FEBRUARY 2018 PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

GUIDANCE FOR
PRACTITIONERS
on avoiding the most common errors
in projects funded by the European
Structural and Investment Funds

1
DISCLAIMER

This document contains guidance on how to avoid errors frequently seen in public procurement for projects
co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds. It is intended to facilitate the implementa-
tion of operational programmes and to encourage good practice. It is not legally binding but aims to provide
general recommendations and to reflect best practice.

The concepts, ideas and solutions proposed in the guidance are without prejudice to national legislation and
should be read and may be adapted taking into account the national legal framework.

This guidance is without prejudice to the interpretation that the Commission may in the future give to any
provision of the applicable legislation. This guidance does not commit the European Commission. Only the
Court of Justice of the European Union is competent to authoritatively interpret Union law.

Print ISBN 978-92-79-77537-6 doi:10.2776/461701 KN-02-17-003-EN-C

PDF ISBN 978-92-79-77536-9 doi:10.2776/886010 KN-02-17-003-EN-N

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
GUIDANCE FOR
PRACTITIONERS
on avoiding the most common errors
in projects funded by the European
Structural and Investment Funds
Table of contents
Glossary of acronyms 4

Foreword 7

Introduction — How to use this guidance 8

Who is this guidance for? 8
What is the purpose of this guidance? 8
Structure of the guidance 8
Explanation of symbols: warnings and help for public buyers 9
Scope of the guidance 9

Key changes introduced by the public procurement

Directive 2014/24/EU 11
New definitions, new thresholds, and a new category of contracting authority 11
Making SME participation in public contracts easier 12
More provisions on grounds for exclusion and award criteria 13
Improved safeguards against corruption 13
Including environmental, social and innovation policy goals in procurement procedures 14
Electronic procurement 14
Changes in procedures 14
Changes in the scope of Directive 2014/24/EU 15

1. Preparation and planning 16

1.1. Assess future needs 17
1.2. Engage stakeholders 19
1.3. Analyse the market 23
1.4. Define the subject matter 28
1.5. Choose the procedure 35
1.6. Plan the procedure 51

2. Publication and transparency 54

2.1. Draft procurement documents 54
2.2. Define specifications and standards 59
2.3. Define the criteria 65

2
 2.4. Set the time limits 77
2.5. Advertise the contract 81

3. Submission of tenders and selection of tenderers 86

3.1. Ensure a delivery of tenders according to instructions 86
3.2. Acknowledge receipt and open tenders 87
3.3.  Assess and select tenders 88

4. Evaluation of tenders and award 92

4.1. Set up the evaluation committee 92
4.2. Apply the award criteria 93
4.3. Deal with abnormally low tenders 97
4.4. Request clarifications 98
4.5. Finalise the evaluation and decide 99
4.6. Award the contract 101

5. Contract implementation 104

5.1.  Manage the relationship with the contractor 104
5.2. Manage the contract 105
5.3. Deal with contract modifications 111
5.4. Deal with complaints and remedies 116
5.5.  Terminate a contract during its term 116
5.6. Close the contract 116

6. Toolkit 118
6.1. Most common errors in public procurement 118
6.2. Resources and references 120
6.3.  Checklist for specifications drafting 125
6.4.  Checklist for the control of public procurement 127
6.5. Template declaration of absence of conflict of interest and confidentiality 132

3
Glossary of acronyms
Acronym Definition

CA Contracting authority

CAN Contract award notice

CEO Chief Executive Officer, highest-ranking executive in an organisation

CN Contract notice

DG EMPL Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European
Commission

DG GROW Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the
European Commission

DG REGIO Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission

EC European Commission

ECA European Court of Auditors

e-CERTIS Cross-border certificate repository

EEA European Economic Area

EFTA European Free Trade Association

EMAS Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

ESI Funds European Structural and Investment Funds

ESPD European Single Procurement Document

EU European Union

FIDIC International Federation of Consulting Engineers

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GPP Green Public Procurement

GPA Government Procurement Agreement of the World Trade Organization

4
Acronym Definition

IAASB International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board

IATA International Air Transport Association

ICAO International Civil Aviation Organisation

IPR Intellectual Property Rights

ISA International Standards on Auditing

ISO International Organisation for Standardisation

LCC Life-cycle cost

MEAT ‘Most economically advantageous tender’ criterion

OJEU Official Journal of the European Union

OLAF European Anti-Fraud Office

PCP Pre-commercial procurement

PIN Prior Information Notice

PPI Public Procurement of Innovative solutions

R&D Research and Development

SIMAP Information system for public procurement

SME Small and medium-sized enterprise

SRPP Socially Responsible Public Procurement

TED Tenders Electronic Daily, the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union

TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

ToR Terms of reference

WTO World Trade Organization

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6
Foreword
Following on the great success of the first edition with more than 70,000 downloads, we are particularly happy to present you with
the new and updated version of the Public Procurement - Guidance for practitioners on the avoidance of the most common errors in
projects funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds. This improved document takes into account the new and simpli-
fied EU rules on public procurement and the first direct experience from their implementation on the ground.

The aim is to support public procurement officials in Europe’s Member States, regions and cities, taking them step-by-step through
the process, highlighting areas where mistakes are typically made and showing how to avoid them.

Efficient, effective, transparent and professional public procurement is essential for strengthening the Single Market and stimulating
investment in the European Union. It is also a key instrument to deliver the benefits of the Cohesion Policy to the European citizen
and businesses.

This updated guidance was prepared by the Commission services involved in public procurement, as well as in consultation with the
public procurement experts in the Member States. It is one of the building blocks of our ambitious Action Plan on Public Procurement
and contributes to the objectives of the recently adopted EU public procurement package.

We are confident that this instrument, along with the other Commission’s initiatives in this field, will continue to help Member States,
regions and cities in applying public procurement and increase the impact of public investment for the benefit of the EU citizens
and economy.

Corina Creţu, Elżbieta Bieńkowska,

European Commissioner for Regional Policy European Commissioner for Internal Market,
Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

7
Introduction — How to use this guidance

Who is this guidance for? It is not an instruction manual on how to com-

ply with the requirements set out in Directive
This guidance is aimed primarily at procurement 2014/24/EU.
practitioners within contracting authorities in the
European Union who are responsible for planning It is certainly not a definitive legal interpreta-
and delivering the purchase of public works, supplies tion of EU law.
or services in a compliant, efficient and value-for-
money way. It is imperative that all those involved in the pro-
curement process comply with national legislation,
Managing authorities of European Structural and their own organisation’s internal rules, and EU rules.
Investment (ESI) Funds programmes and other
EU-funded programme authorities may also find In the absence of equivalent national or fund-speci-
the guidance useful when acting as public buyers fic guidance documents, managing authorities may
or when conducting checks on public procurements voluntarily adopt this document as guidance for
carried out by beneficiaries of EU grants (see 6.4. beneficiaries of EU grants.
Checklist for the control of public procurement).

Structure of the guidance

What is the purpose of
this guidance? This guidance is structured around the main
stages of a public procurement process from
planning to contract implementation. It highlights is-
This guidance aims to offer practical assis- sues to look out for and potential mistakes to avoid,
tance to procurement officers, helping as well as specific methods or tools.
them avoid some of the most com-
mon errors and financial corrections Figure 1. Main stages of a public
observed in recent years by the Commis- procurement process
sion in the use of ESI Funds (see 6.1 Most
common errors in public procurement). Preparation and planning

Publication and transparency

Submission of tenders and selection of tenderers

This guidance aims to offer practical assistance to
procurement officers, helping them avoid some of Evaluation of tenders and award
the most common errors and financial corrections
observed in recent years by the Commission in the Contract implementation
use of ESI Funds (see section 6.1. Most common er-
rors in public procurement).
In addition, a toolkit provides some ready-to-use
The status of this document is that of ‘guidance’. It instruments and additional resources on specific
is intended as a support to and not a substitute for topics.
internal rules and procedures.

8
Explanation of symbols: warnings
and help for public buyers
The guidance takes procurement officers step-by- Throughout the guidance, the following symbols flag
step through the process, highlighting areas where crucial areas:
mistakes are typically made and showing how to
avoid them.

RISK OF ERROR! HELP!

This highlights the points where the most This is an area where specific advice is given
common and serious errors arise. Analysis to public procurement practitioners and/or
and further guidance are provided to avoid where resources are provided through the
these errors in the most effective way. toolkit or via links to other documents.

Scope of the guidance

The guidance intends to support public procurement Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014
practitioners (also called public buyers or procure- on the coordination of procedures for the award of
ment officers) in dealing with EU-funded contracts public works contracts, public supply contracts and
for the procurement of works, supplies and services public service contracts (see Table 1. below).
as set out in Directive 2014/24/EU1 of the European

Table 1. Types of public contracts

Works contracts Supply contracts Service contracts

Public contracts having as Public contracts having as their Public contracts other than
their objective either the object the purchase, lease, public works or supply
execution, or both the design rental or hire purchase with contracts having as their object
and execution, of works, for or without option to buy, of the provision of services such
example building or civil products such as stationery, as consultancy, training or
engineering works such as a vehicles or computers. cleaning services.
road or sewage plant.

Detailed list of works in Annex Detailed list of services in

II to the Directive Annex XIV to the Directive

Source: Directive 2014/24/EU

1
 irective 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing
D
Directive 2004/18/EC. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/24/oj.

9
This guidance provides advice and recommenda- al rules. However, they must still comply with the
tions to contracting authorities on the basis of the general principles of the Treaty on the Functioning
European legal framework, in particular Directive of the EU3.
2014/24/EU. This legislation applies above a set of
EU thresholds, which means that it sets minimum Even though this guidance does not deal with
requirements only for procurement procedures procurement below these thresholds, the general
above a certain monetary value (i.e. contract value)2. lessons and examples it provides can be useful
If the contract value is below these EU thresholds, for all kinds of procurement procedures, including
the procurement processes are regulated by nation- smaller ones.

