Tender Covering Letter
Accompanies a bid submission.
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Dear Sir / Madam,
We submit our bid against tender no. [tender no.] for [work or supply].
Enclosed with this letter: [list of enclosures]. We confirm that we have read and accept the terms and conditions of the tender document without deviation.
We confirm the bid is valid for the period stipulated, that the information furnished is true, and that we have not been debarred by any authority. We would welcome the opportunity to clarify anything during evaluation.
What is a Tender Covering Letter?
A tender covering letter is the first page an evaluator sees. It confirms which tender you are bidding for, that you accept the conditions, that the submission is complete, and that the person signing has authority to bind your organisation. It matters because bids are disqualified on form long before anyone reads the price. A covering letter that fails a compliance check costs you the whole opportunity and the weeks of work behind it.
Construction and civil engineering contractors submit them with every public works bid. IT suppliers use them on framework and call-off competitions. Consultancies, cleaning and catering companies, medical equipment suppliers and NGOs bidding for grant-funded delivery all produce them. So do subcontractors bidding to a main contractor. In each case the letter is read by an evaluator working through a compliance checklist, and the questions being asked are narrow: is this the right tender, is it signed by the right person, and is everything on the list actually here.
Public procurement is heavily rule-bound and the rules differ. The EU procurement directives and their national implementations, the UK's Procurement Act 2023 regime, India's General Financial Rules with GeM and central vigilance guidance plus separate state rules, the Federal Acquisition Regulation for United States federal contracting alongside state and local codes, and Canada's trade agreement obligations all impose different requirements on bid validity, bid security or earnest money, signing authority, electronic signature and conflict of interest declarations. More importantly, the instructions in the tender document itself govern, and they override any general format you find anywhere.
The covering letter does not replace any mandated form. Where the tender supplies a bid letter, form of tender or declaration in a prescribed format, that form must be used and yours sits alongside it. The letter is not the technical or financial proposal, and in most sealed-bid procurements it must contain no pricing at all. It does not create a contract, and it does not cure a missing document, an unsigned page or a late submission — none of which are usually forgivable.
What to put in a Tender Covering Letter
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Business name | For example: Barton Supply Co. |
| Your address | For example: Unit 7, Barton Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Issuing organisation | For example: Maple Grove Homeowners Association |
| Organisation address | For example: 1420 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Tender no. | For example: 2026/RD/114 |
| Work or supply | For example: supply and installation of warehouse racking |
| Enclosures | For example: technical bid, price bid in a sealed cover, earnest money deposit, and certified copies… |
| Signatory name optional | For example: K. Srinivasa Rao |
| Signatory designation optional | For example: Honorary Secretary |
| Issued to (full name) | For example: James Whitfield |
| Their address | For example: 588 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
How to write a Tender Covering Letter
Quote the tender reference exactly as published
Reproduce the tender or solicitation number, the full title and the issuing authority character for character, including any lot or package number you are bidding for. Evaluators sort submissions by reference, and a transposed digit puts your bid in the wrong pile. If you are bidding for some lots and not others, list precisely which ones, and do not assume silence will be read as a bid for all.
Confirm acceptance of the tender conditions
State that you have read the tender documents, including any addenda or corrigenda issued before the deadline, and that you accept the conditions without qualification. List the addenda by number and date, because failing to acknowledge one is a standard disqualification. If you must take exception to a condition, do it where the tender tells you to record deviations, not in the covering letter, and check whether deviations are permitted at all.
List the enclosures in the order requested
Set out every document in the pack, numbered in the same sequence the tender instructions use, with the number of pages or copies where that is specified. Evaluators tick against their own list, and a submission that arrives in a different order takes longer to check and invites errors. Where a document is not applicable, say so explicitly rather than leaving a silent gap in the sequence.
State bid validity and bid security details
Confirm that your offer remains open for the period the tender requires, using the same number of days it specifies, and give the details of any bid security, earnest money deposit or bid bond: instrument type, amount, issuing bank, reference number and expiry date. A validity period shorter than required, or a security that expires before the validity does, is a routine cause of rejection.
Sign with the authority the tender demands
Have the letter signed by a person whose authority is documented in the way the tender requires — a board resolution, a power of attorney, an authorised signatory list — and enclose that evidence. Print the name and position under the signature. Where the tender mandates a digital signature or a specific e-procurement portal, use that and no other method, however inconvenient the timing.
Common mistakes
- Putting price information in the covering letter when the tender requires the financial bid to stay in a separate sealed envelope or portal envelope, which is grounds for outright disqualification in many procurements.
- Offering a bid validity period shorter than the tender specifies, so the offer is non-compliant on its face and never reaches evaluation.
- Signing without the documented authority the tender requires, which leaves the bid technically unsigned and rejected at the compliance stage.
- Failing to acknowledge an addendum issued during the tender period, which suggests you bid on superseded documents and is treated as a material deviation.
- Submitting by email when the tender mandates a portal, so the bid is never formally received no matter how far in advance it was sent.
Frequently asked questions
What is a tender covering letter?
It is the introductory letter accompanying a bid, confirming which tender you are responding to, that you accept the conditions and any addenda, what documents are enclosed, how long your offer stays open, and who is authorised to sign. It is a compliance document rather than a sales document, and evaluators read it against a checklist rather than for persuasion.
Should the covering letter include the price?
Only if the tender instructions require it, and in most sealed-bid procurements they expressly prohibit it, because technical and financial submissions are evaluated separately. Including a price where it is not permitted commonly leads to disqualification. Read the instructions to bidders on this specific point before drafting, and follow them exactly rather than following a template you used on another tender.
Who should sign a tender covering letter?
Someone whose authority to bind the organisation is documented in the form the tender requires — often a director acting under a board resolution, or an attorney under a power of attorney. Many tenders require that evidence to be enclosed. Check the instructions, because a bid signed by a manager without documented authority can be rejected regardless of its merits.
How long should a tender cover letter be?
One page, or two at most. It exists to establish compliance, not to argue your case, and evaluators are checking specific items against a list rather than reading it as a proposal. Your capability, methodology and pricing belong in the sections of the submission that carry evaluation marks, where the scoring criteria actually reward them.
What is bid validity in a tender?
It is the period during which your offer stays open for the buyer to accept, counted from the submission deadline and stated in the tender documents. Bids offering a shorter period are usually rejected as non-compliant. Buyers sometimes request an extension if evaluation runs long, and where bid security is required its expiry generally has to cover the validity period, so check both dates together.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.