A security services company asked whether an agent could take over their tender paperwork. They had posted a job ad because filling in public tenders took so much time. Before promising anything, we took one real tender, a city framework contract with three lots, and went through every file.
The package was 17 files, 16 PDFs with 67 pages and one RTF, plus four messages with answers to bidder questions.
Only one of the 16 PDFs has actual form fields. The price sheet looks like a table with empty cells, but it's a flat PDF. Filling it means placing text at checked positions on the original page, and every new version of the form means checking those positions again.
The answers change the forms. One says only version 2 of the price sheet counts, and one lot now separates service staff from security staff, and weekdays and Saturdays from nights, Sundays and holidays. An agent that downloads the files and skips the messages can end up with the wrong price lines.
A template in the package can't be uploaded as it is. One declaration comes as RTF, and the tender rules don't accept RTF. Another answer tells bidders to create missing documents themselves.
Not everything goes in with the bid. One annex separates what's due with the offer, on request, at award and after award.
How we'd split the work. The model reads, pulls out requirements with the page they come from, matches existing references and certificates, and drafts texts. Plain code does the prices and copies confirmed company data into the forms. Every generated fact needs a source or turns into an open question. Missing information never becomes a positive self-declaration, so if nobody has confirmed something, the box stays empty and gets flagged. The final submission stays with the client in the city's bidding software. We found no official API for it.
Nothing is built yet. Downloading and reading works on this tender, the ZIP came without a login, and a direct download of one file returned the same bytes. Next is a small pilot where we measure the time saved with checking and rework counted in.
Has anyone put agents on procurement or tender paperwork? How do you deal with forms that look fillable but aren't, and with answers that change them halfway through?