More information on EU procurement rules

More information on the public procurement directives, applicable thresholds and interpretative
communications on specific topics (such as ‘Framework Contracts and Procurement below the
thresholds’) is provided by:
The European Commission, DG GROW:
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement_en
The SIGMA initiative: Key procurement publications and policy briefs:
http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/key-public-procurement-publications.htm

2
T he current EU thresholds are presented in detail in the following chapter on the Key changes introduced by the public
procurement Directive 2014/24/EU.
3
 onsolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 2012/C 326/01.
C
Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A12012E%2FTXT.

10
Key changes introduced by the public
procurement Directive 2014/24/EU
A European legal framework was originally devel- To achieve EU strategic policy goals while ensuring
oped for public procurement to ensure that busi- the most efficient use of public funds, the 2014 pub-
nesses across the European single market could lic procurement reform pursued several objectives:
compete for public contracts and to design bidding
contests above certain thresholds. The legal frame- āā make public spending more efficient;
work aimed to ensure equal treatment and trans-
parency, reduce fraud and corruption and remove āā clarify basic notions and concepts to ensure legal
legal and administrative barriers to participation in certainty;
cross-border tenders. More recently, public procure-
ment has started to cover additional policy goals āā make it easier for SMEs to participate in public
such as environmental sustainability, social inclu- contracts;
sion and the promotion of innovation (see Section
2.2.2 Strategic use of green, social and innovation āā promote integrity and equal treatment;
criteria in public procurement).
āā enable contracting authorities to make better
The European legal framework for public procure- use of procurement in support of innovation and
ment4 is composed of: common societal and environment goals; and

āā The principles deriving from the Treaty on the āā incorporate relevant case-law of the Court of
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) such Justice of the European Union.
as equal treatment, non-discrimination, mutual
recognition, proportionality and transparency; This section presents the key changes5 brought
and about by the reform that procurement practitioners
should pay attention to, especially if they are accus-
āā The three public procurement Directives: Direc- tomed to referring to the former Directives.
tive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, Directive
2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operat-
ing in the water, energy, transport and postal ser- New definitions, new thresholds,
vices sectors, Directive 2014/23/EU on the award and a new category of contracting
of concession contracts.
authority
While the tenets of public procurement regulation Directive 2014/24/EU provides new definitions to
are mostly unchanged, the 2014 Directives have clarify the different notions used in procurement
introduced a number of changes. These may be procedures, sUch as procurement document and
applicable starting on 18 April 2016 even if the economic operator (including candidate and tender-
transposition process in all Member States has not er). The Directive also presents new concepts that
been finalised. are essential now in public contracts, such as elec-
tronic means, life cycle, innovation or label.

4
 uropean Commission, DG GROW, Public procurement — Legal rules and implementation.
E
Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement/rules-implementation/.
5
 uropean Commission, DG GROW, EU public procurement reform: Less bureaucracy, higher efficiency.
E
An overview of the new EU procurement and concession rules introduced on 18 April 2016.
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8562.

11
Two categories of contracting authorities are The thresholds above which European legislation
introduced to differentiate between central govern- for public procurement applies have changed and
ment authorities (national public bodies) and sub- are now different for central and sub-central au-
central contracting authorities operating at regional thorities (see Table 2 below). The thresholds change
and local level. These two categories mainly have an on a regular basis, generally every 2 years, and can
impact on the thresholds for applying the Directives be regularly checked on the Commission’s website6.
(see below). The threshold is higher for sub-central
contracting authorities in the cases of supply con-
tracts and most service contracts.

Table 2. EU thresholds for public contracts from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019

Works Supplies Services

Social and Subsidised All other

specific services services
services

Central
government €5 548 000 €144 0007 €750 000 €221 000 €144 000
authorities

Sub-central
contracting €5 548 000 €221 000 €750 000 €221 000
authorities

Source: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2365 of 18 December 2017 amending Directive 2014/24/EU in respect of
the application thresholds for the procedures for the award of contracts.

Making SME participation in Economic operators can use the online tool
public contracts easier ‘e-CERTIS’8 to find out the administrative docu-
ments they may be asked to provide in any EU coun-
Contracting authorities are encouraged to divide try. This should help them to participate in cross-
contracts into lots to make it easier for SMEs border procurement if they are unfamiliar with the
to participate in public procurement procedures. requirements of other countries.
They are free not to divide but then need to explain
why not. The European Single Procurement Document
(ESPD)9 enables economic operators to electroni-
Contracting authorities cannot set turnover cally self-declare that they fulfil the required condi-
­requirements for economic operators at more tions to participate in a public procurement proce-
than two times the contract value except where dure. Only the successful tenderer needs to provide
there is a specific justification. full documentary evidence. In the future, even this

6
 G GROW publishes the updated values of the EU procurement thresholds at:
D
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement/rules-implementation/thresholds/index_en.htm.
7
F or procurements under Directive 2009/81/EC on defence and sensitive security procurement, the applicable thresholds are
€5,548,000 for works contracts and €443,000 for supplies and services contracts.
8
e-CERTIS. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/markt/ecertis/login.do?selectedLanguage=en.
9
 ommission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7 of 5 January 2016 establishing the standard form for the European Single
C
Procurement Document. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2016_003_R_0004.

12
obligation could be lifted once evidence can be linked tablish which safeguards should be used. However,
electronically to national databases. some common practices could be developed. For
instance, all procurement officers could be asked to
Beginning on 18 October 2018 at the latest, an eco- sign a declaration for each procurement procedure
nomic operator may no longer have to provide ad- to confirm they have no interests with any partici-
ministrative supporting documents if the contract- pating tenderer.
ing authority already has these documents.
Economic operators excluded from public procure-
ment for bad practices can be included again if they
More provisions on grounds for clearly demonstrate that they have acted appropri-
exclusion and award criteria ately to prevent misconduct and wrongdoings.

New provisions on grounds for exclusion allow Where the period of exclusion was not set in a fi-
contracting authorities to reject economic operators nal judgment, the period of exclusion cannot exceed
who have shown poor performance or significant 5 years from the date of the conviction in cases of
shortcomings in a previous public contract. The new mandatory exclusion grounds or 3 years from the
provisions also allow the authorities to reject them if date of the relevant event in cases of optional exclu-
they distort competition by practising collusive ten- sion grounds.
dering with other economic operators.
New provisions regulate the modification of con-
For award criteria, contracting authorities are en- tracts in order to avoid abuse and ensure fair com-
couraged to move from the ‘price-only’ criteria to the petition for potential new tasks.
‘MEAT’ criteria (most economically advantageous
tender). The MEAT criteria can be based on cost and Member States have to ensure that the application
can also include other aspects within a ‘best price- of public procurement rules is monitored and that
quality ratio’ (e.g. quality of tender, organisation, monitoring authorities or structures report viola-
qualification and experience of staff, delivery condi- tions of public procurement rules to national
tions like processes and time frame). Award criteria authorities and make the results of their monitoring
must be clearly defined and weighted in the contract available to the public. They also have to submit a
notice or procurement documents. In addition, every report to the Commission every 3 years on the most
public procurement award must be documented in a frequent sources of misapplication or legal uncer-
specific evaluation report that must be sent to the tainty, on prevention measures as well as on the de-
Commission upon request. tection and adequate reporting of cases of procure-
ment fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and other
serious irregularities.
Improved safeguards against
corruption The use of e-procurement makes the process
more transparent, reduces unfair interaction be-
The definition and rules for conflict of interest tween procurement practitioners and economic op-
have been clarified. Contracting authorities are re- erators and makes it easier to detect irregularities
quired to do more to put in place appropriate meas- and corruption thanks to transparent audit trails10.
ures against conflicts of interest. The rules do not es-

10
 ECD, Preventing Corruption in Public Procurement, 2016.
O
Available at: http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/Corruption-in-Public-Procurement-Brochure.pdf.

13
Including environmental, social Electronic procurement
and innovation policy goals in
Contracting authorities have until 18 October 2018
procurement procedures
to implement exclusive electronic public pro-
The new Directives confirm the strategic role of curement via dedicated e-procurement platforms11.
public procurement in not only ensuring that public This means that the entire procurement procedure,
funds are spent in an economically efficient way and from publishing notices to submitting tenders, must
guaranteeing the best value for money for the public be performed electronically by that time.
buyer. They also confirm its strategic role in achieving
policy goals, notably in innovation, the environment Starting on 18 April 2018, the European Single
and social inclusion. This is done in various ways: Procurement Document (ESPD) can only be pro-
vided in electronic form. Until then, ESPD can be
āā Tender documents must explicitly require eco- printed, filled in manually, scanned and sent elec-
nomic operators to comply with social and la- tronically. The Commission has actually developed
bour law obligations including international a tool12 that allows contracting authorities to create
conventions. their ESPD and attach it to tender documents.

āā Contracting authorities are encouraged to make Within the Internal Market Information System (IMI),
the best strategic use of public procurement the Commission has established the online service
to spur innovation. Buying innovative products, e-CERTIS to identify the administrative docu-
works and services plays a key role in improving ments frequently requested in procurement proce-
the efficiency and quality of public services while dures across the 28 Member States, one candidate
addressing major societal challenges. country (Turkey) and three EEA/EFTA countries (Ice-
land, Liechtenstein and Norway).
āā Contracting authorities are allowed to reserve
the award of certain services contracts to mu-
tual companies and social enterprises for a Changes in procedures
limited period of time.
The open and restricted procedures remain the
āā Contracting authorities can request labels, certi- main types of procedures available for all types
fications or other equivalent forms of confirma- of public procurement.
tion of social and/or environmental characteristics.
The minimum time limits for economic operators to
āā Contracting authorities are allowed to take into present their offers and other tender documents have
account environmental or social factors in award been reduced by about a third (see Section 2.4 Set
criteria or contract performance conditions. the time limits). This will help to speed up procedures
but still permits longer timeframes in specific cases.
āā Contracting authorities are allowed to take the
full life-cycle cost into account when awarding The use of the competitive procedure with ne-
contracts. This may encourage more sustainable gotiation is more flexible (formerly the negoti-
and better value offers which might save money ated procedure with publication of a contract notice)
in the long term despite initially appearing to be and can be used under certain conditions, including
more costly. when the contract is complex or cannot be procured

11
 uropean Commission, Communication: Electronic public procurement will reduce administrative burden and stop
E
unfair bidding, January 2017. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.
cfm?item_id=8716&lang=en&title=Electronic-public-procurement-will-reduce-administrative-burden-and-stop-unfair-bidding-.
12
 uropean Commission, DG GROW, European Single Procurement Document — Service to fill out and reuse the ESPD. Available
E
at: https://ec.europa.eu/tools/espd.

