Yes, in theory, but usually the contract specifications are geared so that a limited number (sometimes only one) of options is available for them to select from. So basically fudged to prevent "unapproved" contractors from being successful.
I remember it happening from my short time as a school governor. We had a long special meeting one evening to discuss procurement of a specific thing, spent ages going through tech specs etc., and at the end of the evening, we voted. Unfortunately, we voted for the "wrong" one and were only then told that our favoured contractor wasn't valid because they couldn't do a specific thing that was part of the tender documents. It then transpired there was only one option which did comply, so we had no choice but to choose that one instead. What a waste of an evening! The thing was that the specific item specified was pretty irrelevant and insignificant, so we always wondered whether it was incorporated in the tender documents on purpose to ensure the "preferred" bidder won the contract!