Skip to main content
Tender queries are the control point for clarifications. In enterprise tenders, queries need assignment, drafted responses, approvals, duplicate checks, consistency checks, amendment tracking, and a closed record before award. TruBuild’s tender query workflow is built around a package-level query register, not an informal notes list. Every query carries its own status, owner, approver, due date, and audit history, so the team can always answer the two questions that matter in a tender audit: what was asked, and what was answered.

Who this is for

Anyone with package access can open the query register and read queries. Creating queries, drafting, and editing responses require edit access on the package, and only the query’s designated approver can approve a response for issue.

What you need

A package and one query source is enough to start. The richer the package context, the sharper the drafting and consistency checks.

What you get

  • A package query register with search, filters, and bulk actions
  • Import from Excel, CSV, PDF, and Word with duplicate detection
  • AI draft responses with an RFP coverage check before drafting
  • Consistency checks scoring each response against the RFP and prior answers
  • A controlled status flow from Pending to Closed, with a designated approver step
  • Amendment flagging and one-click tender circular generation (Word)
  • Response documents per query and a multi-sheet Excel report
  • A full audit history and comment thread on every query

Before TruBuild

1

Queries arrive scattered

Bidders send questions by email, through the tender portal, and in pre-bid meeting minutes, often several versions of the same question in different words.
2

Someone compiles the register

A coordinator copies everything into a master spreadsheet and deduplicates by hand. 1-2 days per batch.
3

Answers are drafted from memory

Whoever is available drafts a response, often without re-reading the relevant RFP section or checking what was already told to another bidder.
4

Approval happens in email chains

Draft answers bounce between the technical lead, the QS, and the client until someone declares them final. There is no record of who signed off.
5

Answers go out bidder by bidder

Responses are emailed individually. Answers that change the tender basis are supposed to become a circular to all bidders, but often never do.
Pain points:
  • Queries sit unanswered in inboxes with no due-date tracking
  • Contradictory answers go to different bidders (a fairness and audit problem)
  • No single source of truth for “what was asked, what was answered, who approved it”
  • Amendments implied by answers never make it into a formal circular

With TruBuild

1

Import the query register

Bring in bidder questions from Excel, CSV, PDF, or Word, or add them manually. TruBuild parses the file, previews the rows, and flags duplicates.
2

Assign and categorize

Route each query to its owner with a category, priority, and due date.
3

Draft with context

Use RFP context, prior response history, and AI drafting to prepare a controlled response, then run a consistency check.
4

Approve before issue

Move responses through the designated approver before marking them sent.
5

Issue circulars and close

Flag answers that change the tender basis as amendments, generate the tender circular, and close each query with a reason.

Step-by-step inside the app

1. Open the package query register

From the package, open the tender queries area. The register is package-scoped, so queries stay tied to the contractor list, package documents, and award record. The dashboard at the top shows Total Queries, Pending, Approved, Sent, Closed, Overdue, and At Risk counts. Below the cards you get volume by category and status, an expandable workload-by-assignee breakdown, a knowledge base match rate, and average and maximum response times in hours.
At Risk counts queries due within 2 days. Check it daily during the clarification window; it is your early warning before queries tip into Overdue.

2. Import or create queries

1

Upload the source files

Upload Excel, CSV, PDF, or Word files containing bidder questions. You can upload batches of files at once.
2

Review the parsed rows

TruBuild detects the format and extracts the queries. For spreadsheets, it auto-detects column headers and maps them to query text, tenderer name, category, priority, and due date. Confirm or adjust the mappings, and edit any row before confirming the import.
3

Resolve duplicates

The import flags potential duplicate queries and shows a duplicates-found count. Merge them or keep them separate. Duplicates are common when several bidders ask the same thing in different words.
You can also add a single query manually, for example one received by email or through a tender portal.

3. Categorize and assign

Each query carries:
  • Tenderer name: the bidder asking the question
  • Query number: sequential, auto-assigned or from your import
  • Category: Technical, Commercial, Contractual, or General
  • Priority: Low, Medium, or High
  • Assigned to: the responder who owns the answer
  • Designated approver: who signs off before issue
  • Due date: the response deadline from your tender timetable
  • RFP section, drawing, and circular references: optional, but they make audit review far easier
The list view shows a deadline status per query (Overdue, Due Soon, or On Track) alongside the category, priority, and status badges. Filter by status, category, priority, or assignee, or search the query text. Multi-select queries to change status or export in bulk.

