Reviews and approvals

Run the audit

Checks the bid's submission documents against the tender pack and your rules, and gives a verdict with must-fix and should-fix findings.

Who can use it

Owners and writers. Reviewers can read the result but cannot start an audit.

Where it is

A bid's Audit page: Run the audit (Run the audit again once there is one); or Overview, under Run.: 3 · Red-team audit

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

The red-team audit reads the bid's submission documents against the tender pack and your space's rules, the way a sceptical reviewer would before the buyer does. It checks compliance, consistency between documents, missing items, unsupported claims, scope creep, commitments you did not mean to make, the figures, and British spelling. It reports; it never changes the documents.

Step by step

1. Open the bid and go to its Audit page.
2. Press Run the audit. Once the bid has an audit, the button reads Run the audit again. The same audit starts from 3 · Red-team audit under Run. on the bid's Overview page.
3. The app moves to the bid's Build page, where the audit shows as working. You can leave the page or the app; it carries on.
4. When it is done, go back to Audit to read the result (see Read the audit).

What you see

• On Build, the working line says "Auditing the bid" with Stop beside it. If something else is already running on the bid, it says "Queued — waiting for the bid" until its turn.
• When it finishes, the audit's message appears in the Build chat, and the audit card with the findings sits at the foot of the thread (see The audit in the Build chat).
• On Overview, the Where it stands. card changes from "Not audited" to "Audit:" and the verdict.
• On Audit, a badge with the verdict (READY, READY WITH CHANGES or NOT READY), the date, and the number of Critical, High, Medium and Low findings.

Good to know

• An audit never counts as a bid against your plan.
• Each later audit is given the findings that were fixed or dealt with since, checks each fix in the documents, and does not raise a fix that holds again.
• Where the evaluator review is on for your space, the same audit also scores every answer as the buyer's evaluator would (see The evaluator review).
• The buttons show for everyone, but a reviewer who presses one is told "Reviewers can read this space but not change it."
• Nothing runs in a paused space, the audit included.
• Run the audit again after your fixes and before you prepare the submission pack: the pack lists the latest audit's must-fix items as warnings.

Common questions

Does the audit change the documents?

No. Use Fix the must-fix items, the Build chat or your own edits to change them, then run the audit again.

Can I keep working while it runs?

Yes. It runs on the server. While you are in the app, Biddie posts a short note when it finishes.

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Read the audit

The verdict, the counts by severity, the must-fix and should-fix lists, and the full report behind them.

Who can use it

Everyone in the space, reviewers included.

Where it is

A bid's Audit page: the result under Red-team audit, and Open the report

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Once a bid has been audited, its Audit page shows the latest result: the verdict, how many findings there are at each severity, and the findings to fix, numbered. Open the report opens the whole audit, with the reasoning and the evidence for every finding.

Step by step

1. Open the bid and go to its Audit page.
2. Read the badge (the verdict) and the date beside it.
3. Read the four counts: Critical, High, Medium and Low.
4. Read Must fix before submission and Should fix, each a numbered list.
5. Press Open the report to read the full audit in the document viewer.

What you see

• The verdict: READY, READY WITH CHANGES or NOT READY.
• The counts, with Critical and High in red when there are any.
• The numbered findings. Each says what is wrong and, usually, where and what to change.
• The report has the same verdict and findings with their detail: a summary, the critical findings first, a compliance matrix tracing each tender requirement to where the bid answers it, a sanity check, missing requirements, contradictions between documents, a commercial check of the figures, the evaluator's view, a register of conflicts between tender documents, what to delete, change or keep, and the priority fix list.

Good to know

• Severity follows the audit's rules: Critical could cause rejection or serious exposure, High could cost real marks or create significant risk, Medium could confuse or weaken the response, Low is editorial.
• This page always lists every finding of the latest audit. The audit card in the Build chat shows only the findings still open, so the two can differ once some are marked fixed.
• Where the tender documents contradict each other, the report says so and asks for your decision rather than choosing one.
• The report is kept with the bid's working files. It is never part of the submission set or the pack.
• A new audit replaces this result. Earlier reports stay in the bid's working files.

Common questions

What is the difference between must fix and should fix?

Must-fix findings are the ones the audit thinks need dealing with before you submit. Should-fix findings would improve the bid but are not essential. The submission pack warns about must-fix items only.

Can a reviewer read the audit?

Yes. Everyone in the space can read it and open the report. Only owners and writers can start an audit or a fix.

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Fix the must-fix items

Hands every must-fix finding of the latest audit to the bid's agent, which makes the changes, rebuilds the documents and reports what changed.

Who can use it

Owners and writers.

