An award decision letter in Norway called a "tildelingsbrev" or notification of the choice of supplier is the letter the contracting authority sends to everyone who submitted a tender, once it has been decided who will get the contract. The letter tells you who won, explains the reasoning behind the decision, and states the standstill period, the deadline before the contract can be signed.
In other words, the award decision letter is the first official answer to how your tender did, and one of the most valuable documents you can learn from for the next competition.
Frequently asked questions
What does an award decision letter contain?
At a minimum, the award decision letter should tell you:
Who won the competition.
The reasoning behind the decision – how the tenders were evaluated against the award criteria, and what made the winner's tender best.
The standstill period – how long the contracting authority waits before signing the contract.
The quality of the reasoning varies. If you find it too thin to understand the outcome, you can ask the contracting authority for a more detailed explanation.
What is the standstill period?
The standstill period is the waiting time between the award decision letter and the signing of the contract. For procurements above the EEA thresholds it is at least ten days from the day after the award decision is sent electronically – or at least 15 days if the contracting authority is exempt from the requirement to use electronic communication. It exists so that suppliers who believe the evaluation was flawed have time to complain before the contract becomes binding. The deadline in the award decision letter is the one that applies: once the standstill period has passed, the opportunity to affect the outcome is in practice gone.
What can we do if we lose?
A loss is also an opportunity to learn. The most common steps are:
Read the reasoning carefully – where did you lose points, and on which criteria?
Ask for a more detailed explanation if the letter doesn't explain the outcome well enough.
Request access to documents – the procurement protocol and the winner's tender. Trade secrets are redacted, but access often gives a good picture of what separated the tenders.
Consider complaining before the standstill period expires, if you believe mistakes were made in the evaluation.
How do I keep the award decision letter in Cobrief?
When you move a tender to Won, Lost or Cancelled in Cobrief, the "Register result" dialog opens. There you can upload the award decision letter together with the rest of the result – drag the file into the upload area, or click "Choose files".
Cobrief detects the document type automatically, so the award decision letter gets its own badge and is easy to find again under Result on the tender page. Access documents are recognized the same way and labelled "Access to competitors' bids".
Read more in Register results and upload award decision letters.
What does Cobrief use the award decision letter for?
The award decision letters and results you register are gathered on the tender, so the whole team can find them when needed. They also give the AI a better basis for future competitions, for example when you want to know what was decisive the last time you faced the same contracting authority or competitor.
What is the difference between an award decision letter and a result announcement?
The award decision letter is sent directly to those who submitted a tender, right after the decision is made. The result announcement is published publicly on Doffin, usually only after the contract has been signed. Cobrief follows the public announcements automatically and shows them on the tender under Result, in the "From Doffin" block – where you'll see the winner, contract value and number of tenders, among other things.
Uploading award decision letters and registering results requires a paid plan.