eTenders Tutorial · functionality resumes as normal and the supplier can resume asking questions. •Note: when extending a competition, the CA manually amends the clarification

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eTenders Tutorial

Questions and Answers (Q&A) Module Buyer Guide

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Introduction to the Q&A Service

• Q&A (Questions and Answers) is a service within a tender which can be used forbroadcasting answers when a clarification question is initiated from the supplierduring the pre-closing period. Each question will have it’s own unique ID.

• The Q&A module is available for each step of a procedure provided a clarificationdeadline has been set for that tender.

• Contracting authorities have the ability to revise the supplier questions to removeany specific supplier information and then publish the answers to all suppliers whohave expressed interest in the tender

• It is important to anonymize or rephrase all sensitive information contained in aquestion or answer before broadcasting

• Notes: Questions and Answers is used for pre-tender clarifications. All functionalitywithin messaging in a tender is also available. Messaging functionality is used forpost-tender clarification or direct communication with economic operators during aprocurement process.

Office of Government Procurement

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Introduction to the Q&A Service…continued

• Note: If a clarification deadline has not been set, which may apply to Mini Competitions or Quick Quotes, the Q&A module is unavailable and clarifications can be dealt with through the messaging facility. Therefore CA’s should set a clarification deadline if they wish to activate Q&A functionality for below threshold competitions

• The supplier will not have the ability to ask any clarification questions through the Q&A once the clarification deadline has passed.

• The contracting authority will see all questions asked by suppliers during the tender process. Access to the questions asked by suppliers and the possibility to answer them is available from the tender checklist.

• The contracting authority and owner of a tender will be notified via email when there is a new question which has been asked by a supplier. To view these questions, click on the Tender name and then click on [Q&A], under Administration on the left hand side of the checklist: See Slide 6


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Introduction to the Q&A Service…continued

• If the clarification deadline has been passed but extended by the buyer, the Q&A functionality resumes as normal and the supplier can resume asking questions.

• Note: when extending a competition, the CA manually amends the clarificationand response deadline

• Questions which have been answered and broadcast remain visible to the CA even once the deadline has passed.

• A buyer can still answer, edit and broadcast within the Q&A module after the clarification deadline has passed.

• If during the pre-closing period, the Supplier wishes to send any documentation to the Contracting Authority, the normal messaging facility can be used for this purpose.


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Q&A Module: System Walkthrough

Section 1 – Using the Q&A Module

Section 2 – Reviewing Suppliers’ questions

Section 3 – Copying a message to Q&A

Section 4 – Adding a Question

Section 5 – Publishing answers

Section 6 – Dealing with Attachments

Section 7 – Generating a report of Questions and Answers


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Section 1: Using the Q&A Module

• The Q&A Module is available within each tender

• As a CA and owner of a tender will be notified via email when there is a new question has been asked by a supplier.

• Click [QnA] under the Administration Tab (next to the RFT Checklist) to access the overview page for all questions asked in relation to that tender


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• Each question has a unique ID and they are listed in order with the newest questions at the top

• The buyer can see the question’s subject, who asked it, when it was asked and the date the response was published, if the question has been answered

• Answered questions are flagged with a tick box: (See Slide 17)

• A question that was original raised through the messaging facility is flagged with a envelope: (See Slide 15)

• The questions can be viewed in detail by clicking the hyperlink in the subject field

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Filtering Questions

• Questions can be filtered and searched by Published Questions, Answer Later or Users that the question has been assigned to

• Or filtered using the headers (i.e. by ID, Subject, Sent Date or Answer date)


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Section 2: Reviewing and Responding to questions

• Once in the main subject of the question, the CA can redact and answer the question

• This screen shows full details of the original question and subject

• The buyer user can keep or edit the subject and question before broadcasting to anonymize a supplier or remove sensitive data

• When complete the CA can click save to create a draft response. All draft responses will move into the main list of questions before publishing (see Slide 10)

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• The question can now be broadcast, by ticking the box next to the relevant question and

clicking the Publish button

• Note: there may be multiple questions in draft below for publication and canselected together for publication


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• The CA can choose to draft a

response but answer the question

later by ticking [Answer Later] box

and clicking [Save]