14
off-the-shelf. Contracting authorities have more Changes in the scope of
freedom to negotiate with a reduced number of Directive 2014/24/EU
economic operators. First, a selection is made from
the candidates who have responded to the adver- Directive 2014/24/EU extends the scope of the pro-
tisement and have submitted an initial offer. Second, curement rules beyond the award and conclusion
the contracting authority may open negotiations of a contract and includes provisions to regulate
with the selected tenderers to seek improved offers. the modification and termination of contracts.

A new light-touch regime has been introduced for Works concessions contracts are excluded from Di-
social and health services and some other services. rective 2014/24/EU on public contracts. The new
This regime implies a higher threshold (EUR 750 000) Directive 2014/23/EU13 covers all concessions
but also some obligations, including an advertising contracts for both works and services.
requirement in the Official Journal of the European
Union (OJEU). This regime replaces the former sys- Forms of public-public cooperation that do not re-
tem in Annex II B of Directive 2004/18/EC. sult in a distortion of competition in relation to pri-
vate economic operators fall outside the scope of
The Directives now explicitly refer to pre-commer- public procurement legislation:
cial procurement and have encouraged a wider
use of this type of procurement by clarifying the ex- āā Contracts between entities within the pub-
emption for R&D services. lic sector may be concluded directly provided
three conditions are cumulatively met: first, the
A new procedure, the innovation partnership, was contracting authority must exercise a control
also introduced. It combines the purchase of R&D over the contractor which is similar to that which
services and the purchase of the developed innova- it exercises over its own departments; second,
tive solutions in one procedure. This is done through more than 80 % of the activities of the contrac-
a partnership between the economic operator and tor must come from the controlling contracting
the contracting authority. authority; and finally, there must be in principle
no direct private capital participation in the con-
With mixed contracts, it is possible to combine tractor.. The nature and extent of this control is
several types of procurement (works, services or described in full in Directive 2014/24/EU and
supplies) in one procurement procedure. The rules should be carefully checked on a case-by-case
applying in that case are those applicable to the basis before contracting ‘in house’14.
type of procurement corresponding to the main sub-
ject matter of the contract. āā Where inter-administrative cooperation
leads two or more contracting authorities to con-
Contracting authorities are expressly recommended clude a contract to achieve common objectives
to carry out market consultation to better prepare of public interest, the contract falls outside the
their procurement procedures and inform economic scope of Directive 2014/24/EU. In this case, the
operators of their needs, provided that they do not contracting authorities must perform on the open
distort competition. market less than 20 % of the activities concerned
by the cooperation.

13
 irective 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession
D
contracts. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AJOL_2014_094_R_0001_01.
14
 ore details on the nature and extent of this control are provided in Article 12. Public contracts between entities within the
M
public sector of Directive 2014/24/EU.

15
1. Preparation and planning
The preparatory phase of a procurement procedure aims to design a robust process for delivering
the required works, services or supplies. It is by far the most crucial stage of the process because the
decisions made during this phase will shape the success of the whole procedure.

As detailed in the figure below, a public procurement nected steps and phases that go from planning to im-
procedure is composed of multiple, closely inter-con- plementation and closure.

Figure 2. Typical public procurement procedure stages

1. Preparation 2. Publication 3. Submission 4. Evaluation 5. Contract

and planning and of tenders, and award implementa-
transparency opening and tion
selection

āā Detect future āā Draft āā Receipt and āā Evaluate āā Manage and

need specifications opening tenders monitor the
including execution
āā Engage āā Apply exclusion āā Award and sign
criteria
stakeholders grounds the contract āā Issue payments
āā Prepare
āā Analyse market āā Select suitable āā Notify tenders āā If needed,
procurement
tenderers and publish the deal with
āā Define the documents
award modification or
subject matter āā Advertise the termination of
āā Choose the contract contract
procedure āā Provide āā Close the
clarifications contract

If the preparatory phase of the procurement proce- ing authority either underestimates the planning
dure is done correctly then the rest is more likely to stage of the process or does not carry it out at all.
flow without difficulty. However, often the contract-

Preparation requires time and expertise

Preparation may sometimes take a long time, but it is always a crucial phase.
Depending upon the size and complexity of the contract, preparation might take days or even months
before the contract notice is due to be published. However, good planning should minimise the risk
of needing to modify or vary a contract during implementation, and can help help avoid errors.
Indeed, in the context of funding from the ESI Funds, there have been many ‘how did it go wrong?’

16
 reviews concluding that poor planning, particularly at the start of the procurement process, was to
blame for the biggest errors.
As a result, contracting authorities increasingly employ dedicated procurement officers, particularly
when conducting complex, risky and high-value public procurements. This increasing professionali-
sation of the procurement function is considered best practice.

This section will take practitioners through the Indeed, the need comes from a gap in the ability of
different ‘must-dos’ in preparing a procurement the public sector to perform one of its tasks. Public
procedure. authorities cannot fulfil them with their internal re-
sources and that is why they need to purchase ex-
ternal support.
1.1 Assess future needs
Any contracting authority should therefore be able
The first thing a contracting authority should do be- to duly justify a procurement procedure because it
fore launching a procurement procedure is to think should meet a specific need or be required to carry
of the need the whole process is supposed to satisfy. out an activity of public interest.

Start with why

Often, the subject matter of a contract is decided too quickly without properly defining why the
contract is needed and what it is for. As a result, the works, supplies or services provided end up being
partially — or totally — disconnected from the need that was supposed to be fulfilled.
This results in inefficient use of public funds and poor value for money.
It should be clarified that the need is not the product or the service we want to obtain. The need is
the function which is missing to achieve an objective or carry out an activity.
For example, procurers should not start their reasoning with ‘We need to buy a printer’ but rather
with ‘We need to print’. In that case, the printing function may be achieved through options other
than purchasing, for example by sharing a printer with other departments, or renting or leasing one
from an in-house company. All these alternatives must be taken into account before launching the
procurement procedure.
In a nutshell, the key process procurers should have in mind is:
āā Identify the need with relevant stakeholders.
āā Choose the procedure.
āā Write the technical specifications (often called Terms of Reference) if purchasing services
(see section 2.1 Draft procurement documents).

17
Working plans for EU-funded projects or pro- Once needs have been identified, contracting authori-
grammes are normally defined for several years, ties have to carefully assess them before engaging
meaning it should be easier for contracting authori- in procurement. To do so, it is preferable to gather a
ties to anticipate which works, supplies or services small team and to get internal and external stakehold-
they will need to purchase. ers on board (see section 1.2. Engage stakeholders).

Possible questions to help assess the need

The following questions can help steer discussions on analysing the need:
āā What is my need? Which missing function do I need to achieve my objectives?
āā Do we have human and/or technical resources available internally?
āā Can we satisfy the need without launching a procurement procedure? They are often ignored, but
alternatives to public procurement should be carefully considered and properly compared.
āā Have we analysed different ways of meeting the identified needs? Could we buy, lease, rent the
item or service or set a public-private partnership to obtain whatever it is we intend to procure?
āā What final results do we want to obtain?
āā Do we need to purchase works, supplies or services, or a combination?
āā Which features are essential and which are optional?
āā Is the number/scope necessary or would fewer/less also be sufficient?
āā What is critical to satisfy the need?
āā Would it be appropriate to purchase ready-made solutions or would only a tailored satisfy our
needs?
āā Would it be relevant to engage in dialogue with the business community?
āā What could the environmental impacts of this purchase be?
āā What could the social impacts of this purchase be?
āā Does this purchase need an innovative approach to obtain a tailor-made solution which does not
already exist on the market?

18
Apart from analysing the need and determining the or services. Furthermore, it enables contracting au-
scope of the future procurement procedure, assess- thorities to take into account other considerations
ing the need in this way makes it possible to be open such as potential environmental and social impacts
about alternative means of fulfilling a need, which when defining the procurement need.
are not necessarily linked to specific works, products

Examples of lack of needs assessment spotted by auditors

The two case studies below show how properly assessing needs can help ensure efficient use of public
funds.
1. Needless purchase of IT equipment
A department purchased 250 computers to replace existing equipment that had not yet been amor-
tised. This purchase was said to be necessary because new software was being implemented that,
apparently, required a higher hardware capacity than the existing computers offered. The auditors
scrutinised this motivation and discovered that the new software could have been used without
restriction on the available computers. The procurement was therefore unjustified.
2. Unnecessary supply of new machinery
The maintenance of public roads was carried out by regional offices, which provided staff and equip-
ment. The department purchased new machinery for one of those offices, including a roller for EUR
50 000. Looking for alternatives to this purchase, the auditor checked to find out how many rollers
were already being operated and charged to capacity. It transpired that several rollers in other offices
were only operated for a few hours. The auditor inferred from the data available that one of those
rollers could have been relocated instead of buying a new one.

Source: SIGMA Public procurement policy briefs, Brief 28: Audit of Public Procurement, September 2016.