4. Draft and check the response

1

Generate or write a draft

Write the response yourself, or click Generate response for an AI draft. Before drafting, TruBuild shows a pre-draft check covering RFP coverage, matching prior responses, and consistency notes, so the responder starts from the right basis. Edit the draft freely; the AI text is a starting point, not the answer.
2

Check RFP coverage

The RFP coverage result shows whether the topic is covered in the tender documents (found, partial, or not found), including the matching section, source document, and excerpt when found. If the RFP does not cover the topic, the answer may need to become an amendment rather than a simple clarification.
3

Check consistency

Click Check consistency to validate the draft against the RFP and prior answers. You get a 0-100 score labelled Good (80 and above), Needs Review (50-80), or Issues Found (below 50), with a list of specific gaps or contradictions. If a prior response to a similar query exists, TruBuild flags it with a preview so you do not contradict an answer already issued.
Contradicting an earlier answer to another bidder is one of the fastest ways to compromise a tender’s fairness record. Treat a Needs Review or Issues Found score as a stop signal, not a formality.

5. Approve, send, and close

1

Submit for approval

Click Submit for approval. The query moves to Pending Approval and the designated approver is notified.
2

Approve

The approver confirms the response is technically, commercially, and contractually safe to issue, then clicks Approve. The response is locked from further edits. If changes are needed, the approver can send it back to the responder instead.
3

Mark as sent

Issue the response through your tender portal, email, or circular process, then click Mark as sent. The issue timestamp is recorded. Use Download Response to generate the Word response document for a single query.
4

Close the query

Click Close query and select a reason: Resolved, Withdrawn, Duplicate, Merged, or Other. Closed queries keep their full history.

Status model

Amendments and tender circulars

Some answers do more than clarify: they change the tender basis. When a bidder-specific answer affects scope, pricing basis, or contract terms, procurement teams normally issue it to all tenderers as a circular or addendum to preserve fairness and equal treatment. TruBuild tracks this inside the query workflow:
1

Flag the amendment

Mark the query as Requires Amendment and add an amendment note describing what changes. Amendment status is tracked as not required, pending, or issued.
2

Generate the tender circular

Click Generate tender circular. TruBuild compiles all pending amendments into a Word document and downloads it automatically. Generation can take a minute; the app shows progress while it runs.
3

Mark amendments as issued

After you distribute the circular, click Mark amendments as issued to bulk-update the pending amendments to issued.

Reporting and exports

The Excel report covers approved and sent responses by default. It includes a KPI summary (SLA compliance rate, average consistency score, total responses), response times by assignee, volume by category and status, weekly received trend, close-reason distribution, per-bidder intelligence (queries raised, answered, pending, average response time), RFP coverage and consistency-score distributions, and a full query data sheet with every field, reference, and timestamp.
The per-bidder sheet is useful evaluation intelligence in its own right. A bidder raising many queries about scope boundaries or BOQ descriptions is often signalling where their price carries assumptions, which is worth checking during commercial evaluation.

Audit history and comments

Every query keeps a timestamped audit trail: creation, assignment, drafts saved, AI drafts generated, consistency checks, submission, approval, sending, closure, amendment flags, and document uploads, each with the acting user. A threaded comment section on each query keeps internal discussion attached to the record instead of scattered across email. This matters at award: when a committee or auditor asks why a response was worded a certain way, the query record shows who drafted, who checked, who approved, and when it went out.

Working with technical evaluation

RFP documents uploaded to tender queries can be reused when setting up a technical evaluation in the same package. During evaluation setup, TruBuild offers to import the RFP documents already held in tender queries, so you upload the tender pack once. See Technical evaluation and Rounds and clarifications for how post-tender clarifications feed evaluation rounds.

How queries fit into construction procurement

Tender queries usually run throughout the whole procurement timetable, not only after evaluation starts.

Query categories

Use categories consistently so the right team owns the answer: If a query spans multiple categories, assign the main owner and note the secondary reviewer in the comments.

Best practices

Do not let questions sit in email while evaluators work from partial information. Import them early so ownership, due dates, and the Overdue and At Risk counters reflect reality.
An approval step invented at issue time is a bottleneck. Set the approver when you assign the query so the workflow is agreed up front.
Prior-answer conflicts are cheap to fix in draft and expensive to fix after issue. Make Check consistency part of the drafting routine, not an occasional extra.
If an answer changes scope, pricing basis, or contract terms for one bidder, all bidders need it. Flag it immediately so it lands in the next tender circular rather than being remembered later.
Do not rescore or re-price until high-priority queries are closed. Otherwise the next evaluation round is built on partial information.
Prior response history is useful, but check every reused answer against the current RFP and package context. The RFP coverage check does the first pass for you.

Impact

On a typical tender of 5 bidders and 30-60 queries: