The conditions booklet is the document that settles a competition before you write a word of it. The notice on Etimad tells you a competition exists; only the booklet tells you whether it is yours — and because it is paid for per competition, the order you read it in is not an organisational detail but a spending decision.
What is inside
- Scope and technical specifications — what is actually required, in detail.
- Mandatory requirements — conformance gates, not scoring criteria.
- Eligibility conditions — classification, years of experience, certificates, local presence.
- Evaluation criteria and weights — how marks split between technical and financial.
- Guarantees — the initial guarantee’s amount, form and validity.
- Submission format — files, naming, limits and deadlines.
The reading order that saves money
The instinct is to start with the technical scope, because it is the interesting part. It is the worst possible order: you spend two hours designing a solution and discover on page forty that the required classification is above yours. Read in elimination order:
- 1. Eligibility and dates. Does this apply to you at all? Is the deadline workable? If not, stop now.
- 2. Mandatory requirements. Every “must”, “shall” and “minimum”. One you cannot meet ends it.
- 3. Evaluation criteria and weights. Where are marks actually given? If the heaviest weight sits on something you are not strong at, you are competing from behind.
- 4. Technical scope. Now — knowing you are eligible and competitive.
- 5. Contract and payment terms. Before pricing, not after.
“The supplier shall provide a help desk, operating 24/7, with a 15-minute response time for critical incidents.”
One sentence → three rows, each answerable on its own
- R-1Provide a help deskComply — describe the service you'll run.
- R-2Operate it 24/7Comply — evidence: the staffing roster.
- R-315-minute response for critical incidentsCheck your real SLA before writing “Comply”.
From booklet to matrix
The booklet is prose; the offer is evaluated clause by clause. The bridge is a compliance matrix: every requirement on a row, beside where your offer meets it and with what evidence. Build it straight from the booklet, before drafting — not afterwards as a review, because a review finds what you forgot once fixing it has become expensive.
What comes next
If the competition survives the read, run the bid/no-bid decision over the full pack, then review why bids fail. Full context in the guide to government tenders in Saudi Arabia.
Official sources
- Government Tenders and Procurement Law — the statutory framework the conditions booklet is issued under
- Etimad platform — where conditions booklets are published and offers submitted
Frequently asked questions
What is the conditions booklet (karasat al-shurut)?
It is the full specification pack for a competition: scope and technical specifications, mandatory requirements, eligibility conditions, evaluation criteria and their weights, contract terms, guarantee amounts and the submission format. The notice tells you a competition exists; the booklet tells you whether it is yours.
Do you have to pay for the conditions booklet?
Yes, per competition, and the fee is set by the buying entity. Treat it as a filter rather than a cost: screen eligibility and dates from the notice first, so you only buy booklets for competitions you would genuinely bid on.
What should you read first in a conditions booklet?
Eligibility and dates, then mandatory requirements, then evaluation criteria and weights, then scope, then contract terms. That order surfaces the disqualifiers earliest, when abandoning costs you nothing but the fee you already paid.
Which clauses most often disqualify a bid?
Certificate validity windows, contractor classification bands, minimum years of experience, mandatory site visits or pre-bid meetings, the local-content threshold, the initial guarantee amount and form, and the submission format itself — file naming, sealed envelopes, page limits. All are conformance gates, scored before anyone reads your technical content.
