Insights
Why you lost the bid, and how to find out for sure
You lost. The notice of intent to award names someone else, and the instinct is to assume they were cheaper. Sometimes they were. Just as often you were thrown out at opening for a missing form, or you scored 14 points lower on references, or the winner's price was higher and they still won on the rubric. You cannot know which without asking, and in public procurement you have the right to ask.
This is how to find out: what the tabulation tells you, what a debrief is and who has to give you one, the questions worth asking, and how the answer changes your next bid.
On this page
The short version
- The bid tabulation is public and usually posted with the award recommendation. Read it before you request anything: it tells you whether you lost on price, on score, or at opening.
- Federal rules give you 3 days to request a debrief and the agency 5 days to hold it (FAR 15.506). State and local rules vary; most agencies will debrief on request, and public records law gets you the rest.
- Ask about your weaknesses, your rank, the winner's evaluated price and technical rating. Do not ask for a comparison with other bidders; they cannot give you one.
- A debrief request is not a protest. Request the debrief on the day the notice posts, and calendar the protest deadline separately: Florida gives 72 hours.
Start with the tabulation
Most agencies post a bid tabulation or evaluation summary with the award recommendation, either on the portal or in the board packet. It answers the first question: were you rejected, outpriced or outscored?
| Bidder | Responsive | Price | Technical score (60) | Price score (40) | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bidder A (awarded) | Yes | $168,400 | 54 | 36.9 | 90.9 | 1 |
| You | Yes | $155,200 | 44 | 40.0 | 84.0 | 2 |
| Bidder C | No, addendum 2 not acknowledged | $149,900 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Bidder D | Yes | $191,000 | 51 | 32.5 | 83.5 | 3 |
Read this one carefully, because it is the common shape. You were the lowest responsive price and took full price points. You still lost by seven points, all of them technical. Bidder C was cheaper than everyone and never got scored. Whatever you write next, it is not a pricing problem. It is a ten-point gap on references, approach or staffing, and the debrief will tell you which.
Debrief rights by jurisdiction
Federal procurement has a codified debrief. State and local procurement mostly does not, but two other doors are open: the agency's own protest procedure, which usually requires it to explain the evaluation, and public records law, which makes the winning proposal and the score sheets public after award.
| Jurisdiction | What you are entitled to | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Federal (FAR 15.506) | A postaward debriefing covering your significant weaknesses, the awardee's evaluated price and technical rating, your rank and the award rationale | Request within 3 days of notice; agency should hold it within 5 days of the request |
| Florida | Notice of intent posted publicly; score sheets and proposals are public records under Chapter 119 | Notice of protest within 72 hours of posting, formal protest within 10 days after that (s. 120.57(3)) |
| Virginia | Bidders may inspect bid records after opening and before award; offerors may inspect proposal records after evaluation and before award (Va. Code 2.2-4342). Line-item and total prices cannot be withheld | Before award, on request; all records public after award |
| Washington (state agencies) | DES procedures provide a debrief conference to unsuccessful bidders before a protest can be filed; check the solicitation for the exact business-day windows | Short: a few business days after the apparent successful bidder is announced |
| Texas | No statutory debrief; evaluation records are obtainable through a Public Information Act request after award | Agency has 10 business days to respond to the request |
| Most other states and localities | No codified right, but purchasing will usually meet on request; the solicitation or the local procurement code says | Ask in writing the day the notice posts |
The pattern: request in writing, immediately, on the day the notice of intent posts, even if you have not decided whether you care. The window closes fast and a request costs nothing. The full procedure is in how to request a debrief after losing a bid.
What to ask, and what they cannot tell you
A debrief is not a negotiation and not a complaint. It is a request for the evaluators' view of your response. Ask:
- Where did we lose points, criterion by criterion, and what would a full-score answer have contained?
- Were any of our references unreachable or unfavorable?
- Was anything in our response unclear, missing or non-compliant, even if it did not disqualify us?
- What was the awardee's evaluated price and overall technical rating?
- What was our rank?
- What was the deciding factor in the award recommendation?
They will not, and mostly cannot, give you a point-by-point comparison with other bidders, another bidder's cost breakdown, or anything marked as a trade secret. Do not ask; it signals a protest and closes the conversation. If you want the winning proposal, request it under public records law after award, which in most states is your right.
The four reasons bids lose, and the cure for each
| What the tabulation shows | What it usually means | What changes next time |
|---|---|---|
| Non-responsive at opening | Missing addendum acknowledgment, wrong bond amount, unsigned form, missed mandatory pre-bid | A compliance matrix walked by two people on submission morning. See how to build an RFP compliance matrix |
| Lowest technical score, competitive price | Generic narrative, weak or private-sector references, no named staff | Map the narrative to the rubric; build three public references before the next bid. See how to write an RFP response that scores |
| High technical score, lost on price | Price formula-scored; you were 8 to 15 percent above the winner | Check whether the winner's price is sustainable; if it is, decide whether this buyer is worth chasing at that margin |
| Close on everything, incumbent won | Past performance with this agency scored where yours could not | Position for the next recompete: quote their below-threshold work now. See government contract renewals and option years: why public work compounds |
How one loss should change the next bid
Keep a one-page loss record per bid: agency, scope, your price, the winner's price, your score by criterion, the evaluators' stated weaknesses, and the one thing you will do differently. After five losses the pattern is obvious and it is almost never price.
Two things to calendar the moment you lose. First, the protest deadline, which is separate from the debrief and can be as short as 72 hours; do not file one on instinct, but know when the option expires. See how to file a bid protest. Second, the contract's end date. The award you just lost has a term, and the recompete is now a known event with a known incumbent and a known winning price. That is the best-qualified opportunity on your list.
Want these found and written for you?
We request the debrief on every bid we write for a client, sit in on it, and fold the answers into the next response. That is how a company's win rate moves from the teens to the forties over a year. If you have a loss you cannot explain, book a fit call and bring the tabulation; we will read it with you.
Common questions
Do I have a right to a debrief on a city or school district bid?
Usually not a statutory one, but almost always a practical one. Most purchasing offices will meet or write back on request, the local protest procedure requires them to explain a challenged evaluation, and public records law makes the scoring sheets and winning proposal available after award. Ask in writing the day the notice of intent posts.
Can I see the winning bid?
After award, yes, in nearly every state, through a public records request. Trade secrets a bidder marked may be redacted, but pricing generally cannot be: Virginia, for one, prohibits withholding line-item or total prices. Before award, access varies; Virginia allows inspection of bid records after opening, while many states seal everything until the award is made.
Is requesting a debrief the same as protesting?
No. A debrief is a request for information and carries no consequence. A protest is a formal challenge with a deadline, a filing requirement and often a bond. Federally, a required debrief must happen before a GAO protest can be filed, and the protest clock runs from it. At state and local level the two run in parallel, so calendar both.
The winner was more expensive than us. How is that allowed?
On an RFP it is normal. Price is one scored criterion, often 30 to 40 percent, and the award goes to the highest total score. On a sealed bid (IFB or ITB) the award must go to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder, so a higher-priced winner there means you were found non-responsive or not responsible, and you should ask which.
Sources
- FAR 15.506, Postaward debriefing of offerors
- Florida Statutes 120.57(3), additional procedures for protests to contract solicitation or award
- Va. Code 2.2-4342, Public inspection of certain records
- Washington RCW 39.26, Procurement of goods and services (protest process)
- Texas Government Code Chapter 552, Public Information Act