Where it is

A bid's Audit page: Fix the must-fix items (or, in the Build chat, the audit card's Fix all must-fix items)

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Fix the must-fix items sends the bid's agent an instruction to fix every item under Must fix before submission in the latest audit, rebuild the documents they touch, and report what changed. When it finishes cleanly, every must-fix item is recorded as fixed and the audit as dealt with. The should-fix items are left alone.

Step by step

1. On the bid's Audit page, press Fix the must-fix items. The button shows only when the audit has must-fix items.
2. The app moves to the Build page and the agent starts work.
3. If the agent asks you something (for example for evidence the bid does not hold), answer it in the box and press Answer.
4. Read its report of what changed, and open the documents to check.
5. Press Run the audit again on the Audit page to confirm the fixes hold.

What you see

• On Build, your instruction in the thread and a working line ("Working") with Stop.
• A question from the agent appears highlighted, marked "Waiting for your answer".
• When it is done, the agent's reply lists what it changed, document by document.
• The audit card at the foot of the thread goes, and the audit's own message folds to one line: "Audit dealt with on" the date, "the findings are folded away", with Show to read it again.

Good to know

• The same work starts from the audit card in the Build chat: Fix all must-fix items puts the instruction in the box, ending "Leave the should-fix items alone unless I say otherwise.", so you can add to it before you press Send.
• What was fixed is remembered, so the next audit checks each fix rather than raising it again.
• A run you stop, or one that fails, does not mark anything fixed. Your message then shows Resend to send it again as it was.
• A fix run in the Build chat does not count as a bid. Only a build does.
• A reviewer can see the button but cannot start the run.

Common questions

Will it change things I did not ask for?

It works only on the must-fix findings and the documents they affect, and reports what it changed. To fix a should-fix finding too, use Discuss on the audit card in the Build chat.

Why is the audit still Not ready after the fix?

The result on the Audit page is the last audit's. Run the audit again to get a fresh verdict.

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The audit in the Build chat

The latest audit's open findings sit at the foot of the Build chat, to discuss, mark fixed or close as dealt with.

Who can use it

Owners and writers. Reviewers see the card but cannot mark anything.

Where it is

A bid's Build page: the audit card at the foot of the thread: Discuss, Fixed, Undo, Fix all must-fix items, Mark as dealt with, Reopen the audit, Open the report, Minimise

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

After an audit, its findings stay at the bottom of the bid's Build chat as the agent's last word, so you can work through them with the agent. Discuss puts a finding in the box for you to say what to do with it. Fixed takes a finding off the list once you have dealt with it. Mark as dealt with closes the whole audit when you accept what is left.

Step by step

1. Open the bid's Build page. The audit card is at the foot of the thread.
2. To talk a finding through, press Discuss beside it. The box fills with "Audit must-fix 2:" (or should-fix) and the finding. Add "fix it", "leave it as it is" or what to change instead, and press Send.
3. When a finding has been dealt with, press Fixed beside it. It leaves the list.
4. To have the agent fix every must-fix item, press Fix all must-fix items, add anything you want to the instruction in the box, and press Send.
5. When the rest can stay as it is, press Mark as dealt with.
6. Minimise folds the card to its heading line; Show opens it again. Open the report opens the full audit.

What you see

• The card's heading: "Audit", the verdict, the date, and the counts ("2 critical · 3 high · 5 medium · 1 low"), with "N fixed" once you have marked some. The card is green when the verdict is READY and amber otherwise.
• MUST FIX BEFORE SUBMISSION and SHOULD FIX, each finding numbered as in the report, with Discuss and Fixed.
• A line under the buttons: "Discuss drops a finding into the box … Fixed takes a finding off this list; once the audit is dealt with, the list goes."
• Once the audit is dealt with (or every finding is marked fixed), the card goes and the audit's message in the thread folds to one line, "Audit dealt with on" the date, "the findings are folded away", with Show and Fold.
• When a new audit runs, the earlier audit's message folds as "An earlier audit: the findings are folded away." and the new card appears.

Good to know

• Every finding you mark fixed is remembered with the audit it came from, so later audits check the fix in the documents instead of raising it again.
• Findings still open when you press Mark as dealt with are recorded as dealt with, as your decision, and later audits are told.
• A finding the agent fixes in the chat may be recorded as fixed by the agent itself. The card then shows it gone without you pressing anything.
• A finding marked Fixed is listed under Marked fixed on the card, with Undo to put it back on the list.
• Once the audit is dealt with, a line at the foot of the thread says so, with Reopen the audit, which brings the card back with every finding open again.
• The Audit page keeps listing every finding of the latest audit, fixed or not.
• A reviewer sees the card, Discuss, Minimise and Open the report, but cannot send a message or mark anything.

