Bid Evaluation Report (BER)

A Bid Evaluation Report (BER) is the official written record produced by the contracting authority's evaluation committee after completing the assessment of all bids received in a competitive procurement process. It documents every step of the evaluation and justifies the recommended award.

What is a Bid Evaluation Report?

The BER captures the evaluation committee's work from bid-opening through to award recommendation. For each bid received, it records: the result of the preliminary examination (administrative and eligibility checks), the responsiveness determination (whether the bid is a responsive-bid or a non-responsive-bid and why), any minor-deviation identified and how they were treated, the financial evaluation with any corrections and adjustments, the application of domestic preferences or other adjustment factors, and the final ranking of evaluated bids with the recommended award. For quality-and-cost selections, the BER also contains the technical evaluation scores and the combined scoring matrix.

For contracts financed by multilateral development banks and subject to prior-review, the BER is submitted to the financing institution as part of the no-objection request before award is made. The institution reviews the report to confirm the evaluation was conducted in accordance with agreed procedures.

Why Bid Evaluation Report matters for bidders

Losing bidders are often entitled to receive a copy of the BER or a summary of it, which is the primary source of feedback on why their bid was not selected. Reading the BER critically allows suppliers to understand whether they were eliminated for responsiveness reasons (a process failure they can control next time), priced uncompetitively (a commercial lesson), or simply outscored on technical criteria (a proposal quality lesson). In some frameworks, the BER is the document a bidder must reference when filing a protest or complaint, making it essential evidence in a review process.

FAQ

Is the BER a public document?

Typically not in full, but losing bidders usually have a right to request information about the evaluation of their own bid and the basis for the award decision. Full BER disclosure rules vary by institution and country law.

Who signs the BER?

All members of the evaluation committee, plus the committee chairperson, sign the BER, which creates individual accountability for the findings and recommendations it contains.

Can the contracting authority deviate from the BER's recommendation?

In most procurement frameworks, the approving authority must follow the evaluation committee's recommendation unless it has grounds to reject all bids or refer the matter for review. Overriding a BER recommendation without documented justification is a procurement irregularity.