What does each label usually mean?
| Label | What the buyer usually wants | What you usually spend | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| RFT: Request for Tender | A conforming offer against a specification | A full priced response with evidence | Evaluation, award, and a debrief if you miss |
| RFP: Request for Proposal | A proposed solution, often negotiable | Solution design plus price, with negotiation room | Shortlisting, negotiation, then award |
| ROI: Registration of Interest | Interest and capability, not a price | A short capability statement and referees | A shortlist invited to a later RFT or RFP |
| RFQ: Request for Quote | A price against a known scope | Pricing with conditions checked | Selection, often fast and price-sensitive |
| RFI: Request for Information | Market information, no commitment either way | A short factual reply, carefully fenced | A later approach shaped by what the market said |
| NOI: Notice of Information / Advance Notice | Nothing yet. A warning that work is coming | A diary entry and a capability check | The actual approach, weeks or months later |
Is an ROI the same as an Australian EOI?
Close cousins, not twins. Both ask whether you are capable and interested ahead of a priced round. But the conditions of each pack decide what the response commits you to, how shortlisting works, and whether pricing hints in an ROI help or hurt. Read the instrument in front of you. The Australian comparison is on RFT vs RFP vs RFQ vs EOI vs ITT: useful context, not authority for a New Zealand pack.
When does the label lie?
When the buyer reused a template. An RFQ with onerous conditions of contract is still a risk decision. An ROI that asks for methodology, resourcing, and indicative pricing is a short RFP wearing a cheap label. An RFP that names a fixed specification with pass/fail pre-conditions is an RFT that kept the friendlier acronym. Believe the conditions, the evaluation clause, and the contract attached, not the cover.
What does this mean for the bid/no-bid call?
Price the response the label actually demands. An ROI is cheaper than an RFT, but it is not free, and a losing ROI still costs the week. An RFI answered with your full methodology is a gift to the buyer’s specification writers and to every competitor who reads the later RFT. Gate each stage as its own call, with its own hours, before the template opens. Which requirements apply tells you which Rules sit underneath the label.