Common questions

Does Fixed change the document?

No. It records that you have dealt with the finding. Make the change yourself, or ask the agent with Discuss.

The card has gone. Where are the findings?

The audit is dealt with. Press Show on the folded audit message in the thread, or read them on the bid's Audit page.

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The evaluator review

Each scored answer read as the buyer's evaluator will, with five checks, a projected score against the target, and the fixes.

Who can use it

Everyone in the space, where the evaluator review is on. Owners see whether it is on under Account, Your set-up.

Where it is

A bid's Audit page: the Evaluator review card, under the audit result

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

The evaluator review is an optional extra to the audit. Where it is on, every audit also reads each scored answer as the buyer's evaluator will, with the question, the scoring guide and the specification beside it, crediting only what is on the page. For each answer it projects the mark it would get as it stands, against the mark you are aiming for, and says what loses marks and how to win them back.

Step by step

1. Run the audit on the bid (see Run the audit).
2. On the bid's Audit page, scroll to Evaluator review. under the audit result.
3. Read the totals, then the line per answer.
4. Tap an answer to open its gaps, the fix for each, and the lines an evaluator could quote.
5. To have the fixes made, press Win back the marks (see Win back the marks).

What you see

• "Every scored answer read as the buyer's evaluator reads it: only what is on the page counts." and the tender's scale, for example "Scale: 0-5 per question, weighted."
• The totals: Projected (for example 62 / 100), Target, At target (for example 3 of 6) and Marks at risk, with a one-line summary of where the marks are being lost.
• One line per scored answer: its reference and title, its weight and where it is answered, and its score, for example "2 of 5 · target 4", in red when it is below target and green when it is not.
• Five checks per answer, each Yes, Partly or No: Find (can the evaluator find each part of the answer), Follow (would someone outside your firm follow it), Believe (is every claim backed by evidence), This buyer (is it written for this buyer) and Justify (is there enough on the page to justify the target mark).
• Opened, each gap names the check and the problem, then "Fix:" and the change to make. "Quotable:" lines are strengths an evaluator could lift into their notes. "Nothing to add." when there are neither.

Good to know

• Where the tender publishes no scoring scale, answers are graded Strong, Adequate or Weak instead of numbers, for example "Weak · target Strong".
• The target is the top mark the tender's scoring guide allows, unless your notes for the bid set another.
• The gaps that cost marks also go into the audit's fix list: must fix when they lose a mark on an answer worth a tenth or more of the marks, or on a pass/fail question, should fix otherwise.
• It is chosen at sign-up, or switched on later from the email offering it (Turn it on or No thanks on the page it opens) or by asking your Biddable contact. It applies from the next audit.
• An owner can see whether it is on under Account, Your set-up: "Evaluator review: On", or "Off (optional extra; ask us to switch it on)".
• The card shows only after an audit that ran with it on.

Common questions

Why does it score lower than I expect?

It credits only what is on the page. A claim without evidence, a part of the question left unanswered or a paragraph that could be in any bid loses marks, however good the firm is.

Does the evaluator review cost a bid?

No. It is part of the audit, and an audit never counts as a bid.

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Win back the marks

Sends every answer below its target to the bid's agent with the evaluator's gaps, to make those fixes and nothing else.

Who can use it

Owners and writers, where the evaluator review is on.

Where it is

A bid's Audit page: Evaluator review, Win back the marks (N answers)

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Win back the marks asks the bid's agent to make the fixes the evaluator review lists for every answer that is below its target or has gaps: only what the gaps list, with the evidence they name. Where a gap needs evidence the bid does not hold, the agent asks you for it rather than inventing it. It rebuilds the documents it changes and reports what changed per answer.

Step by step

1. On the bid's Audit page, under Evaluator review., press Win back the marks. The button shows how many answers it covers, for example "Win back the marks (3 answers)", and appears only when at least one answer needs work.
2. The app moves to the Build page and the agent starts.
3. Answer any question it asks, for example for a figure, a named contract or a certificate, in the box, and press Answer.
4. Read its report, answer by answer.
5. Run the audit again to see the new projected scores.

What you see

• On Build, the instruction naming the answers it covers (for example "Q3, Q5"), then a working line ("Working") with Stop.
• A question from the agent is highlighted and marked "Waiting for your answer".
• When it is done, a reply that says what changed in each answer.

Good to know

• It never invents evidence. Anything the gaps say is missing, it asks you for.
• It does not mark the audit's findings fixed. Mark them Fixed on the audit card in the Build chat, or run the audit again.
• It runs in the Build chat, so it never counts as a bid.
• An answer needs work when its projected mark is below its target, when its grade is below Strong with no numeric target, or when it lists any gaps.

