# How to find and bid for GeBIZ tenders: a first-timer's guide > A practical GeBIZ tender guide for first-time bidders: finding opportunities, quotation and tender thresholds, preparing a response and why bids fail. Source: https://www.fyadvisers.com/blog/how-to-bid-for-gebiz-tenders/ Author: Fiona Wang, FYAdvisers Published: 2026-10-05 Last updated: 2026-10-05 To bid for a GeBIZ tender, you register as a GeBIZ Trading Partner with Corppass, search the open opportunities on [gebiz.gov.sg](https://www.gebiz.gov.sg), download the documents, answer every requirement in the format the agency asks for, and submit online before the closing date and time. Most first-time bidders start with quotations, which are smaller and simpler than full tenders. This guide walks through each step in the order you will meet it, with the official sources linked so you can check anything that may have changed. ## What GeBIZ is GeBIZ is the Singapore Government's one-stop e-procurement portal. Ministries, departments, organs of state and statutory boards publish their quotations and tenders there, and suppliers respond to them there. According to the [Ministry of Finance's summarised supplier guide](https://www.gebiz.gov.sg/docs/Supplier_Guide_Summarised.pdf) (dated 9 April 2024), services make up roughly 60% of government procurement by value, construction around 30% and goods around 10%. Anyone can browse opportunities. To download documents and submit a bid, you need a GeBIZ Trading Partner (GTP) account. Our [GeBIZ registration guide](/blog/gebiz-registration-guide/) covers that in detail. ## Quotations, Tender Lite and tenders: which one you are bidding for The procurement method depends on the agency's estimated procurement value. At the time of writing (October 2026), [MOF's procurement process page](https://www.mof.gov.sg/policies/government-procurement/understanding-the-procurement-process) sets these bands: | Estimated value | Method | How suppliers are invited | |---|---|---| | Up to S$6,000 | Small Value Purchase (SVP) | Verbal or written quotes, off-the-shelf purchase or GeBIZ Mall catalogues. Usually not an open call. | | More than S$6,000, up to S$90,000 | Quotation | Invitation to Quote (ITQ), either an Open Quotation published on GeBIZ or a Limited Quotation sent to selected suppliers | | More than S$90,000, up to S$1 million | Tender Lite | An Invitation to Tender (ITT) with simpler conditions | | More than S$90,000 | Tender | Open Tender, Selective Tender (pre-qualification first), or Limited Tender | Tender Lite is worth knowing about if you are small. MOF says it cut contract conditions by about 20% and removed Security Deposits and Liquidated Damages by default. It applies to general goods and services tendered from end April 2024, construction from May 2025 and ICT from April 2026. Check MOF's page for the current scope before relying on it. For a first bid, an Open Quotation is usually the right size. The documents are shorter, the scope is narrower and the evaluation is easier to follow. ## Step 1: find GeBIZ opportunities Go to [gebiz.gov.sg](https://www.gebiz.gov.sg) and open the business opportunities search. You can filter by procurement category, agency, closing date and procurement method, and search by keyword. A few habits make searching more useful: - **Search by what you deliver, not what you call it.** An agency buying yearbooks may describe it as "design and production of yearbook". Try several phrasings. - **Filter by your categories.** GeBIZ groups opportunities by procurement category. Save the ones you can genuinely fulfil. - **Use the RSS feeds.** The [GeBIZ business alerts page](https://www.gebiz.gov.sg/business-alerts.html) says registered GTPs can subscribe to RSS feeds grouped by procurement category. The older GoBusiness email alert service was discontinued on 28 February 2025. - **Check the indicative listing.** MOF's supplier guide points to the [Listing of Indicative Government Procurement Opportunities](https://www.gebiz.gov.sg/ptn/ppplisting/index.xhtml), which shows procurements agencies are likely to run in the year ahead. It is only indicative, but it gives you time to prepare. - **Read past awards.** Before you bid, look at who won similar work and at what price. Our guide to [checking GeBIZ tender results](/blog/check-gebiz-tender-results/) explains how. ## Step 2: decide whether to bid Not every opportunity is worth your time. Before you open the full document pack, check: 1. **The closing date.** If you cannot prepare a complete response in the time left, skip it. 2. **Mandatory requirements.** Some tenders require Government Supplier Registration (GSR) at a certain financial grade, specific licences, or prior experience. If you cannot meet a critical requirement, your bid will not be considered. 3. **Scope and quantities.** Can you deliver all of it, on the dates required, at a price that still makes money? 4. **Briefings and site show-rounds.** Some are compulsory. Missing one can disqualify you. ## Step 3: read the documents properly A GeBIZ quotation or tender pack usually contains the instructions to suppliers, the conditions of contract, the specifications or requirements, the evaluation criteria, and the forms or schedules you must return. MOF's supplier guide says agencies typically use two kinds of evaluation criteria: - **Critical criteria** must be met for the bid to be considered for award. - **Non-critical criteria** do not knock you out, but a supplier who meets them may beat you. Read the whole pack once from start to finish before writing anything. Then go back and list every requirement, every form and every "shall" or "must". This list is your compliance matrix. Our article on [building a compliance matrix](/blog/tender-compliance-matrix/) shows a worked example, and the free [compliance matrix tool](/tools/compliance-matrix/) gives you a template to start from. If