Supplier Qualification Checklist
The corporate, financial, technical and ESG evidence you must collect before a supplier is allowed to bid on an industrial capex lot.
1. Corporate standing
- Certificate of incorporation, tax registration, business licence.
- Ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) declaration.
- Sanctions & PEP screening (OFAC, EU consolidated, UK OFSI, UN).
- Litigation history — active disputes above 10% of turnover.
- ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (H&S) — current certificates.
2. Financial capacity
- Last 3 years audited financial statements.
- Turnover ≥ 3× the target contract value in each of last 2 years.
- Net worth positive; gearing < 3× EBITDA.
- Working capital ratio > 1.2×.
- Bank references confirming facility headroom sufficient for advance payment guarantee and performance bond.
3. Technical track record
- Portfolio of at least 3 similar projects executed in last 5 years (capacity, technology, geography).
- Client references contactable directly — not letters.
- In-house engineering headcount by discipline.
- Factory acceptance capabilities: witnessed FAT protocol, test bench specs.
- After-sales network in target geography.
4. ESG & compliance
- Anti-bribery & corruption policy; last training records.
- Modern Slavery / supply chain human rights policy.
- Health & safety statistics — LTIFR, TRIFR, fatalities in last 5 years.
- Environmental incidents disclosure; carbon footprint reporting.
- Compliance with IFC Performance Standards / Equator Principles where DFI funding is expected.
How to score qualification
Prequalification is pass / fail, not weighted. A supplier missing any category evidence is rejected — not asked for a reduced quote. Only qualified suppliers should receive the RFQ. This is the single most effective procurement discipline for cutting change orders, schedule slip and project distress calls.
Frequently asked questions
Can we qualify a supplier and issue the RFQ at the same time?+
Only for very short timelines with well-known suppliers. Best practice is to complete qualification first — RFQ preparation is expensive for suppliers and cost is passed back to buyers via markup on unrelated jobs.
How long is qualification valid for?+
12 months is standard; refresh financial statements and sanctions screening annually. Any material corporate change (M&A, insolvency filing) requires re-qualification.
What if only one supplier in the market qualifies?+
Document the single-source justification, benchmark price against 2 non-qualifying quotes for transparency, and negotiate open-book. Never proceed without a paper trail — funders and auditors will ask.
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