Technical evaluation is the process of assessing the offers received to determine if they meet the requirements expressed in the solicitation documents. In the case of an RFP, those that do are assigned a technical score.

Technical evaluation normally is based on documentation provided as part of the proposal, but it also can include the evaluation of samples and/or interviews with the bidders. The basis for the technical evaluation must be defined in the solicitation documents; the basis cannot change at a later date.

Any contact with bidders during the evaluation process must only conducted as per the terms established in the solicitation documents. 

The technical evaluation is conducted either by the staff conducting procurement (in the case of small-value procurement and RFQs) or by a technical evaluation team (in the case of RFPs and ITBs).

In the case of an RFP, the technical evaluation is conducted and finalized before financial offers are opened.  

The hand-over of proposals to the technical evaluation team only can be done after the technical evaluation template has been finalized and all non-staff members and/or observers have signed the confidentiality agreement.

Technical evaluation must be documented in detail, and a summary report of the evaluation—with the strengths and weaknesses of the proposals evaluated—has been prepared and signed by those performing the evaluation. 

The technical evaluation team can conduct the evaluation separately or as a group.

If the evaluation is performed separately, each member will assign scores to the proposals based on the agreed criteria and template; an average final score for each criterion then will be determined based on the responses of each member. Technical evaluation team members will have the opportunity to discuss their individual scores for each criterion after they have been assigned and before the final average score is assigned by the team. 

If the evaluation is performed as a group, the evaluation team will assign a group score to each criterion after discussing the merits of the proposal that is being evaluated.

The method used for evaluation must be documented in the summary report of the evaluation.