1.2. Engage stakeholders āā A core team in charge of managing the con-

tract. 1 to 3 people may be needed, depending
As previously mentioned, a critical assessment of on the complexity of the subject, for example one
the fundamental rationale for the purchase is often procurement officer and one technical project
best done at an interactive group session involv- manager. All contracts will require, as a minimum,
ing all key stakeholders. The same goes later when a project manager with both procurement and
drawing up the technical specifications and monitor- technical skills to be in charge of the contract.
ing the contract performance.
āā A larger working group composed of the core
In short, this stage is about appointing and setting team and of internal experts specialised in the
up a project team to carry out the procurement pro- subject (e.g. civil engineers, architects, IT specia-
cedure. The team should be composed of: lists or lawyers), members of the administration

19
 that will benefit from the product or service pur- The core team has to make sure it involves these
chased, or other members who have dealt with internal groups as soon as possible so that they can
similar purchase and can bring their experience bring their expertise to the preparation phase and
to the group. External specialist advisors may in order to develop their ownership of the project.
also be needed depending on the planned num-
ber and complexity of the contracts. Designing competent technical specifications is vi-
tal for implementing the contract and achieving
Roles and responsibilities during the procurement the desired result, so technically qualified stakehol-
process should be clearly defined in the operational ders should be involved from the beginning. As the
manuals of the contracting authority, in particular contract progresses and its focus changes, differ-
to engage internal and external customers or users. ent stakeholders may need to be involved, and their
needs may also change.
1.2.1. Internal key stakeholders
1.2.2. External key stakeholders
Recognition of internal stakeholders is a vital to the
success of the future contract. Stakeholders may be It can be very useful to involve external stakehol-
customers/users or other internal parties that have ders if the required expertise is not available within
an interest in the contract. It may also be relevant the contracting authority. They may be specialised
to involve elected representatives at this early stage experts (e.g. architects, engineers, lawyers, econo-
of the procedure. mists) or even business organisations, other public
authorities or businesses.

Not involving the right people early on can cost you at a later stage
Failing to recognise the need to involve both internal and external stakeholders is a common criticism
of many contracts. It often has a negative impact on the contract’s success, sometimes resulting in
additional costs to rectify omissions or errors. Inadequate specifications lead to complex adjustments
and higher workload covering unforeseen questions and corrections. In addition, when tender docu-
ments are unclear the tenderers tend to cover their risks by higher prices.
Best practice shows that it is worth the contracting authority investing in outside technical expertise
when preparing the procurement to ensure it makes the most of the money spent and avoids modifi-
cations or the costs of relaunching the procedure at a later stage.

However, working closely with and consulting exter- 1.2.3. Integrity and conflict of interest
nal experts should not jeopardise the independence
of the contracting authorities’ decision-making pro- In a public procurement procedure, a conflict of inter-
cess and/or create situations of potential conflict of est arises where a person’s ability to perform their
interest which would breach the principles of equal role in an impartial and objective way is compro-
treatment and transparency. It is therefore recom- mised. This applies to the people and the authorising
mended to apply the same principles of confiden- officer in charge of the procedure, and to anyone
tiality and integrity as for the market consultation involved in the opening and evaluation phases.
(see section 1.3.2. Preliminary market consultation).

20
More specifically, a conflict of interest covers any directly or indirectly, a financial, economic or other
situation where staff members of the contracting personal interest which might be perceived as com-
authority (or others) involved in the procurement promising their impartiality and independence.
procedure and who may influence its outcome have,

Undeclared conflicts of interest lead to financial corrections

In the context of ESI Funds, the discovery by a control body of an undeclared conflict of interest may
put the impartiality of the procurement process in doubt and may lead to financial corrections.
Contracting authorities should recall that the definition of conflict of interest provided in Directive
2014/24/EU is quite broad and covers a large number of cases, such as:
1. The spouse of a contracting authority’s desk officer in charge of monitoring a procurement proce-
dure works for one of the bidders.
2. A person owns shares in a company. This company takes part in a tendering procedure in which this
person is appointed as a member of the evaluation committee.
3. The head of a contracting authority has spent a week’s holiday with an executive director of a firm
which bids in a tendering procedure launched by the contracting authority.
4. An officer in a contracting authority and a CEO of one of the tendering firms have responsibilities
in the same political party.

Source: European Commission, OLAF, Identifying conflicts of interests in public procurement procedures for structural actions,
November 2013.

From this basis, contracting authorities have to de- This declaration must include at least:
termine whether there are any possible conflicts of
interest and must take appropriate measures in or- āā The full definition of conflict of interest according
der to prevent and detect conflicts of interest, and to to Article 24 of Directive 2014/24/EU. Any stake-
remedy them. They can consult the practical guide15 holder should be aware of the exact definition and
issued by OLAF in 2013 for help. of its particularly large extent, covering for exam-
ple ‘financial, economic or other personal interest’;
In particular, an easy way to prevent conflicts of in-
terest is to require anyone taking part in the selec- āā A statement confirming that the person has no
tion, evaluation or award of the contract to sign a conflict of interest with the operators who have
declaration of absence of conflict of interest once submitted a tender for this procurement, and that
the contracting authority has decided to launch the there are no facts or circumstances, past, present,
procurement procedure (see chapter 3. Submission or that could arise in the foreseeable future, which
of tenders and selection of tenderers). might call into question the person’s independence;

15
 uropean Commission, OLAF, Identifying conflicts of interests in public procurement procedures for structural actions, November
E
2013. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/sfc/sites/sfc2014/files/sfc-files/2013_11_12-Final-guide-on-conflict-of-interests-EN.pdf.

21
āā A statement that the person will report any con- Public buyers should also take appropriate measures
flict of interest as soon as it is detected to their to effectively prevent, identify and remedy conflicts
superior within the contracting authority, and will of interest in procurement procedures so as to avoid
withdraw from further participation in the pro- any distortion of competition and to ensure equal
curement process. treatment for all. In particular, Directive 2014/24/EU
considers conflict of interest as grounds for exclud-
Additional provisions can be added concerning ing an economic operator.
whistleblowing or confidentiality of information. A
template declaration of absence of conflict of inter- More advice can be drawn from the best practices
est and of confidentiality is proposed in the appendix. listed below.

Best practices to avoid conflicts of interest in public procurement

A code of conduct covering public procurement activities should be set up and publicised widely in
all public organisations. Since civil servants’ tasks normally involve public money or areas where it is
essential to treat everyone fairly, the code should require minimum standards of behaviour expected
from all civil servants, and in particular from staff dealing with procurement.
Systems, checks and training should be in place to make sure that all key stakeholders capable of
influencing decisions about the scope or award of a contract are aware of their responsibility to act
impartially and with integrity.
Anyone involved in the evaluation committee or the project team in charge of the contract should
sign a declaration of absence of conflict of interest. Anyone with a potential conflict of interest
should not play any role in the procurement.
The evaluation committee should be asked to declare any (potential) conflict of interest at the start
of the procurement process. Those declarations should be recorded and kept in the contract file.
Tenderers should be asked to declare any conflict of interest when submitting their tenders.
This declaration could be a minimum requirement set in the procurement documents.
Detailed information on integrity in public procurement has been developed by the OECD16.

16
OECD, Principles for Integrity in Public Procurement, 2009. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/48994520.pdf.

22
1.3. Analyse the market āā apply the principle of sound financial manage-
ment and achieve the best value for money.
When determining what to buy, estimating costs,
and before developing selection and award criteria It is strongly recommended that contracting authori-
in a procurement procedure, it is helpful for public ties conduct a preliminary market analysis when
buyers to know and understand the market. There- planning a negotiated procedure without prior pub-
fore, an important stage of the preparation phase lication for a contract that can be awarded only to
is to conduct a preliminary market analysis of the one particular economic operator.
needs identified. For smaller contracts the scope
of this analysis can be limited, but is still useful in A preliminary market analysis is also needed for
better defining the subject matter and scope of the pre-commercial procurements and innovation part-
contract. nerships, because these types of procurement are
used only when the desired product does not exist
Analysing the market allows the contracting autho- on the market.
rity to:
Innovation partnerships also require a preliminary
āā gain prior knowledge and understanding of the market analysis to establish the number of poten-
potential solutions available to satisfy the needs; tially interested suppliers on the market. This helps
avoid crowding out other R&D investments and ex-
āā further focus and define the subject matter and cluding some competitors from supplying the inno-
the budget of the contract; vative solutions.

Not all procurements are achievable

A common mistake is for the contracting authority to assume that the market can deliver a contract
without consulting the market on its proposals. Yet not all procurements are achievable.
Procurement procedures can fail because no economic operators have submitted a tender or no ten-
ders were acceptable. Sometimes the market is simply not able to deliver the requested works, sup-
plies or services.
Problems may relate to technological maturity, over-saturated demand or unacceptable levels of risk
transfer. The contracting authority might be seeking something that is beyond the market’s current
capabilities or might set unrealistic timescales and budget.
If this happens, contracting authorities must restart the procurement process and reconsider the
objectives, scope and technical and economic conditions of the contract. These additional tasks
increase the workload, time and resources dedicated to the procurement process, and could have
been avoided by analysing the market in advance.

23
As a general rule and regardless of the method r­ eported in writing for each procurement procedure.
chosen, all initiatives linked to the preliminary mar- This ensures transparency and auditability.
ket analysis have to be properly documented and

Standardised template for market analysis

The OECD has developed a comprehensive methodology17 for market analysis, including a standard
template for a market analysis report. This is useful to:
āā guide practitioners in their market analysis;
āā document the actions carried to ensure full transparency of this stage of the process. This can be
used to build in-house knowledge and for audit purposes.
Detailed recommendations on the approach to be followed can be found here.

17
 ECD/SIGMA, Public Procurement Brief 32, Market Analysis, Preliminary Market Consultations, and Prior Involvement of
O
Candidates/Tenderers, September 2016.
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-32-200117.pdf.

24
 Market analysis toolkit
Procurement Journey Scotland has developed a comprehensive toolkit on market analysis. It is
publicly available online.
It provides advice and tools such as this market analysis summary template which can be useful for
contracting authorities in other countries.

Factor Findings from research

Market definition What does the market constitute Overview of commodities/

How is it described in industry products/services covered by
segments

Market Overview Size Overview of market by

Total turnover in the market per year segments e.g., geographic
area; customer base; sector
Total volume (quantity) of sales
Financial Ratios e.g. Profitability/ROI

Trade Associations

Key Suppliers Please state if the commodity/service

market is global, European, or UK, and
identify the appropriate top 5 suppliers

Market growth Trends in the past 2-4 years Overview of market by

Expected forecast 2-4 years segments e.g., geographic
area; customer base; sector
Growth values in terms of %, value or
volume Influences affecting growth

Trends and Trends in the market place (demand, Rate of change

developments technology, other developments, Impact on the business
approaches etc)
Restrictions on technology
Key areas of technology supporting the access
market
Current technologies – maturity and
capability
Technology development trends – next
big thing & when?

