🗣️ This article is intended for Buyers. If you are a Supplier, please refer to our Supplier hub content.
When setting up a Request and adding sections such as Documents, Questions, or Line items, you will notice options related to Locks. These settings play an important role in controlling when and how your team can view supplier submissions.
In this article, we’ll explain what locking a bid means, when it’s useful, and how to configure these settings during the Request setup process.
What locking a bid means and when to use it
Locking a bid means restricting access to supplier submissions until certain conditions are met: either the stage deadline passes or a team member manually unlocks them. This feature is especially important in public RFPs, where regulations prohibit reviewing responses before the deadline. It's also useful in high-risk or sensitive projects where early access could raise concerns around fairness or potential bias. All in all, locking helps ensure a transparent and auditable evaluation process.
How to lock Documents, Questions and Line items
Each section type (Documents, Questions, Line items) in a Request handles locking differently:
Documents are locked individually.
Questions and Line items are locked at the section level.
Let’s break down how this works in each case.
Documents sections
When you add a document to a document section, you’ll need to define its requirement type - in other words, what you want suppliers to do with that specific document.
Different requirement types offer different lock options. Specifically, locking is only available for the Upload completed document and Upload requested document types.
How to set up a Lock for Documents
Within your draft Request go to the relevant Document section and click 'Edit'.
Scroll to the Lock responses column in the document section grid.
Click 'No lock' next to the document you want to edit.
Select your preferred unlock criteria:
Automatic: the document unlocks when the stage deadline has passed.
Manual: the document unlocks only when a team member explicitly unlocks it. Specify when team members are allowed to unlock it:
At any time
Only after the stage deadline has passed
Click 'Save' to apply the lock criteria, and click 'Save' again to save the section configuration too.
✏️ Important to note: Lock criteria cannot be changed once the request has been set live.
How to change or remove a Lock for Documents
Within your draft Request go to the Document section you want to revise and click 'Edit'.
Scroll to the Lock responses column in the document section grid.
Click 'Edit lock' next to the document you want to update.
Change the unlock criteria between Automatic and Manual.
Click ‘Save’ to apply your changes, or ‘Remove lock’ to discard the lock setup
Click 'Save' again to save the section configuration too.
Questions and Line items sections
Unlike Documents, Questions and Line items are locked at the section level rather than individually. However, the setup process is the same in both cases.
How to set up a Lock for Questions and Line items
Within your draft Request go to the relevant Questions or Line items section you want to lock, and click 'Edit'.
Expand the ‘Section Configuration’ settings.
In the ‘Lock responses’ field click 'Edit'.
Select your preferred unlock criteria:
Automatic: the document unlocks when the stage deadline has passed.
Manual: the document unlocks only when a team member explicitly unlocks it. Specify when team members are allowed to unlock it:
At any time
Only after the stage deadline has passed
Click 'Save' to apply the lock criteria, and click 'Save' again to save the section configuration too.
How to change or remove a Lock for Questions and Line items
Within your draft Request go to the Questions or Line items section you want to revise, and click 'Edit'.
Expand the ‘Section Configuration’ settings.
In the ‘Lock responses’ field click 'Edit'.
Change the unlock criteria between Automatic and Manual.
Click ‘Save’ to apply your changes, or ‘Remove lock’ to discard the lock setup
Click 'Save' again to save the section configuration too.
How to unlock Supplier bids
A team member can unlock supplier bids by doing the following:
Go to the Suppliers tab of the live Request.
Select one, multiple or all Suppliers whose response you wish to unlock.
On the right top corner, click 'More actions'.
Selecting 'Unlock bids'.
✏️ Important to note: The action of unlocking a bid will be logged to the Audit trail.
Got a question or need clarification? Send us a message by clicking the Help chat button in the bottom right - our AI assistant, FIN, will help you right away, and connect you to our team if needed.