Supplier Clarification Question Register
Use This Register
Record clarification questions and their actual issue/response evidence without scoring offers or inventing replies. Common requirement information and private offer questions need different handling under the actual process. A register entry is not approval, authenticated authorship or a contract amendment.
Blank Register
Header: [RFQ/reference; record version; as-of date; keeper; purchasing decision owner; approved evidence location].
| ID | Common requirement | Question | Information group | Approval/date | Issued | Answer received | Response locator | Amendment needed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ID] | [Requirement reference] | [Exact question] | [Common group or private supplier] | [Actual evidence or NOT SUPPLIED] | [Date or NOT ISSUED] | [Date or not yet received] | [Document/page/paragraph or not yet received] | [yes/no/owner to decide] | [Due date; gap; owner] |
Field Guide
ID links events; requirement identifies the shared request. Question preserves what was asked. Group identifies recipients without exposing competitors' private terms. Approval/date records actual authority evidence. Issued and received record different events. Response locator identifies the exact passage, without substituting a paraphrase. Amendment needed records the proposed classification and actual decision if held. Notes retain due dates, provenance gaps and next owners. NOT SUPPLIED is not proof of no approval.
Completed Fictional Example
As of April 7, 2027, RFQ-2027-07 concerns office chairs; suppliers are A, B and C. All issued questions below are dated April 5, 2027, with an explicitly supplied reply due April 8. The table's No entries record no proposed amendment, not authority to disregard a later material change.
| ID | Requirement/question | Group | Approval/date | Issued/received | Response locator | Amendment | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R3: clarify requested seat-height range | ALL | Purchasing owner, Apr 5 | Apr 5/not yet received | not yet received | No | Common requirement question; no reply invented |
| 2 | Delivery: does A's '10 days' start at order or payment? | A private | NOT SUPPLIED | Apr 5/not yet received | not yet received | No | Retain A's offer details privately |
| 3 | Same start-point topic, separate questions B-Q3 and C-Q3 | B private; C private, separate records | NOT SUPPLIED for either | Apr 5/B received Apr 7, C not yet received | B: row 5, reply page 1 paragraph 2; C: not yet received | No | No shared competitor reply or offer details |
| 4 | C requests lower price for larger order | C private | Decision NOT SUPPLIED | Unsolicited request; no issue date supplied | not yet received; request locator/date NOT SUPPLIED | Owner to decide | Log only; no answer or change authorized |
| 5 | Received answer linked to B-Q3 | B private | Issue approval NOT SUPPLIED | Apr 5/Apr 7 | B reply letter, page 1 paragraph 2 | No | Linked due Apr 8; text not reproduced; provenance unresolved |
Check Slots
Five entries; one amendment question awaits the owner. April 5 to April 8 is three calendar days. Row 5 arrived two days after issue, before its supplied due date. Add actual decision and communication evidence when available; this record does not create a notice deadline.
Record-Only Boundary and Sources
Use the clarification how-to for the procedure. A second communication type does not alone prove contact integrity, authorship, authority or valid contractual notice service; unresolved route stays unresolved.
The UN Procurement Practitioner's Handbook (edition date not established from the opened copy) informs clarification/amendment separation and protection of offer information in UN practice. CC 8 (November 27, 2024) and decision guidance (November 2, 2020) inform authority/records in England and Wales. NCSC phishing guidance (published 2018, reviewed February 13, 2024,version 2.0) informs checking important requests through a second communication type. None prescribes this register or approves its questions. Checked November 1, 2026.