Technical datasheets in tenders: how to fill the buyer's datasheet

What is a technical datasheet in a tender?

A technical datasheet in a tender is a form issued by the buyer that sets out the required values for one item, usually one per tag number or size line. It covers design data, materials, testing, inspection and accessories, and it leaves cells for the bidder to state what it offers.

EPC contractors, public sector undertakings and government buyers issue datasheets with their enquiries for valves, pumps, actuators, heat exchangers, compressors, vessels and other engineered equipment. Formats range from the buyer's own Excel or PDF forms to industry sheets such as API pump and compressor data sheets, the TEMA specification sheet and IOGP JIP33 (opens in a new tab) procurement data sheets.

It is not your catalogue datasheet. Your product datasheet describes what you make. The buyer's datasheet describes what they need. The tender asks you to answer the second, using facts from the first.

The filled datasheet then goes into the buyer's technical bid evaluation. Evaluators check each offered value against the requirement, log deviations, raise technical queries and decide whether the offer is technically acceptable. An offer that is not technically acceptable is typically out, whatever its price.

Purchaser vs bidder sections in a valve or pump datasheet

Every datasheet says, somehow, who fills what. Find that legend before you write anything. Common forms in Indian and international enquiries:

• A star legend, such as "* Denotes Vendor to indicate" on a city gas ball valve datasheet, or "* denotes data to be furnished / confirmed by pump vendor" on a refinery pump datasheet.
• Paired columns such as "Specified Material" and "Material Offered".
• Separate sheets: Data Sheet A filled by the purchaser and Data Sheet B filled by the bidder, as in BHEL motor-operated valve specifications.
• Coded cells: API data sheets mark entries "by purchaser" or "by manufacturer", and IOGP JIP33 data sheets code each cell as completed by the purchaser, the supplier or either.

A valve datasheet typically gives size, pressure rating, design standard, bore, end connections and part-wise materials, and asks the vendor for offered materials and data such as breakaway torque, which the actuator sizing depends on.

A pump datasheet typically has the purchaser state the liquid, capacity, temperature, specific gravity, differential head and NPSH available. The vendor fills speed, efficiency, rated power, NPSH required, minimum continuous flow and impeller diameter from its own hydraulic selection.

How to fill a datasheet: the meets-or-exceeds rule

Technical evaluation is usually pass or fail. Some tenders ask for datasheets showing that the quoted product meets or exceeds each specified parameter (NIELIT tender (opens in a new tab)). A butterfly valve tender states that bidders failing the technical specification shall be disqualified (ICAT tender (opens in a new tab)).

Meets means equal to the requirement or inside the required range. Exceeds means better in the direction that matters: a higher rating, lower leakage, a wider temperature range.

Be careful with "better". A different material, a heavier body or a larger actuator may not suit the buyer's piping, spares or service. A better value is still a change, so offer it on the deviation sheet with a reason, as the ball material line in the sample shows.

1. Collect every datasheet and its latest revision. Revised datasheets often arrive by corrigendum, sometimes because data was missing from the first issue.
2. Read the legend and mark which cells are yours.
3. Read the specification alongside the datasheet, and list any conflicts with page and clause references.
4. Leave purchaser values unchanged. If a purchaser value is wrong or missing, raise a query; do not overwrite it.
5. Fill each bidder cell with the actual value and unit asked for, such as "310 Nm", not "Yes" or "Comply".
6. Quote the standard and edition where the line names one, and point to the evidence: catalogue page, certificate or drawing number.
7. Never leave a bidder cell blank. If a line does not apply, write "Not applicable" and the reason.
8. Move every difference to the deviation sheet, then sign and stamp each page if the tender asks.

When the datasheet conflicts with the specification

Datasheets are often prepared separately from the general specification, and the two disagree more often than buyers intend. Published clarification logs show cases such as a specification requiring forged valve bodies above Class 1500 while the datasheet lists an ASTM A217 WC9 casting at Class 2500 (BHEL corrigendum (opens in a new tab); OGDCL clarification log (opens in a new tab)).