Supply market Major players in the market Overview of key suppliers

trends Supplier trends Developments in pricing
Discounting policies –
volume / loyalty / risk:reward
“Cost plus “ pricing
“Market pricing”

Available at: https://www.procurementjourney.scot/route-3/route-3-develop-strategy-profiling-

commodity-supply-market-analysis

25
In terms of planning, good practice shows that market gathering information, mainly from the internet and
research carried out well in advance of publication of mail or phone contacts.
the contract notice can be extremely useful. Moreover,
advertising in the OJEU for open pre-tender dialogue Desk-based market research can provide informa-
by publishing a prior information notice is positively tion on the availability of products or services which
accepted by the market, results in more qualitative meet the contracting authority’s needs. The autho-
procurement documents and submitted tenders and rity can then determine the most appropriate pro-
reduces the risk of complaints at a later stage. curement approach without much time or resources.

Two ways to analyse the market are: Frequently-used sources of information are:
1. market research;
2. preliminary market consultation involving candi- āā internal departments dealing with the subject
dates or tenderers. matter;

The scope and depth of the market analysis will āā catalogues of producers, distributors, dealers;
vary depending on the nature and size of the pro-
curement. Using desk-based research to clarify the āā press publications (specialised journals, maga-
market structure, identify active economic operators zines, newsletters, etc.);
and understand prices may be an appropriate ap-
proach for standard procurement procedures. āā trade associations, business organisations or
chambers of commerce;
1.3.1. Market research
āā existing market studies.
The most commonly used method of market analy-
sis before preparing a procurement procedure is the Public buyers should analyse these different sources
desk research that can be carried out using the con- of information using the following criteria.
tracting authority’s internal resources. It consists of

Table 3. Indicative market analysis criteria

Analysis categories Data and information

Maturity of the market Established market, market in development phase, existence of

sufficient suppliers to ensure effective competition.

Market capacity to deliver Within the required timeframe, on the required scale, within the
available budget.

Standards and conditions Conditions usually applied to similar contracts, potential market
constraints, capacity of economic operators to meet certain
standards.

Contract value Recent market prices, price structure, breakdown of costs for similar
contracts, fixed and variable costs within a similar budget.

Selection and award criteria Minimum requirements in similar contracts, relevant qualitative
considerations, takeaways from similar experiences.

Contract performance Potential risks, key milestones, time management, lessons learnt
from similar experiences.

26
For complex contracts, a series of pre-determined A dialogue with the market before the procurement
benchmarks should be established to show what process begins can help identify innovative solutions
would be considered an acceptable tender. An op- and new products or services which the public au-
timum theoretical tender could even be prepared thority may not have been aware of. It can also help
beforehand by the contracting authority. the market meet the criteria which will be applied
in the procurement process by explaining what the
Where relevant or necessary, other more active public authority’s requirements are likely to be.
market prospecting activities can be carried out,
such as participation in conferences, fairs, seminars, Even though there are no specific rules regulating
or market consultations with prior involvement of the market consultation process, it must always fol-
candidates. low the fundamental principles of non-discrimina-
tion, equal treatment and transparency. This is par-
1.3.2. Preliminary market consultation ticularly important if the contracting authority seeks
or accepts advice from external parties or individual
A preliminary market consultation involves interview- economic operators.
ing market stakeholders or contacting knowledgeable
people in the relevant field, for example independent The market must be approached in a way that en-
experts, specialised bodies, business organisations or sures compliance with the principles of transparency
economic operators. and equal treatment and avoids disclosing privileged
information and/or privileged market positions.
The purpose of market consultation is to:
1. better prepare the procurement procedure;
2. inform businesses in the relevant market about
the planned procurement.

Consult market without distorting competition

Particular care must be taken not to distort competition by providing some economic operators with
early knowledge of a planned procurement procedure and/or its parameters. Competition could be
also distorted if the technical specifications could be perceived as influenced or ‘mirroring’ the speci-
fications of a particular product or service on the market.
When preparing calls for tenders, contracting authorities may conduct market consultations but
must ensure that involving a previously consulted company does not distort competition within the
tender procedure. They must also ensure that any information shared with a company as a result of its
prior involvement is also made available to the other participating companies.
The following measures should help contracting authorities to ensure fair competition and avoid
excluding a more advantaged tenderer:
āā Openly announcing the preliminary market consultation (e.g. by publishing a prior information
notice in national procurement portals and TED);
āā Sharing with other candidates and tenderers all relevant information that results from involving
one candidate or tenderer in the preparation of the procurement procedure;
āā Fixing adequate time limits for the receipt of tenders in order to give all candidates sufficient time
to analyse the information.

27
 The contracting authority should pay attention when excluding a potential candidate because of its
prior involvement in the procedure preparation. Exclusion should indeed be considered if there is no
other way to ensure equal treatment, but economic operators should be given the right to prove that
their involvement did not distort competition.
The analysis made by the contracting authority in this regard should not be formal and should also
compare the tender with others received from tenderers not involved in the procedure preparation.

Pre-commercial procurement18 and specific proce- The subject matter of the contract should be based
dures such as competitive dialogues or innovation on a clear business case.
partnerships enable public authorities to engage in
market dialogue. The business case is the justification for a proposed
project or contract on the basis of its expected be-
nefits. The contracting authority should arrange for
1.4. Define the subject matter the business case to be prepared within the depart-
ment initiating the procurement request and have it
Contracting authorities tend to consider that defin- approved by the corresponding hierarchy.
ing the subject matter of the contract (i.e. its sub-
ject, duration and value) is the first step of a pro- Business case
curement procedure. However, this should be done Sometimes a need is assessed and a procurement
only once the need has been assessed, the relevant process launched without documenting the reasons
stakeholders identified and mobilised and the mar- behind particular choices and showing that appropri-
ket analysed. ate approvals were given. However, it is essential that
any decision to initiate a public contract be based on
As well as defining the subject matter, during this a systematic assessment of the issues involved and
phase the contracting authority has to determine options available. Procurement procedures based
the contract’s type, duration and timetable, value only on a cursory assessment and untested assump-
and structure. tions might fail to deliver their objectives.

1.4.1. Subject matter Before initiating a procurement procedure, con-

tracting authorities should prepare a business case
It is essential that public buyers clearly identify the clearly setting out the reasons why the procurement
subject matter so that they select the correct pro- should go ahead and demonstrating that key plan-
curement procedure to be followed and the right ning aspects have been considered.
type of contract. The reference codes provided by
the common procurement vocabulary19 gives a de- The resources and time dedicated to preparing the
tailed description of the various types of subject business case should always be proportional to the
matter and can help define the task. size and complexity of the project: not every aspect
is necessary for smaller projects.

18
 ommission Communication on ‘Pre-commercial Procurement: Driving innovation to ensure sustainable high quality public
C
services in Europe’ (COM(2007) 799, 14/12/2007).
19
 uropean Commission, DG GROW, Common procurement vocabulary.
E
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement/rules-implementation/common-vocabulary_en.

28
The purpose of the business case is to establish The basic structure below can be used as a model
a clear rationale for the proposed course of action for drafting the business case, detailing all items
by demonstrating that the project/contract will: that should be covered:

āā meet the organisation’s need; āā context and description of the need;

āā choose the most appropriate tender procedure; āā benefits to be obtained/problems that the con-
tract will solve;
āā be achievable;
āā estimated costs and budget availability;
āā be affordable;
āā outline of the timescale;
āā be a sound commercial arrangement; and
āā involvement of internal resources, stakeholders
āā be sustainable. or users; and

A business case should be approved at the appro- āā potential risks (see section 5.2.2. Risk manage-
priate level within the contracting authority to se- ment).
cure the required budget as part of the procurement
planning stage. It should always be approved before For more complex or bigger procurement proce-
launching the actual procurement procedure. dures, a well-prepared business case will be a key
tool for the contracting authority when preparing
The business case can follow a basic structure for and implementing the contract. It can be used if the
usual procurement procedures or a more complex contract is challenged and to help the authority face
one for bigger procedures. possible difficulties and unforeseen circumstances.

The business case should therefore provide more de-

tailed information that can be organised as follows:

Table 4. Detailed structure of business case for complex procurements

Section Suggested content

STRATEGIC FIT Context and description of the need;

Alignment with internal plans and strategies;
External strategies taken into account (when applicable);
Contract objectives;
Benefits to be realised;
Key stakeholders;
Success factors and how they will be measured;
Potential risks.

MARKET RESEARCH Market overview;

Suppliers analysis;
Market prices;
Outcome of consultations (where applicable);
Trends and developments.

29
 Section Suggested content

OPTIONS APPRAISAL List of options available;

High-level cost/benefit analysis including non-financial ‘soft’ benefits;
Preferred option and rationale for choice;
Is the preferred option available through an existing contract?

AFFORDABILITY Available funding and sources;

Cost estimate;
Life-cycle cost (where applicable).

ACHIEVABILITY High-level plan of tasks;

Timetable to deliver the contract.

CONCLUSION Key take-aways;

Next steps;
Main points of attention;
Recommendation for approval.

Type of contract
The contracting authority must also determine This analysis can also conclude that a concession
whether the subject matter of the contract contract is appropriate.
constitutes a works, supply or service contract
(see Table 1. Type of public contracts). This will es- It is also possible in very specific cases to combine
pecially determine which thresholds to consider in works, supplies and services in mixed contracts.
applying EU legislation.

Mixed contract combining works, supplies and/or services

For mixed contracts which combine works, supplies and/or services in a single contract, the main
subject must be determined by the element with the higher value or by the part of the contract that is
the most essential to meet the need.
Specifically, the criteria to be applied by public buyers in determining the type of contract are:

Situations Criteria to determine the type of

contract

Works + Supplies Main subject of contract

Works + Services Main subject of contract

Services + Supplies Highest value

Services + Services under the light regime Highest value

30
In specific cases, the subject matter of the con- ­procurement directive.
tract may also refer to more than one EU public

Mixed contracts
For mixed contracts to procure subjects covered by Directive 2014/24/EU and for procurement not
covered by that Directive, the applicable legal regime depends on whether the different parts of the
contract are objectively separable or not.
1. If the different parts are separable, the contracting authority may choose to
(a) award separate contracts for the separate parts; or
(b) award a single contract.
Where the contracting authority chooses to award separate contracts for separate parts, the decision
on which legislation applies to each separate contract must be taken on the basis of the characteristics
of the separate part.
If the contracting authority decides to award a single contract, Directive 2014/24/EU applies.
2. If the different parts are not separable, the applicable legislation must be determined on the basis
of the main subject matter of that contract.

