ITT, RFP and RFQ

The instruments differ by how much the buyer already knows. An RFQ (quotation) assumes the definition is complete — this item, this specification, this quantity — and asks only the price; evaluation is largely arithmetic. An ITT assumes the scope is defined and asks for conforming, comparable, priced tenders; evaluation is price-led with compliance screening. An RFP admits the buyer wants the market's thinking — the solution, the approach, the team — and evaluates on weighted criteria in which price is one factor; it belongs where definition is genuinely open, since what it buys in ideas it costs in comparability.

The acronym collision is real and regional: in North American public procurement especially, RFQ frequently means request for qualifications — a prequalification instrument with no prices in it at all. Documents that say which they mean save everyone a round of correspondence.

The failure is mismatch: an RFP where an ITT belonged converts a pricing exercise into an essay contest; an ITT on immature definition collects incomparable guesses with two decimal places. The instrument should be chosen by the maturity of the definition, not the habit of the procurement office.