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Answer Later

• When the CA marks a question to be answered later the question is identified with ‘answer later’ icon as shown

• The CA must select and publish the response to alert all interested that the question will be answered later

• On the Supplier view the Question is flagged with answer:



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Commercially Protected Q&A

• The supplier may have ticked the

‘Commercially Protected’ box if they

consider it a Commercially sensitive

question

• The CA can continue to answer the

question and maintain the ‘commercially

protected’ nature of the answer. The

response will only go directly to the

supplier who asked the question

• The CA can choose to untick the box in

order for the response to be broadcast to

all interested parties


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Section 3: Copying a message to Q&A module

• If the CA receives a clarification question from a supplier via messaging, it can be copied

into the Q&A module by using the [Copy to QnA] button. This stores it as another entry in

the Q&A, with all the functionality as normal, including having its own unique ID

• See new message received below


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• A warning message will be shown, at which point the CA will be informed that any

attached documents will not be copied to the Q&A module. The Q&A module does

not store documents, please refer to Section 6: dealing with attachments


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• In the Q&A overview page, the message copied from messaging facility is

identified by use of an envelope icon It will have the same functionality and

details as all other questions on the Q&A list.


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Section 4: Adding a Question

From the Q&A Overview Page click [Add Question] to add a question for following purposes:

• Add a question which has been received outside the system e.g. via email or some other means

• To alert suppliers of an answer to a ‘Commercially Protected’ question that was provided to a

supplier directly (Refer to Slide 13)

• To broadcast a question and an answer if relevant changes have been made to RFT

documentation by alerting supplier to updated attachments available in public documents folder

• To flag changes to response or clarification dates


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Section 4: Adding a Question

Dealing with Multiple Questions received via Messaging Facility


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• If Supplier submits

multiple questions

through the

messaging facility we

recommend that you

copy each question as

a new question using

the ‘Add Question’

functionality


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Section 5: Publishing Answers

• The main overview of the Q&A – details all published questions and the date the

answer was published. A green tick icon is associated with all published

questions.


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• Once a question has

been published you

can access it and see

which suppliers have

read the answer and

the date and time they

read it.


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• The CA can return to a previously answered question any time and add to it. It's

just as if he/she is editing a question and broadcasting as normal, as per Section 2.

• The updated answer is broadcast and alerts are issued to issued all interested

parties

• The section of the Q&A module which shows who had seen the original broadcast

is blanked out and it's treated as if it was a new answer.

• Supplier users names appear in the section detailing ‘suppliers who have not read

the answer’- See Slide 22 for details.


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• Q&A showing an updated

answer and which suppliers

have read the updated answer

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Section 6: Dealing with Attachments

• If the CA needs to attach a document which has been requested by a supplier, it can be

sent by means of the Attach External Documents feature (as shown on Slide 24)

• The attachment can be referenced by adding a question, informing the supplier the

requested document has been issued and where it can be found. All additional questions

are broadcast to all interested parties

• All documentation uploaded to the Attach External Documents folder are accessible to all

interested parties at any point in the competition

• If an attachment is referenced within a question submitted via messaging facility or

referenced in an answer it can be uploaded to the External Documents feature

• For transparency the CA should ensure that the message ID is referenced in the title of

the attachment


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Section 6: Dealing with Attachments


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Section 7: Generating a report of Q&A


• The CA can print and also export to excel the Questions and Answers by simply click on

[Print] or [Export to Excel] buttons as highlighted below:

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• The CA can generate a report displaying key information of all questions and

answers relating to their tender.

• If the CA chooses ‘Print’, a window will open with a list of the questions, answers

and details, which the CA can then Print.

• If the CA chooses ‘Export to Excel’, he/she can generate a report displaying key

information of all questions and answers relating to their tender. They will have

the option to save this report in several formats – XML, CSV, PDF, MHTML,

Excel, TIFF, and Word.

• This report removes the need for manual reports that would have previously been

stored for pre-tender clarifications and this report forms part of the legal

documentation for the end to end clarification process


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• The CA has the option to hide the name of the suppliers from the report before

printing or exporting the report. The CA must first select Hide from the Supplier

Name select list on the top left and then click View Report on the top right in order

for the change to take effect.


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