Terms of use

1. The service and who may use it

These terms govern the use of Tenderhub Africa, an online service for running requests for quotations and tenders, operated by [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], registered in Kenya under number [REGISTRATION NUMBER], of [REGISTERED ADDRESS] (“we”, “us”).

The service is for businesses. A buyer is a company that asks for prices on materials, goods or services. A supplier is a company that bids. Buyers invite their own suppliers, and bidding is never open to the public.

You may use the service only on behalf of a company that has an account, and only if you are at least 18 and have the company’s authority to do so. By using the service you accept these terms for yourself and for that company. Our privacy policy explains how we handle personal data.

2. Accounts and invitations

Accounts exist by invitation only. We, or a company’s owner, invite a buyer company’s people; a buyer invites its suppliers. Each person has their own login, and one supplier login can serve several buyers.

Keep your password to yourself and tell us at once at [CONTACT EMAIL] if you think someone else has used your account. An invitation link is personal: do not forward it.

Each company is responsible for the people it invites, the roles it gives them, and everything done through their accounts. A company’s owners should remove access for anyone who leaves.

3. Buyer responsibilities

A buyer is responsible for:

• the accuracy and lawfulness of its requests, stages, questions, terms, deadlines and documents;
• choosing which suppliers to invite and what they can see, including whether a request shows competing bids;
• evaluating bids fairly and consistently, and meeting any procurement law, policy or rule that applies to it;
• the reasons it gives when it eliminates a supplier or makes an award;
• keeping suppliers’ bids and documents confidential and using them only for the tender they were submitted for.

The service does not decide who wins. Scores, pass marks, verdicts, overrides and awards are the buyer’s decisions, made through tools the service provides.

4. Supplier responsibilities

A supplier is responsible for:

• having the authority to bid and to make the declarations in a tender on its company’s behalf;
• the accuracy of its prices, terms, answers and documents;
• making sure certificates and other documents it uploads are genuine and valid, and updating them when they expire;
• having the right to share any personal data in its documents, such as staff named in CVs;
• honouring the bids it submits for their stated validity.

5. Sealed bids, stages and auctions

The service applies these rules, and we take care that it does so correctly:

• a buyer cannot see bid prices until the bidding deadline passes or the buyer closes bidding early;
• a buyer reads a stage’s answers and documents only after that stage has closed, and only what was submitted;
• a supplier eliminated at a stage takes no part in later stages;
• where a buyer allows it, suppliers see competing bids only without names; on invitation-only requests they see none;
• in an auction, suppliers see their rank and never another bidder’s name.

Timing is measured by the service’s clock. A submission counts only once the service has received it: allow time, because a bid that arrives after a deadline, or not at all because of a problem with your connection, cannot be accepted. An auction may extend itself under the rules the buyer set.

We do not guarantee the outcome of any tender, the conduct of any buyer or supplier, or that a buyer will follow its own evaluation criteria. A buyer controls when a request closes, may extend a deadline, and may reopen a stage decision under the service’s rules.

6. Bids, awards and agreements

Bids, counter-offers and awards are between the buyer and the supplier. We are not a party to them, we are not an agent for either side, and we do not guarantee payment, delivery or performance.

When a request is awarded, the service produces an award agreement with a PDF copy. It is a record of what was awarded, on which terms and from which bid version. It is not a contract made by us. Whether, and on what terms, a binding contract exists between the buyer and supplier is for them and the law to decide. [NOTE FOR LEGAL REVIEW: CONFIRM HOW THE AWARD AGREEMENT SHOULD BE DESCRIBED.]

Any dispute about a bid, an evaluation, an award or its performance is between the buyer and the supplier.

7. Your content and confidentiality

What you put on the service stays yours: requests belong to the buyer; bids, answers and documents belong to the supplier who submitted them.

You give us permission to store, copy, display and send your content only as the service needs to work, for example to show a bid to the buyer once it may be seen, or to include it in an award agreement or export. This permission lasts as long as we hold the content.

We keep your content confidential and use it only to run the service, as our privacy policy describes. We do not use it for any other purpose.

8. Acceptable use

You must not:

• try to see another company’s data or a sealed bid, or to find out who is behind an anonymous label;
• collude with other bidders, rig bids, or offer inducements through the service;
• upload false, forged or expired documents presented as valid, or content that is unlawful or infringes someone else’s rights;
• upload malware, or test, probe or overload the service without our written agreement;
• share your login, or use the service for any unlawful purpose.

9. Fees

[FEES, IF ANY: WHO PAYS, HOW MUCH, WHEN, AND HOW CHANGES ARE NOTIFIED.]

10. Availability and changes to the service

We aim to keep the service available and reliable, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted or free of errors. We may need to take it down for maintenance or updates. [SERVICE LEVEL COMMITMENT, IF ANY.]

We may change, add or remove features. If a change materially reduces what the service does for you, we will tell you in advance where we reasonably can.

11. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or close an account or a company if these terms are broken, if the law requires it, or to protect the service or its users. Where we reasonably can, we will tell you first and give you a chance to put things right.

A company may stop using the service at any time by writing to [CONTACT EMAIL]. [TERMINATION NOTICE PERIOD, IF ANY.]

When an account or company is closed, records that buyers and suppliers rely on, such as submitted bids and award agreements, are kept as our privacy policy describes. [NOTE FOR LEGAL REVIEW: CONFIRM HOW A LEAVING COMPANY OBTAINS A COPY OF ITS DATA.]

12. Disclaimers

The service is provided as it is and as available. We do not check the truth of what buyers and suppliers post, the validity of their documents, or their fitness to trade. We do not give procurement, legal or tax advice.

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have that cannot be limited under Kenyan law.

13. Limitation of liability

We are not liable for loss of profit, business, contracts or data, or for any indirect or consequential loss, arising from the use of the service or from any tender, bid or award made through it.

Our total liability to a company for all claims in any period of [LIABILITY PERIOD] is limited to [LIABILITY CAP].

We do not exclude liability for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

14. Indemnity

Each company will compensate us for claims, losses and reasonable costs we suffer because of content it uploads, a breach of these terms by it or its users, or a dispute between it and another buyer or supplier. [NOTE FOR LEGAL REVIEW: CONFIRM THE SCOPE OF THE INDEMNITY.]

15. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya. Disputes about them will be decided by [GOVERNING COURTS]. [DISPUTE RESOLUTION STEP BEFORE COURT, SUCH AS NEGOTIATION OR ARBITRATION, IF ANY.]

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the latest version. We will tell account holders about significant changes by email or in the portal at least [NOTICE PERIOD FOR CHANGES] before they take effect. Continuing to use the service after that means accepting the new terms.

17. Contact

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME], [REGISTERED ADDRESS]. Email: [CONTACT EMAIL].