1.4.2. Single contract or lots made mandatory for all contracts, it should be con-
sidered when developing the business case.
Once the above steps have been taken, public buy-
ers can decide whether to have just one contract Splitting into lots is also appropriate when a con-
or to divide it into lots. Contracting authorities are tract for a single purchase is made up of a variety
encouraged to divide contracts into lots since this of products or services offered by companies oper-
is one way to help small and medium-sized busi- ating in different sectors of the economy (for exam-
nesses participate in public procurement. ple, information and communication activities often
include managing a website, producing videos or
Contracts covering a set of supplies or services serv- publishing written material). In such cases, a com-
ing a similar purpose, whose combined value is such pany which is highly efficient within its own sector
that few operators would be able to provide them but is not able to provide all the products or services
all in their entirety, should be split into lots. This will would be unfairly prevented from competing.
enable any operator who is interested to tender for
one or more lots. Dividing a contract into lots also makes it eas-
ier for SMEs to tender. For instance, in very high-
Dividing a contract into lots increases com- value contracts competition can only be achieved by
petition because contracting authorities are more splitting the contract, since only a small number of
likely to get more and a wider range of tenderers economic operators would be able to offer all the
by going to the market with more and smaller con- products or services requested, making the con-
tracts. So, although division into lots should not be tracting authority dependent on them.

31
 Divide in lots, or explain
Unless the Member State requires the contract to be divided into lots, contracting authorities must
provide in writing the main reasons for their decision not to subdivide into lots. This explanation
must be included in the procurement documents or in the final report on the contract award.
For example, contracting authorities tend not to divide a contract into lots because having just one
contract is easier to organise and can lead to economies of scale. Indeed, more contracts and more
stakeholders to deal with is more difficult to manage.
If the contracting authority does decide to award a contract in the form of separate lots, no explana-
tion is needed, and it may go on to determine the size and subject matter of each lot.

The contracting authority should indicate, in either 1.4.3. Duration of the contract
the contract notice or the invitation to confirm in-
terest, whether tenders may be submitted for all of The contracting authority must establish the re-
the lots, for certain lots or for only one lot. Even if quired duration of the contract, meaning the period
tenders may be submitted for several or all lots, the from the signature of the contract until the accept-
contracting authority may limit the number of lots ance of the final products or deliverables.
that may be awarded to one tenderer. However, they
need to state this maximum number of lots per ten- It is recommended that this duration includes both
derer in the contract notice. the execution of tasks and the approval of interim
deliverables if any (e.g. partial services, products or
The contracting authority must develop objective stages), since the approval of an interim deliverable
and non-discriminatory criteria or rules to apply usually determines whether or not the contractor
where the applying the award criteria would result should continue to execute the tasks. In addition, the
in one tenderer being awarded more lots than the time taken by the contracting authority to approve a
maximum number. When determining which lots will deliverable should not reduce the time given to the
be awarded, the evaluation committee (see 4.1. Set contractor to perform the contract.
up the evaluation committee) must apply the crite-
ria or rules indicated in the procurement documents. Normally, the contract ends when both parties have
fulfilled their obligations: the contractor has deliv-
The contracting authority may award contracts ered according to the terms of the contract and the
by combining several or all lots. In that case, the contracting authority has made the final payment.
contracting authority needs to specify in the con- However, some conditions linked to confidentiality
tract notice that it reserves the right to do so, and and access for auditors may remain in force long
must indicate the lots or groups of lots that may after the end of the contract.
be combined. Since Directive 2014/24/EU offers
this as an option, practitioners need to check in the
national law.

32
 Set up a realistic timetable
A realistic timetable for the entire procurement process, including potential remedy procedures,
through to the contract award and implementation stage needs to be drawn up during the planning
stage. Over-optimistic timetables are common and lead to errors in the subsequent implementation
phases. For example, they could result in failure of the procurement process or severe implementa-
tion problems caused by unrealistic tender preparation periods limiting the number of tenders and
affecting their quality.

The public procurement of works, supplies or services The contracting authority must carry out an estima-
involving EU funds is often part a larger EU-funded tion of the contract value and document it so that
project that may be delivered through several public the justification and reasoning behind the value of
contracts. Delays in one contract can affect implemen- a purchase is available in the future, either to other
tation of the other contracts. The timing of grant ap- staff from the contracting authority or to potential
provals and payments is an additional constraint when auditors. The contracting authority will have to de-
launching procurement procedures. Contracting author- monstrate not only the sources and method used
ities need to take this into account at an early stage. for the estimation but also that the purchase offered
value for money.
1.4.4. Contract value
Definition — What is the contract value?
Another important element to be defined at this stage The estimated value is based on the total volume of
and which should eventually be published in the con- the services, supplies or works to be purchased for
tract notice is the value of the contract, i.e. the maxi- the full duration of the contract, including all options,
mum budget available for economic operators. phases or possible renewals. It comprises the total
estimated remuneration of the contractor, including
Defining a realistic budget for a contract to achieve all types of expenses such as human resources, ma-
the desired results, while achieving value for money, terials and transport, but also covers additional costs
is critical and should be based on a clear scope of re- such as maintenance, bespoke licences, operational
quirements and up-to-date market price information. costs or travel and subsistence expenses.

Artificially splitting the contract value is illegal

The contracting authority must not artificially split larger works/supplies/services into smaller units
to avoid the EU thresholds for advertising in the OJEU, national thresholds or to avoid applying
certain competitive procedures.
For works, there must be an amalgamation of all separate contracts where there is a functional and
timing relationship between them. In general, if the contracts together relate to the same subject mat-
ter, the values must be aggregated together. If the amalgamated values are above the thresholds, the
contracts must be advertised in the OJEU. Collaborative multi-partner projects must consider public
procurement requirements at the level of the project, i.e. not at individual partner level.

33
 For example, if a contracting authority needs to paint a building with 10 rooms, it cannot split the
contract into 10 contracts or fewer (for instance 6) and award the contracts without tendering. All
those services/supplies or works must be ‘pooled’ together to create a functional whole. Consequent-
ly, in this example the contract value must be the total value of the 10 contracts. The overall value
determines whether or not a tender is required to follow Directive 2014/24/EU.
Examples of artificial splitting or ‘salami-slicing’
1. The review of the project procurement plan for a public building project revealed a pattern of mul-
tiple lots with amounts just below the Directive threshold, without clear technical justification. All
these lots had been tendered locally, without taking into consideration the total amount of the lots
which was well above the threshold.
2. The project works were artificially split into one contract to be tendered, whose amount was 1 %
below the Directive threshold, and one ‘own works’ contract executed directly by the contracting
authority.
3. A proposed purchase of a certain total quantity of vehicles is artificially subdivided into several
contracts with the intention of ensuring that the value of each contract falls below the thresholds,
i.e. deliberately avoiding publishing the contract for the whole set of supplies in the OJEU.

Timing — When should the contract value Life-cycle costs can be taken into consideration at this
be defined? point, since they are one method for assessing the
Procurement rules require that the value be valid budget needed (see section 2.3 Define the criteria).
when the call for tenders is issued or the procedure
without publication is launched. However, it is re- In the case of works contracts, account must be
commended that public buyers estimate the con- taken not only of the value of the works but also of
tract value at the beginning of the process when de- the estimated total value of the supplies needed to
fining the subject matter. In any case, when Directive carry out the works and made available to the con-
2014/24/EU applies, the estimated price with legal tractor by the contracting authority.
value is the one published with the contract notice.
1.4.5. Joint procurement
Method — How do we estimate the
contract value? Joint procurement involves combining the procurement
Procurement practitioners should estimate the value procedures of two or more contracting authorities. In
of a purchase on the basis of previous experience, concrete terms, only one procurement procedure is
previous similar contracts and/or on the basis of pre- launched on behalf of all participating contracting au-
liminary market research or consultation. thorities to purchase common services, goods or works.

It must be calculated without VAT. This can be done either between several contract-
ing authorities from the same Member State, or be-
If the contract is split into lots, the value of the pur- tween contracting authorities from different Mem-
chase is the combined value of all lots. ber States through cross-border procurement.

34
Occasional joint procurement 1.5. Choose the procedure
Occasionally, two or more contracting authorities
may agree to conduct a single joint procurement The decision concerning which procedure to use is
procedure. If a procurement procedure is carried out a critical and strategic one affecting the whole pro-
jointly in the name and on behalf of all the contract- curement process. The decision should be taken and
ing authorities concerned, they must be jointly res- justified at the planning stage.
ponsible for fulfilling their legal obligations.
Directive 2014/24/EU provides for five main pro-
However, where a joint procurement procedure is cedures as well as specific criteria for particular
conducted by several contracting authorities but the situations which are presented in this section. An
contract is not shared in its entirety (i.e. only some additional procedure called ‘pre-commercial pro-
tasks of the contract are jointly procured), the con- curement’ can be used when purchasing R&D ser-
tracting authorities are jointly responsible only for vices and does not fall under Directive 2014/24/EU.
those parts carried out jointly.
In choosing which procedure to use, contracting au-
Cross-border procurement thorities need to weigh a range of factors, including:
Contracting authorities from different Mem-
ber States can conduct joint procurement. This can āā the specific requirements and purpose of each
involve public institutions from different Member procedure;
States or use centralised purchasing bodies located
in another Member State. āā the benefits of full open competition;

If centralised purchasing activities are provided by a āā the advantages of restricting competition;

central purchasing body located in another Member
State, the activities must be conducted in accord- āā the administrative burden entailed by each pro-
ance with the national law of the Member State in cedure;
which the central purchasing body is located.
āā the likely risk of complaints and remedies often
The allocation of responsibilities between contract- linked to corruption and collusion risks; and
ing authorities from different Member States, in-
cluding management of the procedure, distribution āā the incentive for innovative or tailored solutions
of the works, supplies or service to be procured, to a specific need.
conclusion of contracts and the applicable national
law must be clearly specified in the procurement The decision matrix below aims to provide practi-
documents. tioners with an overview of the possibilities offered
by the different procurement procedures, as well as
their advantages and disadvantages.

