulation 2021, s 177(2)). The City of Sydney tells suppliers that a tender that doesn't respond to all mandatory requirements can be marked non-conforming (City of Sydney: submit a tender).

Some of the Commonwealth limits work in your favour. Conditions for participation can require relevant experience, but not previous experience with that agency, with the Australian Government or in a particular location (para 10.15). The buyer must also decide whether you meet them based only on the conditions it actually published (para 10.16).

Decoding the language

Two cautions. First, read the definitions section. Some packs define "Mandatory Requirement" or "Conforming Tender" as capitalised terms, and the definition beats the everyday meaning. Second, should in a specification can still be scored hard. Desirable means you won't be thrown out for missing it. It doesn't mean nobody's counting.

What actually gets bids excluded

1. Lodging late

Under the CPRs, late submissions must not be accepted unless the lateness is a result of the agency's own mishandling (CPR 10.28). A courier you hired doesn't count as agency mishandling (para 10.29), and late submissions should be returned unopened (para 10.30). On AusTender, once an approach to market reaches its closing time, it's no longer possible to lodge a response at all (AusTender: lodge a tender response).

Victoria says late submissions are generally not accepted, unless there are exceptional circumstances (Buying for Victoria).

For NSW councils, the exception is narrow. A council must consider a late tender only if the tenderer satisfies it that the tender was sent in the specified way before the deadline, and would normally have arrived in time (s 177(4)). The City of Sydney puts it bluntly: "Late tenders won't be considered, even if they're lodged only a few minutes late."

The fix is boring and reliable: aim to lodge the day before. Treat the closing time as the last minute the portal works, not the time to start uploading.

2. Lodging the wrong way

Emailing a tender when the portal is required, or using the wrong portal, can end things just as quickly. NSW councils may only consider tenders submitted in the way the documents specify (s 177(2)(b)). If a council receives one before the deadline in the wrong way, it must take reasonable steps to tell the tenderer how to submit (s 177(3)), but that only helps if there's time left to do it. The City of Sydney, for example, doesn't accept tenders by email.

3. Missing, unsigned or altered forms

Under the Commonwealth's standard approach-to-market terms, you must lodge using the response form provided without changing its structure or formatting (ATM Terms, cl 4.2(a)). The buyer may decline to consider a response that can't be read or contains alterations, ambiguity or incomplete details (cl 4.3), and will exclude any response that doesn't meet the minimum content and format requirements and conditions for participation (cl 5.2).

Typical slips include an unsigned tender form or declaration, a pricing schedule converted to PDF when the Excel file was required, and a schedule left blank because "it's in our capability statement".

4. Failing a condition for participation

Examples include a lapsed licence, insurance below the required limit (where it's required at tender), a missing certification that the tender makes pass/fail, or not being registered on a required scheme. If a Commonwealth tender requires a separate registration procedure, the time limit for registering has to be stated in the approach to market (CPR 10.26). Find it on day one. The buyer may also ask you to show you can stay viable for the length of the contract (ATM Terms, cl 5.7).

5. Non-conforming offers

A conforming offer meets the specification and the terms as written. If you want to offer something different, such as another method, different service hours or changes to the contract, check first whether alternatives are allowed. Under the Commonwealth terms, alternative responses are only accepted where the approach to market allows them or the buyer agreed in writing before closing (ATM Terms, cl 4.4).

Where alternatives are allowed, the safe pattern is to lodge a fully conforming offer and then the alternative, separately and clearly labelled. Where they aren't, use the departures schedule if there is one, and keep departures few and specific.

6. Declarations and conduct

A Commonwealth agency may exclude a tenderer for bankruptcy, insolvency, false declarations or significant deficiencies in performing a prior contract (CPR 10.17). NSW agencies may exclude for similar reasons, plus findings of corrupt conduct by ICAC or an equivalent body in the past 10 years, or failing to pay taxes (buy.nsw: evaluation criteria). Giving false or misleading information to the Commonwealth is a serious offence under section 137.1 of the Criminal Code (ATM Terms, cl 8.1).

Supplier codes of conduct show up as declarations too. Queensland invitation documents require suppliers, at a minimum, to warrant that they comply with the Queensland Government Supplier Code of Conduct (Business Queensland). In Victoria, the separate commitment letter has been dropped, and you commit to the Supplier Code of Conduct when you bid (Buying for Victoria: supplier FAQs).

7. Not being competitive

Under the Commonwealth terms, the buyer may exclude a response at any time if it's clearly not competitive (ATM Terms, cl 5.5). That isn't non-compliance, but the outcome is the same.

What can be fixed after closing, and what can't

Small slips can sometimes be fixed. Where a Commonwealth agency gives tenderers a chance to correct unintentional errors of form, it must offer that chance equitably to all tenderers (CPR 10.33). A NSW council may let a tenderer clarify its tender or correct a mistake or anomaly, but it can't consider a variation that would substantially alter the original tender (s 176). The Commonwealth terms allow clarification and negotiation, but not substantial alteration of a response (ATM Terms, cl 4.7).

Don't plan on any of this. The buyer decides whether to ask for a clarification. You can't insist on one.

Worked example: four clauses from a fictional council RFT

Wattle Creek Shire Council is a fictional NSW council running RFT 2026-14, Cleaning of Council Facilities. Here's how four of its clauses decode.

9.1 The Tenderer must hold public liability insurance of not less than $20 million for any one occurrence and must submit a current certificate of currency with its Tender.

This is mandatory, and it creates two separate obligations: hold the cover (log it as Insurance) and lodge the certificate (log it as Returnable). Check the limit, the insured name and the expiry date on the certificate. For Commonwealth procurements, suppliers generally shouldn't be directed to take out insurance until a contract is about to be awarded (CPR 8.4(b)). This is a council tender, though, and it asks at submission. The clause in front of you is what counts.

6.3 Tenderers must complete Schedule 5 (Pricing) in the Excel format provided. Tenders that alter the schedule may be deemed non-conforming.

This is a minimum content and format requirement. Don't add rows, merge cells, rename tabs or send a PDF in its place. If the schedule doesn't fit your pricing model, ask a question before the deadline.

4.4 Attendance at the site inspection is mandatory. Tenders from parties who did not attend will not be considered.

In practice, this is a condition for participation. Log it twice: a Date row for the inspection and a Mandatory row for attending. Sign the attendance register on the day.

8.4 Council will regard favourably Tenderers certified to ISO 14001 or holding an equivalent environmental management system.

This is desirable and scored, probably under a sustainability or methodology criterion. If you're not certified, describe the environmental procedures you actually run, with evidence. Don't imply a certification you don't hold.

Desirable requirements: where the points are

• Answer every desirable item. Silence usually scores zero.
• Map each one to the criterion it's scored under, and spend your effort in proportion to the weighting.
• Prove it. A completed project, a procedure, a named person or a number beats adjectives.
• Be straight about gaps. If you don't hold something, say what you do have and when you'll have the rest.

If you'd rather not sort every clause by hand, FileAI's tender pack breakdown lists every mandatory requirement, returnable, insurance, certification, key date and evaluation criterion in one checked spreadsheet, for A$79 per tender pack, with each row linked to its page.

A 10-minute exclusion check before you lodge

1. The lodgement method and portal are the ones the tender specifies, and you're uploading at least a day early.
2. Every Mandatory row in your compliance matrix has its evidence attached.
3. Every returnable is present, named as instructed and in the required format.
4. Forms are unaltered, signed by an authorised person and dated.
5. Pricing is complete and set out as required. The Commonwealth terms, for example, require GST-exclusive, GST and GST-inclusive amounts (ATM Terms, cl 4.2(d)).
6. Insurance certificates are current, in the tendering entity's name and at the required limits. The insurance and certification checklist covers what to look for.
7. Licences and certifications are current through the closing date.
8. Addenda are acknowledged wherever the form asks for it.
9. Departures appear only in the departures schedule, not scattered through your answers.
10. On AusTender, you didn't close the browser until the on-screen receipt appeared (AusTender). Save the receipt.

Sources

• Department of Finance, Commonwealth Procurement Rules (17 November 2025), paras 8.4, 10.14–10.17, 10.26, 10.28–10.30, 10.33–10.35 and Appendix B
• Department of Finance, Commonwealth Approach to Market Terms, version 10.0 (November 2025)
• AusTender, Lodge a tender response
• NSW Legislation, Local Government (General) Regulation 2021, Part 7 Tendering, ss 176–177
• buy.nsw, Tender evaluation criteria
• City of Sydney, Submit a tender
• Buying for Victoria, Submit a tender or quote
• Buying for Victoria, Supplier Code of Conduct: supplier FAQs
• Business Queensland, Queensland Government Supplier Code of Conduct

This guide is general information, not legal or procurement advice. Always follow the conditions of the specific tender you're responding to.