Price is irrelevant if the tender does not survive the preliminary evaluation. PPRA review decisions show evaluation committees checking mandatory requirements first and declaring non-responsive tenders that fail them.
What preliminary evaluation can examine
PPRA review material citing Regulation 74 lists checks such as eligibility, required format and serialization, tender security where applicable, authorised signatures, required copies, tender validity, samples where required, and whether required documents and information have been submitted.
The bidder does not meet the legal, reservation or tender-specific eligibility condition.
The tender security is missing, wrong in amount/form or does not satisfy the required validity.
The tender or required forms are not signed by the person authorised in the manner the tender requires.
A certificate, form, licence, declaration, sample or other required item is absent or not in the stated form.
Copies, pagination/serialization, file or envelope requirements are not followed where the tender makes them mandatory.
PPRA review material citing Regulation 74 preliminary-evaluation checks. Tender-specific evaluation criteria still control your bid.
The practical lesson
Do the compliance review before you spend the final hours polishing price and presentation. A mandatory omission can end the evaluation before those strengths are considered.