35
 Table 5. Decision matrix to support the choice of the procurement procedure
Procedures Specific requirements for using Stages Minimum Level of Workload for Risk of complaints, Incentive
the procedure number of competition contracting remedies or for
candidates authorities irregularities innovative
or tailored
ideas/
products
Open None. 1. Selection None. HIGH HIGH LOW LOW
and evaluation
It can be used for all purchases. All interested Unlimited All compliant tenders Decision made with a
candidates can number of must be examined by straightforward focus
submit a tender. tenders. the CA and this can on the award.
delay the award.
Limited transparency
Resource intensive for risks as an open,
both the CA and the transparent, competitive
candidates who have procedure
to prepare a complete
tender.

36
Restricted None. 1. All interested MEDIUM MEDIUM MEDIUM LOW
Prequalification candidates
It can be used for all purchases. can submit an Limited number Limited number of Greater potential for
2. Selection expression of of candidates tenders to evaluate and collusion/corruption
and evaluation interest. allowed to therefore less resource due to the increased
submit a tender. intensive for the exercise of discretion by
At least 5 evaluation committee/ the CA.
pre-selected Possibility CA.
candidates can to restrict
submit a tender. participation Two-stage procedures
only to market might be longer in order
operators with to respect the required
high level of time limits.
specialisation.
 Competitive Fulfil one or more of the following 1. MEDIUM HIGH MEDIUM MEDIUM
procedure criteria: Prequalification
with Limited number The burden of proof Greater potential for
negotiation An open or restricted procedure 2. Negotiation of candidates for the circumstances collusion/corruption
has attracted only irregular or and evaluation allowed to allowing for the use of due to the increased
unacceptable tenders. submit a tender. the procedure rests with exercise of discretion by
the CA. the CA.
The needs of the CA cannot be met All interested Possibility
without the adaptation of available candidates to restrict The CA is highly
solutions. may request participation involved in the
participation in only to market negotiation/dialogue
The subject matter includes design response to a operators with with tenderers.
or innovative solutions. contract notice. high level of
specialisation. Limited number of
Competitive The technical specifications cannot 1. At least 3 tenders to evaluate and HIGH HIGH
dialogue be established with sufficient Prequalification pre-selected therefore less resource
precision by the CA with reference candidates can Greater potential for
intensive for the
to defined standards or technical 2. Dialogue submit a tender collusion/corruption
evaluation committee/
requirements. due to the increased
3. Selection CA.
exercise of discretion by

37
The contract cannot be awarded and evaluation the CA.
Two-stage or three-
without prior negotiations due to stage procedures might
specific risks or circumstances Transparency
be longer in order to
related to the nature, complexity, or requirements are
respect the required
legal and financial matters. particularly challenging
time limits.
during the dialogue.
 Procedures Specific requirements for using Stages Minimum Level of Workload for Risk of complaints, Incentive
the procedure number of competition contracting remedies or for
candidates authorities irregularities innovative
or tailored
ideas/
products
Innovation The CA procures both the 1. All interested MEDIUM HIGH HIGH HIGH
partnership development and purchase of Prequalification candidates
innovative products, services may request Limited number The burden of proof Greater potential for
or works which are not already 2. Negotiation participation in of candidates for the circumstances collusion/corruption
available on the market. response to a allowed to allowing for the use of due to the increased
3. Delivery submit a tender. the procedure rests with exercise of discretion by
contract notice.
the CA. the CA.
At least 3 Possibility
pre-selected to restrict The CA is highly Transparency
candidates can participation involved in the contract requirements are
submit a tender only to market execution since it particularly challenging
operators with procures and monitors during the negotiation
high level of both the research and and the contract
specialisation. development and the implementation.

38
delivery/deployment
of a non-existing new Risk of crowding out of
product or service. other R&D investments
and foreclosing of
Potentially, limited competition for the
number of tenders to delivery/deployment
evaluate and therefore stage (2014 R&D&I
less resource intensive State aid rules consider
for the evaluation there is no risk of State
committee/CA. aid only when the
procedure is limited to
Three-stage procedures the purchase of unique/
might be longer in order specialised products
to respect the required or services for which
time limits. there are no other
potential suppliers on
the market).
 Design The jury must be composed 1. Selection All interested MEDIUM HIGH LOW HIGH
contest exclusively of natural persons and evaluation candidates
independent of participants in the may request Limited number Resource intensive for Decisions are related to
contest. participation in of candidates both the CA/jury and the a one-stage procedure.
response to a allowed to candidates who have
submit a tender. to prepare a complete Decision coming from
contract notice. an independent jury
tender.
Possibility to often including external
restrict the stakeholders,
number of
participants
based on clear
and non-
discriminatory
selection
criteria.

39
 Procedures Specific requirements for using Stages Minimum Level of Workload for Risk of complaints, Incentive
the procedure number of competition contracting remedies or for
candidates authorities irregularities innovative
or tailored
ideas/
products
Negotiated This procedure is a derogation from 1. Selection Possibility to LOW LOW HIGH LOW
procedure general rules and can be used only and evaluation restrict the
without under one or more of the following number of The CA chooses Reduced workload for The use of the
prior exceptional instances: participants the economic the CA due to the small procedure has to be
publication down to 1. operators for number of tenders to be exceptional and be
For works, supplies or services: the negotiation. assessed. easily challenged by
An open or restricted procedure has prejudiced economic
not attracted any tenders or any Negotiation skills are operators.
suitable tenders; required to conduct the
procedure properly. Greater potential for
Extreme urgency justified by collusion/corruption
unforeseeable circumstances; due to the increased
exercise of discretion by
Contract can be performed only the CA.

40
by a particular economic operator
in case of unique work of art or
artistic performance, absence of
competition for technical reasons or
protection of exclusive rights.

For works or services:

New works or services that repeat
similar works or services provided
that they are in conformity with a
basic project for which the original
contract was awarded.

For supplies or services:

For technical or artistic reasons or
due to the existence of special or
exclusive rights, only one possible
supplier or service provider exists.

Purchase of supplies or services on

particularly advantageous terms;
 For supplies only:
Supplies quoted and purchased on
a commodity market.

Products manufactured purely for

the purpose of research, study,
experimentation or development;

Additional deliveries for the partial

replacement or the extension of
existing supplies/installations to
avoid incompatibility or technical
difficulties.

For services only:

Contract to be awarded to the
winner of a design contest.
Pre- The CA procures R&D services 1. Selection All interested HIGH MEDIUM LOW HIGH
commercial to research and/or develop and and evaluation candidates can

41
procurement test innovative products, services submit a tender. Unlimited The burden of proof Decision made with a
or works which are not already number of for the circumstances straightforward focus
Note: This available in the market. Pre-commercial tenderers allowing for the use on the award. Limited
procedure procurement allowed to of the procedure rests transparency risks as
does not awards submit a tender. with the CA. However, an open, transparent,
fall under contracts the burden of proof competitive procedure.
Directive to several is lower compared to
2014/24/EU. contractors in innovation partnerships
parallel and (no crowding out of
is budgeted R&D investments
to end with or foreclosing of
minimum 2 competition for final
contractors up delivery of solutions).
to the final R&D
step.
1.5.1. Open procedure Prequalification
As a first step, the contracting authority’s require-
The open and restricted procedures are the usual ments are set out in a contract notice (published in
methods of procurement for routine works, services the OJEU if above the relevant thresholds) inviting
or supplies. potential tenderers to present expressions of inter-
est. The contract notice may indicate the relevant
The open procedure is mostly used when competi- information to be submitted via a detailed European
tion is limited to few candidates and the specifica- single procurement document (see section 2.1.1. Set
tion might be rather complicated and technical ex- up the ESPD).
pertise might be required.
The procurement documents must be made availa-
All economic operators interested in the contract ble as of the publication of the contract notice, or as
can submit tenders. All tenders must be consid- of the confirmation of interest if using a prior infor-
ered without any prior selection process. The selec- mation notice as a means of calling for competition.
tion and evaluation is carried out after the tenders
have been submitted. Selection and evaluation
The second step involves issuing the invitation to
Since tendering is open to all interested candidates, tender to at least five pre-selected tenderers hav-
including ones from other countries, the open proce- ing the requisite level of professional, technical and
dure promotes competition, resulting in better value financial expertise and capacity.
for money for the contracting authorities. The share
of open procedures is actually considered as a key 1.5.3. Competitive procedure
indicator of the level of competition of a public pro- with negotiation
curement system.
The competitive procedure with negotiation, like the
Although open procedures are preferred for the de- competitive dialogue, is a process that can be used
gree of competition they promote, they are not suit- in exceptional circumstances. It involves shortlist-
able for all types of contracts and can entail greater ing at least three candidates who are invited
administrative burden. Complex or highly special- to submit an initial tender and then negotiate.
ised contracts may be better allocated via a more
selective process20. In all cases, the contracting authority must duly jus-
tify their use of the competitive procedure with ne-
1.5.2. Restricted procedure gotiation since it is only allowed in a limited number
of circumstances:
The restricted procedure is a two-stage process
where only pre-selected tenderers may submit āā in response to a previous open or a restricted
tenders. procedure, only irregular and unacceptable ten-
ders were received;
The restricted procedure is generally used where
there is a high degree of competition (several poten- āā the needs of the contracting authority cannot be
tial tenderers) in the marketplace, such as for clean- met without adapting solutions already available;
ing, IT equipment or furniture, and the contracting
authority wishes to draw up a shortlist. āā the contract includes design or innovative solutions;

20
 uropean Commission, DG REGIO, Stock-taking of administrative capacity, systems and practices across the EU to ensure
E
the compliance and quality of public procurement involving European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds, January 2016.
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/how/improving-investment/public-procurement/study/.

