This article is intended for buyers.

If you’re a supplier check out our supplier help articles here.

This article aims to explain how to lock different Sections in a request and how to unlock a bid at the conclusion of a Request

This article will cover:

In cases when you require submissions from suppliers to be sealed you can lock sections ( Documents, Line items, Questions).

This will ensure that you and your team are only able to review and compare submissions when

You can decide whether or not to lock supplier submissions whilst building a Request in draft. It is a feature only available to a Request Owner or Request Members.

To read more about different types of users and members click here.

Different types of sections are locked differently. Documents are locked individually, whereas Questions and Line items are locked at a Section level.

Read more about the different types of sections you can use to build a request here.

You can lock any document submissions excluding documents that have a set requirement:

All documents are set as unlocked by default. In order to lock a document click the lock button at the end of the document line.

In order to lock a Section you'll need to select the criteria by which it will be unlocked

You can set both of these criteria or just one.

If you select automatic this will unlock the supplier inputs when the Stage deadline passes

If you select manual as your criteria the criteria will be unlocked when a team member physically goes in and decides to unlock the supplier inputs. If you select this criteria you’ll also have to decide whether there’s a time limitation on this - you have to choose if the the team member can unlock at any time or only when the Stage deadline has passed.

A team member on a Request can unlock bids by going to the Suppliers tab, clicking more actions and unlock bids. This will all be logged on the Audit Trail.

⚡ Top Tip: For a sealed bid, use both criteria to easily see who unlocked the submissions and when on the Audit Trail.