What do published weightings actually tell you?
Where the score comes from. Price, methodology, team, social policy, local content: the percentages are the buyer’s ranking of what they will pay attention to. A conforming bid that is weak on a 40 percent line will not be saved by a beautiful 10 percent line. That is the design.
The glossary distinguishes weighted from mandatory. A weak weighted score does not automatically void the offer. It can still make the bid unwinnable. Do not confuse “we can lodge” with “we can win.”
How do you reverse-engineer a score in a day?
Write the criteria and weights on one page. Against each: evidence you hold today, evidence you would have to invent, evidence that only the incumbent has. Invented evidence is a no. Incumbent-only evidence is a strategy question. Held evidence is the only kind that counts.
If the pack is vague on weights, believe the evaluation clause, not the marketing title. Buyers reuse templates. The clause that says how you will be scored outranks the cover.
What if the weights sit outside what you do?
You are not bidding to win. You are bidding to stay visible. Visibility is not a criterion. A firm that spends a week on a 40 percent price-only down-select it cannot win has bought a lesson it already knew. Decline, or bid only if the cost is honest and the debrief is the point.
Addenda can move weights. Re-score. A yes against 20 percent price is not a yes against 50.
How does this sit next to the three axes?
Winnability is not an axis. Strategy, capacity, risk are. You can have a high chance of winning work you should not take. You can have a low chance on work that fits. This page stops you spending pursuit cost on a score you cannot reach. The bid/no-bid guide still decides whether you should want to reach it.
Put the weights on the gate page next to the three scores. A partner who was not in the room should see why a 72 on strategy is still a no: because 40 percent of the evaluation is a line you cannot evidence. That is a defensible call. A vibe about “tough criteria” is not.