Opening bids
Prior to the bid deadline, all bids are sealed. You can preview the list of bidder names, but you cannot access the bid documents at all. Not even your planroom provider has access to sealed bid documents.
When bids can be opened
As soon as the bid deadline passes, an authorized bid manager will see a View Bids tab on the project. This is a restricted tab that normal users can't see.
This View Bids tab displays a list of all bids received, along with the reference numbers, contact information, and an option to download the bid documents.
Opening a bid
Click Download to receive a zip file of all documents submitted with the bid. The zip file will be named with the reference number and company name of the bidder.
The first time a bid is downloaded it is stamped with a green label. Hover over this label to see the name and datestamp when this first download took place. This serves as the official time that the bid was opened.
Bidding activity log
To help ensure the integrity of the bidding process, there is a View Log button on the bids page. This will open up a detailed log record of all bidding-related activity, including each bid submission and each download.