Common questions

Can I fix only one answer?

Yes. Open the answer on the Audit page, then tell the agent in the Build chat which gap to fix, in your own words.

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Approvals: what waits for you

Every message the bid's agent drafts to someone outside your space waits here until one of your people sends or rejects it.

Who can use it

Everyone in the space can read what is waiting. Owners and writers edit, reject and mark drafts sent.

Where it is

Approvals in the side menu (with a count); a bid's "N to approve" in the bid list; the "to approve" chip on the front page

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Approvals is where the drafts wait: clarification questions to the buyer, and messages to people on a bid. Biddable sends nothing itself. Each draft is yours to read, change and send from your own email or the tender portal, and then to mark sent so the bid's record is right.

Step by step

1. Press Approvals in the side menu, or the "to approve" chip on the front page. A count beside Approvals says how many drafts are waiting.
2. Drafts are grouped under Clarification questions and Messages. A new draft is open already; tap any other to open it.
3. Read who it is to, the subject and the text.
4. Send it, edit it or reject it (see Send a draft yourself, or reject it).

What you see

• At the top: Waiting for your approval. and "Each draft is yours to send: open it in your email, or paste it into the tender portal, then mark it sent. Edit or reject anything that is not right."
• Each draft's first line: what kind it is, how it goes (email or portal) and to whom, with its status: draft, approved, sending or failed. The second line names the bid by code and title.
• Opened: To: (an email address) or Portal: (the portal's address), the subject and the text, any follow-up planned with its date, and, where files go with it, "Attach these yourself:" with Download beside each.
• A warning in red when the person has written since the draft was made: the draft was written before their message.
• Nothing to approve. when the page is clear.
• The page checks for new drafts every 15 seconds.

Good to know

• Drafts come from the bid's agent, for example when a triage or a build finds a question to put to the buyer, or when you ask it in the Build chat to write to someone.
• Biddie never sends or approves anything. She tells you when a draft lands on Approvals.
• A reviewer can read every draft but cannot edit, reject or mark one sent.
• A draft leaves the page once it is marked sent or rejected.

Common questions

Why can I not send it from the app?

By design. Every message to a buyer or a person goes out in your name, from your own email or your own portal login, and only when you send it there. Approvals keeps the draft and the record that it was sent.

Where do I see the clarification questions for one bid?

On Approvals: each draft names its bid by code and title.

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Send a draft yourself, or reject it

Edit a draft, send it from your own email or the tender portal and record it as sent, or reject it.

Who can use it

Owners and writers. A reviewer who presses these is told reviewers can read the space but not change it.

Where it is

Approvals, an opened draft: Copy text, Copy subject, Open in your email, Open the portal, Edit, Save, I sent it myself, Reject

In

The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Each draft on Approvals has the buttons to get it out of Biddable and into the right place: your own email for a message, the tender portal's clarification form for a question to the buyer. Once you have sent it, I sent it myself records it on the bid. Reject drops a draft that should not go.

Step by step

1. Open Approvals and open the draft.
2. To change it, press Edit, change the subject and the text, and press Save.
3. For an email, press Open in your email. A new message opens in your email app, addressed, with the subject and the text filled in. Attach any files listed under "Attach these yourself:" (use Download to get them), check it and send it.
4. For a portal question, press Copy text, then Open the portal, sign in and paste the text into the portal's clarification form. Copy subject copies the subject where there is one.
5. Back on Approvals, press I sent it myself and confirm.
6. To drop a draft instead, press Reject and confirm.

What you see

• Copy text: "Copied." (for a portal question, "Copied — paste it into the portal's clarification form."). If the device will not copy: "Could not copy; select the text and copy it."
• I sent it myself asks "Mark as sent?" with "Records that you sent this to" the person "yourself." (for a portal question, "Records that you put this question to the buyer in the portal yourself."). Once confirmed, the draft leaves the page.
• Reject asks "Reject this draft?" with "It will not be sent." Once confirmed, the draft leaves the page.

Good to know

• Open in your email shows only when the draft is addressed to an email address; Open the portal only when it carries the portal's web address.
• If you press I sent it myself while editing, your changes are saved with it.
• Press I sent it myself only once you have sent it: the bid's record and Biddie's answers rely on it.
• Biddable never sends anything on your behalf, and Biddie cannot send, approve or mark anything sent.

Common questions

I sent it with changes made in my email. Does that matter?

The draft on Approvals keeps the text it had. If the record should show what was sent, edit the draft to match and save it before you press I sent it myself.

Can I get a rejected draft back?

No. Ask the bid's agent in the Build chat to write it again.

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