What happens if all offers are low?

Let's see, in the world of public tenders, sometimes it happens that all offers arrive and ... are surprisingly low. As if the participants were in a competition to see who can survive with less, right? And of course, they do it to win the contract, even if that means offering almost below what the matter really costs. It may sound great for the public entity. "What a bargain!" But, really, that usually brings a lot of headaches: poor quality works, contractors that do not reach even halfway ... a disaster festival.

So what does the public entity do with this riot? Because the most logical movement, and that the law allows, is to reject all those offers for being too low. And yes, the Public Procurement Law is on its side here. If you see that everyone is offering amounts ridiculously below the budget, they can throw everything back and avoid the risk of ending with a contractor that is not going to comply with.

Now, if they decide to throw forward the same - because sometimes it happens, things of the bureaucracy - they have to grab their pants well and put an eye on the contract. More quality controls, ask for extra guarantees, and, just in case, put clauses that allow them to run away if the contractor does not comply. That is, go prepared for the worst, basically.

And be careful, all this also goes to the companies they offer. Yes, presenting a low offer may sound like the easy way to win, but if they cannot fulfill or end up working at a loss, what is the use of? You have to be alive and calculate well, make sure that what they offer allows them to do the job and, incidentally, win something. It's not just about winning to win.

Anyway, when all offers in a tender are too low, the entity has two letters: reject everything and start over, or accept and be super attentive so that the night is not coming. And the companies, however tempting it may seem, have to take care not to hit a foot for going too low. So simple.