The administrative documents to provide

Administrative documents say nothing about the quality of your work. They prove your firm has the right to contract with this buyer. Even so, an expired certificate can eliminate the cheapest bid on the table. These are also the documents that take longest to obtain, because they do not depend on you. So prepare them before you see the notice, not after.

What these documents prove

The names vary from one country to another, but the documents nearly always answer the same questions.

The buyer's question	What usually answers it
Does your firm legally exist?	Trade register entry (the RCCM in OHADA countries), articles of association, tax identifier
Are you in good standing with the State?	Tax certificate and social security certificate
Are you solvent?	Certificate of non-bankruptcy, sometimes a bank certificate
Are you entitled to compete?	Certificate of non-debarment from public contracts, where one exists
Can the signatory bind the firm?	ID, articles of association or a signed power of attorney

How committees check them

A committee works from a list. It takes each document the file requests and looks at whether it is there, whether it is valid at the right date, whether it is in the firm's exact name and whether it is in the form requested. It is not looking to be lenient. Some files allow a short period to complete a missing document, others reject at once. Do not count on it. Sometimes a file asks for the documents only from the selected firm, after the ranking: if it cannot supply them, it loses the contract. In that case they must be ready at all times.

Inconsistencies stand out first: a company name that differs between documents, an old address, a manager who changed without the register being updated. Check this now, not the day before you submit.

The documents in your country

Here is the usual list in your country, with the body issuing each document, how to get it and its usual validity. The tender file may ask for others or waive some. Always compare the two.

Validity: the date that counts

Read the date against the deadline, not against today. A certificate valid today may have expired by submission day. The file says the date at which it must be valid, most often the submission deadline, and it may set a maximum age: for example "dated less than" so many months, even if the document has no end date. If the deadline is moved by an addendum, redo the sum.

Originals and certified copies. The file says what it accepts. Some documents must be originals, others copies certified by an authorised body. A plain photocopy is not a certified copy, and an old certified copy may be refused if the file sets a limit. A bid with one original and several copies follows the same logic: put the originals in the set marked ORIGINAL.

The documents that take longest. Allow several days, sometimes several weeks. The usual causes are:

• The tax certificate, if you have a late return or a balance due, because the tax office will only issue it after you settle.
• The social security certificate, for the same reason, if staff are undeclared or contributions are late.
• Non-bankruptcy and court extracts, which go through a registry or a court that may be far from your town.
• Any update to the trade register: change of manager, address or activity.

A delay on these points cannot be made up in the final week. Paying taxes and contributions on time is therefore real preparation for tenders.

Keeping your documents always ready

Make it a routine, not a race:

1. 1

   Take stock

   For each document, note its issue date, its expiry date and how long it usually takes to renew.

2. 2

   Set up a calendar

   Plan a reminder well before expiry, allowing for the renewal time. Also keep a list of what requires a trip.

3. 3

   Keep a set ready

   Keep legible scans and, in a binder, recent certified copies. Update the articles and the register as soon as something changes.

If your firm is foreign

A firm based in another country will not always have a document by that name. It supplies the equivalent issued by the authorities of its home country: register extract, tax and social security certificates. If that country does not issue a document, the file may accept a sworn statement or a certificate from an authority, but check that it provides for this. Look at the language too, because a sworn translation may be requested, and at the legalisation requirements. Allow plenty of time: these steps sometimes go through an embassy. Ask the buyer in writing if the file is silent.

If you are responding in a country other than your own, look at that country's guide: the eligibility rules are not the same everywhere.

If you bid as a joint venture

As a general rule, each member of a joint venture supplies its own administrative documents. There is no shared certificate, and one member's gap can sink the whole bid. So check your partner's documents as you check your own, before you commit. The file also asks for the joint venture agreement and the power of attorney given to the lead member. See Joint ventures and subcontracting.

Who can respond

The documents prove your eligibility. Here are the rules that define it in your country:

🇧🇯The rule in Benin

• Any candidate with the technical and financial capacity and experience of similar contracts may bid, on objective criteria written in the dossier. Technical capacity: equipment and staff, references, possibly a professional register or qualification certificate, a statement on the buyer's model. A start-up may show the experience of its technical management instead of its own references.[1]
• Financial capacity: balance sheets (or extracts) where publication is required, overall and sector turnover over at most three years, and exceptionally bank statements or proof of insurance. If a document is missing, the commission may ask for others: with no answer within 3 working days the bid can be rejected.[1]
• Documents proving you are not excluded (bankruptcy, criminal, tax or social bans, ARMP exclusion) are only required at approval stage. If you do not produce them within 3 working days of the award notification, the award can be cancelled. Exclusions also hit members of a group and subcontractors.[1]
• Excluded for conflict of interest: firms in which a member of the contracting authority, control body or commission has an interest, and firms affiliated with consultants who prepared the tender dossier. A false document or a bounced guarantee cheque is a deliberate inaccuracy: the bid is rejected and sanctions may follow. The bidder must check the authenticity of staff diplomas and ID papers.[1]
• A categorisation certificate issued by an approved body may be requested depending on the contract, but cannot be used alone or in a discriminatory way to judge technical capacity.[1]

What next

The documents are one of the two preparations to start right away. The other is the bid security: Bonds and guarantees. Before you submit, go through the list in The mistakes that eliminate you.