Read the order of precedence clause first. Many specifications state which document governs. Some say the most stringent requirement applies unless a deviation is accepted at tender stage, and valve specifications commonly say the purchaser's specification governs over the referenced standard.

• Log each conflict with both references: document, page and clause.
• Raise it as a pre-bid query before the query deadline, with a proposed answer: "We propose to offer forged bodies as per the specification. Please confirm."
• If the reply is vague or never comes, offer to the stricter requirement, or state your assumption on the deviation sheet.
• Check every corrigendum for revised datasheets before you finalize.

Technical deviation in tender: the deviation sheet format

A technical deviation is any point where your offer differs from the tender, whether lower, higher or simply different. Buyers want all of them in one place, in their format.

The consequences are written into tenders. A BHEL enquiry states: "Offer without this deviation list will not be evaluated & shall be rejected" (BHEL NIT (opens in a new tab)). A GRSE marine valve tender says blank columns "shall be considered as accepted" (GRSE NIT (opens in a new tab)). Oil India states that deviations written anywhere other than its Technical Compliance Check-List are ignored.

A deviation written only in a covering letter or a catalogue note is therefore not a deviation. Under such clauses you remain bound to the tender requirement.

If you have no deviations, many tenders ask for a signed nil deviation certificate rather than an empty sheet. Separately, a technical compliance statement answers the specification clause by clause with "complied" or a deviation reference; see our compliance matrix guide for how to build one.

Equivalent standard in tender: offering a different code

Manufacturers often build to a European, Indian or company standard rather than the ASTM, API or IS standard the datasheet names. Buyers can accept this, but the burden of proof is on you.

A BHEL tender requires alternative standards to be backed by "sufficient documentary evidence to ensure equivalence", failing which "the offer would be considered as not technically acceptable" (BHEL tender document (opens in a new tab)).

• A side-by-side comparison: chemistry, mechanical properties and heat treatment for a material; medium, pressure, duration and acceptance criteria for a test.
• Copies of the relevant clauses of both standards.
• Dual-certified material certificates where your supplier provides them.
• Earlier acceptances of the same equivalence by other buyers, if you have them.

List the equivalence on the deviation sheet as well. An unlisted substitution reads as non-compliance.

Worked example: answering an EPC valve enquiry (illustrative)

A valve manufacturer receives an EPC enquiry for six trunnion ball valves: a datasheet per tag, a valve specification and a piping material specification.

1. The legend uses "Specified Material / Material Offered" columns and a star for vendor cells. The team marks 14 star cells per tag.
2. Offered materials come from the catalogue, and breakaway torque comes from the engineering torque calculation for each size.
3. The datasheet shows RF flanges for two tags, but the piping material specification calls for RTJ facing in that class. The team raises a pre-bid query and proposes RTJ.
4. Two tags specify ASTM A351 CF8M bodies. The foundry casts to EN 10213 grade 1.4408. The team prepares a chemistry and mechanical property comparison and lists it on the deviation sheet.
5. The emission class asked for is not type tested, so it goes on the deviation sheet with its impact.
6. An engineer checks every value against its source, then the datasheets are signed, stamped and attached with the certificates they cite.

The result is an offer an evaluator can check line by line: every requirement answered, every difference in one list, every claim backed by a document.

Datasheet extraction and AI: what helps and what engineers decide

Much of the effort in a datasheet is re-typing values from PDFs into the buyer's form. TenderGenie's Datasheet Extraction reads your catalogues and the buyer's documents and pulls the key technical specifications out as organized data. Filled-in Datasheet then fills the buyer's template with that data, so your team reviews instead of typing.

The Enquiry Checklist turns the buyer's requirements into a checklist of what to supply, what you meet and what is missing. In TenderGenie's Response Builder, each proposed value is reviewed beside its source document before the final PDF is compiled.

Engineers still decide. Product selection, whether a different value is acceptable, whether to deviate, how to argue an equivalence and what to ask at pre-bid stay with people, and an engineer reviews every value before submission. See how this works for valve manufacturers and pump manufacturers.

Questions and answers