RFQ vs. RFP: the difference isn’t just acronyms. Get the sequence wrong and you waste months — and signal to the market that you’re not ready.
If you’ve used both terms interchangeably, you’re not alone. In practice, they serve entirely different purposes, and running them in the wrong order has real consequences.
A Request For Qualifications (RFQ) is a screening tool. You’re asking firms to demonstrate they’re qualified: relevant experience, team credentials, financial stability, safety record, references. The output is a shortlist. You’re not asking for fee, but the question: “can you do this job?”
A Request For Proposals (RFP) goes to that curated shortlist. Now you’re asking: how will you do this job, and what will it cost?
On some jobs, skipping the RFQ and going straight to an open RFP means reviewing proposals from firms ranging from excellent to completely unqualified, wasting your time, and the time of the unqualified firms. Additionally, you lose the governance benefit of a documented two-stage process.
However, on other jobs in a more closed market where the players are well known and qualifications aren’t in question, the processes can be combined into a single, efficient RFP.
Either way, the RFP should always highlight and examine the factors that will make this project a success. A good experience with a firm in the past may not mean they’re right for the project at hand.
We also advise that the RFQ/RFP process lead to interviews. Chemistry can’t be captured on paper, and on most projects, it’s the essential ingredient.
Pandion Development Management is an expert at writing excellent RFQs & RFPs. Call us. If you have a project, we’ll write you one for free.
