By law, a winning bidder has to submit all of the required certificates and documentation, before they are awarded a contract. Bidders can be asked to submit their evidence at any point in the procurement process if this is necessary to ensure that the process is carried out properly. If a bidder is found to have misrepresented itself, a couple of things can happen, depending on the nature of the misrepresentation: - If a bidder is in breach of one of the areas which is a mandatory ground for exclusion, or if it does not meet one of the minimum selection criteria, then that bidder must be excluded from the competition. Depending on the nature and stage of the competition, that may mean either that it continues without that particular bidder, or the competition should be re-run without that bidder’s tender. - If it emerges that a business is in breach of an area which is a discretionary ground for exclusion, then the decision about whether or not to exclude that bidder will be up to the buying authority. If the issue is more administrative in nature (e.g. mistakes in providing the documentation), then the authority will have the option of inviting the bidder to make amendments to, or clarify the documentation provided.