The Law, Politics, And Art Of Specification Writing

By Author: Jared Rowe
Total Articles: 51
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As a buyer tasked with creating specifications for bids on goods and services your agency is mandated to provide to your constituents, you face a legal and political task that requires artful execution. Legally, you must be sure to state clearly and specifically what is necessary. Politically, you must avoid bias. The art lies between these two extremes.

Some bids, for mundane items such as copier paper, would seem to be fairly straightforward. But even here, the law and politics apply. For example, if your agency is required by law to provide copier paper made with a certain percentage of recycled materials, you must reveal this fact in the specification in order to be sure all respondents have an equal opportunity to respond competitively. To omit such a fact could create a political firestorm after contract award if it is discovered that the selected vendor does not in fact offer a product that meets the letter of the law. The onus is on the buyer to be certain all legal requirements are revealed in the specification.

Good specifications also prevent issues such as bid protests after award. Bid protests often ...
... allege bias toward one vendor, particularly where the language used to describe the needed goods or services is proprietary or originated by one vendor. It is common for states to create hurdles to vet vendors by requiring all or nothing statements: “Our firm can meet or exceed all specifications as written within…” This type of language prevents consideration of vendors who would respond to just 60% of a bid knowing they are unable to provide the other 40%, making the procurement officer’s job easier.

However, this type of language can also be a barrier to innovation, technical progress, or new methodologies of service delivery. Take a recent incident where highly specific language steered only certain vendors to apply for a particular contract opportunity. A large, successful vendor was unhappy about the Invitation for Bids (IFB) for the statewide email system, saying the way it was written slanted results toward Microsoft products because of how narrowly the specifications were written. In this case, unnecessarily narrow bid specifications may have resulted in fewer competitive bids from vendors who might have provided more innovative and complete solutions.

The best advice about writing bid specifications may not ultimately be legal or political, but journalistic. Ask who, what, when, where, why, and how about each specification. And edit the final draft wearing your legal and political glasses to create a procurement masterpiece!

Based in American Fork, Utah, BidSync offers a comprehensive array of purchasing and electronic procurement solutions for government agencies and businesses across North America. BidSync's bid notification system helps vendors to identify, respond to, and win government bid opportunities that grow their businesses.