How sealed bids and deadlines work
Why nobody can open bids early, and what happens at the closing time.
Updated 7 October 2026
Sealed until the deadline
When a supplier submits, their bid is locked and fingerprinted. Before the closing time you can see who has submitted under Submissions, but not their prices or documents.
At the closing time
- Bids unseal together, and scoring opens for your evaluators.
- Late submissions are refused automatically.
- Deadlines are enforced by the TenderLock server clock, never anyone's device.
Receipts and versions
Every submission creates a receipt with a fingerprint. Suppliers can update or withdraw before the deadline, and each change creates a new sealed version. Earlier versions are kept.
Support staff
TenderLock staff cannot open sealed bids without a logged, time-limited reason.
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