anything is unclear, ask the agency through the clarification channel stated in the documents, before the clarification deadline. The answer is often shared with all bidders, so you are not giving anything away. ## Step 4: prepare your response Work from the compliance matrix, not from a blank page. For each requirement, write down where in your response you address it and what evidence you are attaching. A typical response includes: - **The offer or price schedule**, filled in exactly as the agency's form asks. Do not change units, quantities or line items. - **The technical or quality proposal**: your approach, timeline, team, samples or past work, answering each evaluation criterion in turn. - **Required forms and declarations**, signed where needed. - **Supporting documents** such as company profile, ACRA business profile, certifications or GSR status if requested. MOF's guide gives straightforward advice here: address each criterion, show how your bid meets each requirement, and point out where you exceed it. Do not make the evaluator search for the answer. ### Pricing The [summarised supplier guide](https://www.gebiz.gov.sg/docs/Supplier_Guide_Summarised.pdf) is clear that the lowest quote does not always win, and that you should not undercut your prices at the expense of quality and reliability. Price what the job really costs, plus your margin. Past award amounts for similar work are the best guide to where the market sits. ## Step 5: submit on GeBIZ Submit through your GTP account before the closing date and time. MOF's guide warns against submitting at the last minute: late bids are not accepted. Before you click submit: - Check every mandatory field and attachment against your compliance matrix. - Open each uploaded file to confirm it is the final version and not corrupted. - Confirm the price in the online form matches the price in your attached documents. - Note any file size or format limits in the instructions. ## How GeBIZ bids are evaluated Agencies publish the evaluation criteria in the documents, and MOF says these generally include both quality and price. This is often called the price-quality method. In a [2016 MOF statement](https://www.mof.gov.sg/news-resources/newsroom/price-quality-methods-for-tender-evaluations/), the ministry said that where weightages were specified in 2015 to 2016 tenders, quality made up 20% to 70% of the total, and that buyers should aim towards 30:70 between price and quality where it suits the procurement. The actual weighting varies by tender, so always read the criteria in your pack. In practice, this means a well-written, compliant proposal at a fair price can beat a cheaper bid that is thin on detail. ## Common reasons GeBIZ bids fail Most failed bids fail for avoidable reasons: - **Missing a critical criterion.** A missing licence, certificate, GSR grade or mandatory form can rule the bid out before quality is scored. - **Late submission.** No exceptions. - **Altered price schedules.** Changing the agency's format, units or quantities makes comparison impossible. - **Generic proposals.** A company brochure does not answer specific evaluation criteria. - **Inconsistent pricing.** Different totals in the form and the attachment raise doubts. - **Unclear assumptions or exclusions** that conflict with the specification. - **Pricing too high or too low** against what the agency expects for the scope. If you lose, ask. MOF's supplier guide says the procuring agency is obliged to explain why your bid was not successful if you write in. Use that feedback on the next one. ## A small-business example Chromatic Media, a print and design firm, used to spend days on manual work preparing each bid. FYAdvisers built a tender preparation workflow that produces a compliance matrix and proposal drafts from the uploaded tender files, and Chromatic's team reviews the proposal, pricing and supporting material before submitting. On 5 August 2026, Chromatic Media was awarded a S$7,140 contract for the design and production of Dunman Secondary School's 2026 yearbook, its first government contract. The award is Chromatic's, and the workflow supported the preparation; it did not replace the team's review. You can read the full [Chromatic Media story](/work/chromatic-media/). ## First-bid checklist | Before | During | After | |---|---|---| | Register as a GTP with Corppass | List every requirement in a compliance matrix | Check results on GeBIZ | | Check if GSR or licences are needed | Ask clarifications before the deadline | Ask the agency for feedback if you lose | | Set up RSS feeds for your categories | Fill price schedules exactly as given | Record the winning price for future bids | | Read past awards for similar work | Submit well before closing time | Reuse your answers for the next bid | If you would like help preparing tender responses, see our [tender preparation support](/services/tender-signals/). ## Frequently asked questions ### Is GeBIZ free to use for suppliers? Searching is open to the public, and the first GeBIZ Trading Partner account is free. Each additional authorised representative account is charged an annual subscription, so check the GeBIZ FAQ for the current fee. ### Can a small business win a GeBIZ tender? Yes. Quotations up to S$90,000 and Tender Lite opportunities up to S$1 million are pitched at a level many small suppliers can bid for. Chromatic Media, a print and design firm, won its first government contract, worth S$7,140, through GeBIZ in August 2026. ### Does the lowest price always win a government tender in Singapore? No. MOF's supplier guide says value for money does not mean the lowest quote always wins, and agencies are expected to weigh quality criteria alongside price. ### What happens if I submit a GeBIZ bid after the closing time? It will not be accepted. Late bids are rejected, so submit well before the deadline and leave time for upload problems.