Product tools · Tender stage
Generally availableDocument review: check a customer's specification package against your documents, in both directions
Document Review compares one confirmed base document with the customer or supplier documents you select, in both directions. Every requirement gets a status and a quote from the source, and every row is accounted for. Bid, proposal and application engineers review the findings and export a compliance matrix and deviations list as an Excel workbook.
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What goes in and what you get out
What goes in
- Base document (required)The confirmed internal or governing document to review from.
- Customer or supplier documents (required, several files)The selected package to review against the base document.
What it checks
- Forward review: every base requirement against each selected document
- Reverse review: obligations in the selected documents that the base document doesn't answer
- Coverage check: every row reviewed or set aside with a reason
What you get out
- A status for every requirement, such as complies, deviates, clarification or not addressed
- A quote from the source document, page, sheet or cell for each finding
- Reviewer decisions recorded against each row
- A reconciled Excel (xlsx) workbook: the compliance matrix and the deviations & clarifications list
Who uses it: Bid and proposal engineers, Application engineers, Project managers who answer RFQs, Engineering managers.
20 questions about the Document Review
What is document review in a tender?
In a tender, document review means checking the customer's specification package against what you plan to offer. Bid engineers go through each requirement and decide whether the offer complies, deviates or needs a clarification. The result is usually a compliance matrix and a list of deviations and clarifications sent with the offer. It decides what you commit to before the order is placed.
What does OdysseyGPT Document Review do?
It compares one confirmed base document with the customer or supplier documents you select. It works in both directions. Forward, it checks every base requirement against each selected document. Reverse, it finds obligations in those documents that the base doesn't answer. Each finding has a status and a quote from the source, and your engineers record a decision on every row.
Why does the review run in both directions?
A one-way check only answers the questions the base document asks. A customer package often adds its own requirements, exceptions and alternatives that your documents never mention. The reverse review starts from those obligations and searches the base for an answer. Anything unanswered is kept as a finding with the exact customer text, so it can't drop out of the review unnoticed.
Which documents do I upload?
You upload one base document and one or more customer or supplier documents to review against it. The base is the confirmed document you review from, such as the customer specification or your own standard. The selected documents are the package it is checked against. Document Review reads PDF, Word, Excel and CSV files, including long specifications with tables.
What is a compliance matrix?
A compliance matrix lists each customer requirement on its own line with your response. Typical columns are the clause reference, the requirement text, the status, such as complies or deviates, and a comment or reference to your document. Customers and EPC contractors use it to see your position on every clause quickly and to compare bidders on the same basis.
What is a deviations and clarifications list?
It is the list of exceptions you take to the customer's requirements and the questions you need answered. Each line names the clause, what the customer asks for, what you offer instead or what is unclear, and why. It is sent with the offer so the customer can accept, reject or answer each item before the order. It is also called a technical deviation list.
How do bid teams do this review by hand?
Usually an engineer reads the specification, copies each requirement into a spreadsheet, then searches datasheets and standards for the answer. They mark a status, add a comment and build the deviation list from the rows that don't comply. It takes a long time on large packages, and requirements hidden in tables, notes or referenced documents are easy to miss.
What are the most common mistakes in a spec compliance review?
Common mistakes are marking a clause as complies without checking it, missing requirements inside tables or notes, and ignoring documents the specification refers to. Others are a deviation list that doesn't match the matrix, vague comments that don't say what you offer, and internal notes left in the customer copy. Each one can turn into a dispute after the order.
What does the customer or EPC contractor expect from the review?
They expect a clear position on every requirement, in their format if they issued one. Each deviation should state the clause, what you offer instead and why. They use your matrix and deviation list in their technical bid evaluation. A missing or vague answer is often treated as full compliance, which you are then held to after the order.
How does OdysseyGPT make sure no requirement is skipped?
Every source row is either reviewed as a requirement or set aside with a reason, such as a header or boilerplate. Coverage that is incomplete is not hidden: the review reports what is left. Forward and reverse results are merged without losing which document each finding came from. So you can see that every row in the package has been accounted for.
How are quotes checked?
Each finding carries a quote from the source document, with its page, sheet or cell. The quote is checked against that source. If it can't be found where the finding says, the finding goes to review instead of into the matrix. That way your engineers can open the source and confirm each answer, rather than trusting a summary they can't trace.
What statuses can a requirement get?
Typical statuses are complies, deviates, clarification and not addressed. Some requirements need a document the package doesn't contain, such as an ITP that was never sent, and those are flagged as documents to request. Others can be marked not applicable or out of scope. Your reviewers can change any status and record their decision against the row.
Who makes the final decision on each row?
Your engineers do. Document Review prepares the finding, the status and the quote. A reviewer accepts, changes or rejects each one and records the decision. Nothing is sent to the customer by OdysseyGPT. Your team decides open items and owns what goes out in the offer, as it would in a manual review.
What do I get at the end?
You get a reconciled Excel workbook. It holds the compliance matrix, with one line per requirement, its status, the quote and the reviewer's decision, and the deviations and clarifications list for the customer. Internal to-dos are kept on a separate sheet so they don't reach the customer. You can edit the workbook before it goes out.
Can it check a datasheet against the standards a specification calls up?
Yes, if you upload the standard alongside the specification and datasheet. For example, a specification may call up API 6D for pipeline valves. The review checks your documents against the requirements it can read in the files you provide. It can't check a standard you haven't uploaded, so include the editions the specification names.
Which file types and documents can it read?
It reads PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx and .xls) and CSV files. That covers most specifications, material requisitions, datasheets and standard specifications. It reads clauses and tables inside long text. It does not interpret engineering drawings such as general arrangements or P&IDs, so requirements shown only on a drawing need a person to check them.
What are the limits of Document Review?
It only checks against the documents you upload, so a requirement in a missing document can't be found. It does not read drawings. It does not send anything to the customer or make commercial decisions. It doesn't know unwritten customer preferences or past negotiations unless they are in the files. Your engineers still review every finding before the offer goes out.
How is this different from asking a general chatbot?
A general chatbot answers the question you ask and may skip parts of a long package without saying so. Document Review works through every row, in both directions, and reports anything it couldn't cover. Each finding has a checked quote and a place for your reviewer's decision. The output is a workbook you can send, not a chat reply.
How do I get Document Review?
Document Review is our production tool and is generally available. It comes with the OdysseyGPT Managed plan, from $999/month, with onboarding included. Enterprise plans are available on request. The best first step is a demo on one real specification package and the datasheets you would answer it from. You can also see the pricing page for what is included.
Which tools come after Document Review?
Document Review is the first step of the tender stage. After it, the Customer Specification Review builds a cited requirements register, and the Datasheet Comparison checks datasheets field by field. Buyers can use the Technical Bid Evaluation to compare suppliers, and the Deviation Register tracks each deviation through to the customer's decision.
Where it sits in the order lifecycle
Related standards, guides and templates
Try it on a real tender
Bring one representative spec package and the datasheets you would answer it from.