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A DoD tender this week has reportedly become the world record holder for the highest number of addendum issued for a tender.
The single works package, which has attracted a large number of registered bidders, has come under fire as angry contractors complained that they wasted precious time during the clarification period only to then be swamped with updates and corrections to clauses which appeared to have been “cut and pasted” from previous documents.
One anonymous bidder claimed that by addendum number 36 they realised something was amiss when multiple addenda were issued on the same day.
“We’re used to addendums that answer questions raised in the clarification period, and the odd deadline extensions which results in having to swap out team A with Team B and having Team C and D waiting on the sidelines due to shifting dates and goalposts and all, but when the scope of this magnitude changes then questions have to be asked whether the Cut and Paster needs to be performance managed,” he said.
Others agreed that the Tsunami of emails, updates and changes was becoming a tad too much for them and frustrations were reaching the point where members of the bid team were being found in foetal position under their desks”.
“Everyone is frustrated and the administration is outweighing the bidding effort,” said the source.
“We’ve had to employ an Addendum Officer to deal with the Cut and Paster’s mistakes, and if we get to 102 addendum we’ve “scissor, paper, rocks” decided to throw the towel in. It’s a sad day in national security when a Cut and Paster has the power to outplay and wear a cybersecurity team down, but if we have to surrender and walk away from a billion dollar opportunity, then we will.”