> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trubuild.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Tender queries
> Manage bidder clarifications from import through assignment, AI-assisted drafting, approval, issue, amendment circulars, and closure.
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
| Role | Main responsibility in this workflow |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Procurement coordinator | Imports queries and maintains the register |
| Package lead | Assigns owners, monitors due dates, and controls outbound responses |
| Technical responder | Drafts or reviews technical answers |
| Commercial responder | Drafts or reviews commercial answers |
| Designated approver | Approves responses before they are issued |
| Owner reviewer | Reviews open material queries before award |
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
| Input | Format | Contribution |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Bidder queries** | Excel (`.xlsx`), CSV, PDF, Word (`.docx`, `.doc`), or manual entry | The query register itself |
| **RFP / tender pack** | Uploaded package documents | Source context for drafting and consistency checks |
| **Prior responses** | Built up as you answer queries | Duplicate detection, consistency checks, and knowledge reuse |
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
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.
A coordinator copies everything into a master spreadsheet and deduplicates by hand. 1-2 days per batch.
Whoever is available drafts a response, often without re-reading the relevant RFP section or checking what was already told to another bidder.
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.
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
Bring in bidder questions from Excel, CSV, PDF, or Word, or add them manually. TruBuild parses the file, previews the rows, and flags duplicates.
Route each query to its owner with a category, priority, and due date.
Use RFP context, prior response history, and AI drafting to prepare a controlled response, then run a consistency check.
Move responses through the designated approver before marking them sent.
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
Upload Excel, CSV, PDF, or Word files containing bidder questions. You can upload batches of files at once.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Click **Submit for approval**. The query moves to **Pending Approval** and the designated approver is notified.
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.
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.
Click **Close query** and select a reason: Resolved, Withdrawn, Duplicate, Merged, or Other. Closed queries keep their full history.
## Status model
| Status | Meaning | Typical next action |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| **Pending** | Imported or created, not yet picked up | Assign an owner |
| **Assigned** | A responder owns the query | Draft the response |
| **Draft Response** | A draft exists and is being worked | Check consistency, submit for approval |
| **Pending Approval** | Waiting for the designated approver | Approve or send back for changes |
| **Approved** | Signed off and ready to issue | Mark as sent, generate documents |
| **Sent** | Issued to the bidder | Close when resolved |
| **Closed** | Finalized with a close reason | View history |
## 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:
Mark the query as **Requires Amendment** and add an amendment note describing what changes. Amendment status is tracked as not required, pending, or issued.
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.
After you distribute the circular, click **Mark amendments as issued** to bulk-update the pending amendments to issued.
## Reporting and exports
| Export | Format | What it contains |
| --------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Single query response | Word (`.docx`) | Query text plus the approved response, via **Download Response** |
| Tender circular | Word (`.docx`) | All pending amendments compiled for issue to tenderers |
| Query report | Excel (`.xlsx`) | Multi-sheet analytics workbook, via **Export Report** on the reports tab |
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](/platform/technical-eval) and [Rounds and clarifications](/platform/rounds) 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.
| Stage | Common query activity |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Pre-bid period | Tenderers ask about drawings, specifications, BOQ descriptions, site access, contract instructions, submission requirements, and ambiguities |
| Bid return review | Procurement checks missing documents, unsigned forms, invalid assumptions, and obvious compliance gaps |
| Commercial evaluation | QS/commercial team raises PTCs on exclusions, unpriced items, abnormal rates, and arithmetic issues |
| Technical evaluation | Technical team raises PTCs on methodology, programme, resourcing, design compliance, QA/QC, HSE, logistics, and commissioning |
| Revised submission | Responses are assessed for impact on score, price, compliance, and residual risk |
| Award recommendation | Open material queries are closed, accepted as residual risk, or escalated before award |
## Query categories
Use categories consistently so the right team owns the answer:
| Category | Examples |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Technical | Design compliance, method statements, programme, HSE, QA/QC, logistics, commissioning |
| Commercial | Rates, quantities, provisional sums, exclusions, qualifications, arithmetic checks, price validity |
| Contractual | Instructions to tenderers, bonds, warranties, liquidated damages, insurance requirements |
| General | Submission format, site visit, deadline, portal process, administrative clarification |
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:
| Phase | Before TruBuild | With TruBuild |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Compile queries | 1-2 days | 1-2 hours with import and duplicate detection |
| Track status | 1 day of chasing | Live dashboard with overdue and at-risk counters |
| Draft responses | Written from memory of the RFP | Drafted with RFP context and consistency-checked |
| Issue amendments | Tracked in a side spreadsheet | Flagged per query, compiled into one circular |
| Prep for next round | 1 day re-reading emails | Answers linked to their source queries with full history |