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Lost a tender? Ask why.

Fill this in and get a letter asking the buyer why your bid lost, how it scored and where your price ranked. Check your tender's terms and send it soon: the government's model quote terms give you 10 business days to accept a debrief once it's offered, and Rule 33's 30 business days can run from the contract signing.

Free: all of it. Runs on your device.Nothing you type is sent to us or stored, and there are no cookies. You read the letter and send it yourself. A debrief won't change the result, and it can't tell you another bidder's confidential information. Information, not legal advice.

The tender

Do the Government Procurement Rules cover it?

These are the government's own rules for how its agencies buy.

The threshold is a total cost over the contract's life of $9 million for new construction, and $100,000 for refurbishment, goods and services. "Not sure" is a fine answer.

What to ask

The letter always asks for the reasons, how you did against the criteria, and what the winner did better. Also ask:

From

Your letter

The buyer's email address, for the email button.
Changing the form writes a fresh letter, so make your edits here last.

Where this comes from (read 3 Nov 2026)

  • Rule 33, Debriefing suppliers: agencies must offer each unsuccessful supplier a debrief, and must debrief suppliers that ask within 30 business days of the contract being signed or of the request, whichever is earlier. It covers the reasons, how the proposal did against the criteria or pre-conditions, the relative advantages of the successful proposal, and the supplier's concerns and questions. On panel quotes a debrief is good practice. Agencies must not disclose another supplier's confidential or commercially sensitive information. procurement.govt.nz.
  • Application of the Rules: which agencies must apply them, which treat them as good practice guidance, and the $9 million and $100,000 whole-of-life thresholds. procurement.govt.nz.
  • Guide, Debriefing unsuccessful suppliers: agencies can't give detailed pricing, but can say where a supplier ranked on total cost. procurement.govt.nz.
  • Model RFQ Terms, version 2.1, August 2025, clause 5.10: the buyer will offer a debrief, the respondent has 10 business days from that offer to accept, and the buyer gives it within 30 business days. These apply only where a buyer uses those terms, so check yours. procurement.govt.nz.

Got your debrief back?

We're looking at reading debriefs against the bid and listing what to fix next time. It isn't available yet, and it can't promise a win. Want to know if it opens? Email us.

Email us