Specification as a document for bidding

Looking at the first context, in a competitive procurement environment our objective is normally to procure the most cost-effective product, that 

In order to obtain the best value, it seems sensible to produce a specification which reflects the minimum requirements that are acceptable, thus enabling maximum competition and possibly innovative solutions. In effect, this is a value-engineering approach. The specification is aimed at identification of the essential requirements for performance of the item, performance meaning the definition of function and how well, how economically, and how reliably the function must be performed. Any non-essential requirements are identified and deleted. 

This is one of the basic tenets of writing specifications, but limitations to the practice include the following. 

The preparation of specifications is therefore a compromise between getting the best value by restricting the requirements to the essential performance of the item, and the sometimes conflicting needs of design convergence, standardization, and inclusion of proven essential features. All of these factors are important. 

To some degree the compromise can be reached by using two stages of specification. In the initial or study stage the specifications may be almost exclusively performance-based, and serve to establish the basic 

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