42
āā the technical specifications cannot be established Negotiation and evaluation
with sufficient precision with reference to defined The contracting authority may then choose at least
standards or technical references. three candidates and invite them to submit an initial
tender as basis for subsequent negotiation.
āā the contract cannot be awarded without prior ne-
gotiations due to specific risks or circumstances A negotiation phase is then organised on the basis
related to its nature, complexity, or legal and fi- of the initial tenders, while the evaluation will con-
nancial matters. sider the final version of the tenders on the basis of
the most economically advantageous tender criteria.
Prequalification
In a competitive procedure with negotiation, the con-
tracting authority publishes a contract notice and all
interested economic operators may ask to participate
in the procedure. To do so, they must demonstrate
that they are qualified to perform the contract.

Examples of competitive procedure with negotiation

1. Supply contract in the health sector
A contracting authority in the health sector launches a restricted procurement process for a contract
to supply an X-ray machine. Four tenders are submitted and evaluated, but all four tenders include
minor variations of the technical specifications, none of which are permitted. The contracting author-
ity decides to initiate a competitive procedure with negotiation, inviting the four economic operators
that had submitted the original tenders to participate in the negotiations. The contracting authority
negotiates with all of the tenderers using the tenders that they initially submitted. The aim of the
negotiations is to adapt the submitted tenders to the requirements that the contracting authority has
set out in the contract notice, specifications and additional documents in order to obtain regular and
acceptable tenders.
2. Works contract for a local authority
A municipality wishes to award a contract for the construction of a new office building in the centre
of a town, where it is known that archaeological remains are likely to be found, which will need to be
protected during the construction process. The local authority does not know how much risk economic
operators are prepared to take in relation to the impact of protecting the archaeological remains on the
cost and timing of construction. This issue will require negotiation with the economic operators.

Source: OECD/SIGMA, Public Procurement Brief 10, Public procurement procedures, September 2016.
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-10-200117.pdf

43
1.5.4. Competitive dialogue Prequalification
First, at least three economic operators are shortlist-
Contracting authorities which carry out complex pro- ed based on their capacity to perform the contract
jects might be unable to define how to meet their (as with the competitive procedure with negotiation).
needs or assess what the market can offer in terms
of technical, financial or legal solutions. This can Dialogue
arise with major integrated transport infrastruc- The contracting authority then issues the invitation
ture, large computer networks or projects involving to participate only to the shortlisted economic oper-
complex and structured financing (e.g. public-private ators, and enters into a competitive dialogue phase
partnership), for which the financial and legal set-up with them.
cannot be determined in advance.
During the competitive dialogue phase, all as-
The competitive dialogue procedure aims to provide pects of the project can be discussed with the
a certain amount of flexibility for particularly complex economic operators. This ensures transparency
purchases. As with the competitive procedure with among them.
negotiation, the contracting authority may use the
competitive dialogue only in a limited number Selection and evaluation
of circumstances and must always justify its Once the contracting authority is confident that it
decision. (see section 1.5.3. Competitive procedure will receive satisfactory proposals, it invites the eco-
with negotiation). nomic operators to submit their tenders which will
be evaluated on the basis of the most economically
advantageous tender criteria.

Competitive dialogue is very demanding for contracting authorities

Contracting authorities should be aware that the competitive dialogue requires both intense use of
internal staff and high levels of expertise as it is deals with a complex subject matter and it is time-
consuming.
A high level of technical expertise on the subject matter is necessary in-house for the contracting
authority to carry out the procedure with the best chances of success and to be able to hold the dia-
logue with the selected candidates.

1.5.5. Innovation partnership The underlying logic of an innovation partnership is

that tenders for both the R&D and the delivery of
An innovation partnership is implemented through the resulting solutions are submitted at the start
a three-stage procurement process (prequalifica- of the competitive procurement procedure and that
tion, negotiation, delivery). The contracting author- the solutions are actually further developed during
ity buys both R&D services to develop an inno- the implementation of the contract.
vative solution and the resulting innovative
products, services or works. This constitutes a major difference compared to
the competitive dialogue procedure where dialogue
continues until the contracting authority identifies
the solution that best meets its needs.

44
Prequalification After awarding the contract to one of several ten-
As with the competitive procedure with negotiation derers, the contracting authority agrees the terms of
and the competitive dialogue, all providers interested the innovative contract and initiates the innovation
in the contract may ask to participate in response to process. Apart from research and development ac-
a contract notice. The contracting authority selects a tivities, this includes completing works, manufactur-
minimum of three candidates for their R&D capacity ing and delivering products or services.
and their performance of innovative solutions.
The contracting authority must pay the participating
The partner that presents the best R&D capacity and partners in suitable instalments. Contracting authori-
can best ensure the real scale implementation of the ties must ensure to the greatest possible extent that
innovative solutions must be selected. The selection the degree of innovation of the planned solution and
criteria can include the partner’s past performance, the order of the research and innovation activities
references, team composition, facilities and quality required to develop an innovative solution are taken
insurance systems. It may be difficult for start-ups into account in the structure and term of the part-
and SMEs to win contracts in innovation partnership nership and the value of the various stages. The es-
procedures as candidates have to demonstrate from timated value of the planned purchase of supplies,
the start of this procedure not only their capacity to services or works must be in proportion to the invest-
perform R&D but also to supply results. ment required for those supplies, services or works.

Consequently, the selected candidates will be invit- Delivery

ed to submit an initial tender in the form of a As the innovation partnership is a contract for both
research and innovation project proposal. The the development and delivery of innovative solu-
subject matter, the minimum requirements and the tions, the contracting authority can terminate the
award criteria for this must be set out in the pro- contract before proceeding to the delivery of the
curement documents. solutions only if the targets that the contracting au-
thority set at the start of the procedure for the newly
Negotiation and contract implementation created innovative works, services or products were
Once the tenders have been submitted, the contract- not reached during the R&D. The burden of proof
ing authority negotiates initial and all subsequent ten- that newly created solutions do not meet the initial
ders with the candidates, unless it decides to award targets and minimum requirements rests with the
the contract based on one of the initial tenders. contracting authority. The procedure does not give
the contracting authority the right to stop the proce-
All aspects may be negotiated, except the subject dure for other reasons if the targets and minimum
matter, the award criteria and the minimum require- requirements are met (e.g. not even if better solu-
ments set out in the procurement documents. Howev- tions have emerged in the meantime on the market).
er, the distribution of rights and obligations (including
intellectual property rights) must be specified up front
in the tender documents. In addition, the contracting
authority cannot make substantial modifications to
the subject matter (the minimum solution require-
ments) even if the R&D stage shows that this was not
optimally formulated at the start of the procedure.
The contracting authority can carry out negotiations
in a number of successive stages to limit the number
of tenders which require negotiation and thus poten-
tially eliminate some tenderers from the process.

45
1.5.6. Design contest 1.5.7. Negotiated procedure without
prior publication
A design contest is a competitive procedure which ena-
bles contracting authorities to purchase a plan or a When using the negotiated procedure without prior
design mainly in the fields of spatial planning, publication, contracting authorities negotiate, with-
architecture, civil engineering or data processing. out advertising, the terms of the contract directly
with one or more economic operators.
The plan or design is selected by a jury and the sub-
sequent winner is then invited to negotiate before This is a significant derogation from the core princi-
signing the contract. The negotiated procedure with- ples of openness, transparency and competition and
out prior publication of a contract notice can be used is a very exceptional procedure. The burden of
for that purpose (see section 1.5.7. Negotiated pro- proof for the circumstances allowing for the use of
cedure without prior publication). the negotiated procedure rests with the contracting
authority.
In addition to the design contract, the outcome of
the procedure may also include the award of prizes. The negotiated procedure without prior publication
can be used only in exceptional circumstances which
There are no detailed requirements relating to the must be duly justified. These possibilities are clearly
number of stages to be used, or to the process to defined by Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU and
be followed. are listed in the table below.

Table 6. Overview of the instances where the negotiated procedure without prior
publication can be used

Works Services Supplies

An open or restricted procedure has not attracted any tenders or any suitable tenders,
provided all those who submitted tenders are included in the negotiations and the specifications of
the requirement are not altered substantially. No suitable tenders mean that tenders are unusable,
irrelevant to the contract, being manifestly incapable of meeting the contracting authority’s needs and
requirements as specified in the procurement documents.
Cases of extreme urgency justified by unforeseeable circumstances. These are situations a CA
could not have predicted from the beginning of the procurement procedure and not attributable to
actions of the CA (e.g. natural disasters, floods, security attacks). This applies also to additional works/
services/supplies requiring immediate action and arriving even if the CA has prepared the project and/
or the technical specifications in a diligent way.
The contract can be performed only by a particular economic operator for one of the
following reasons: creation or acquisition of a unique work of art or artistic performance, absence
of competition for technical reasons (provided that the technical requirements are not artificially
narrowed), protection of exclusive rights including intellectual property rights.

46
 Works Services Supplies

New works or services in case of Supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity

repetition of similar works or services market.
provided that they are in conformity with a Purchase of supplies on advantageous terms,
basic project for which the original contract from a supplier definitively winding up a business,
was awarded. The basic project must the receiver or liquidator of a bankruptcy, from an
indicate the extent of possible additional arrangement with creditors or a similar procedure.
works or services and the possible use of
The products are manufactured purely for the
this procedure for the award.
purpose of research, experimentation, study or
The contract follows development.
a design contest and Additional deliveries either for the partial
is to be awarded, under replacement or the extension of existing supplies/
the rules of the design installations only if the change of supplier would
contest, to the winner or oblige the CA to acquire supplies having incompatible
one of the winners of the technical characteristics or resulting in disproportionate
design contest. technical difficulties in operation and maintenance.

Source: Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU.

Before deciding to use this procedure, contracting 1.5.8. Pre-commercial procurement

authorities should ensure that the precise circum-
stances justifying negotiation do exist. If in doubt, it Pre-commercial procurement21 uses the existing
is advisable to get legal advice with a written record open procurement procedure to procure R&D
to that effect. services in a way that uses competitive develop-
ment in phases, and shares intellectual property
rights and related risks and benefits between the
contracting authority and participating tenderers.
Cases not justifying use of the
negotiated procedure without Exemption of public procurement rules for
prior publication the purchase of R&D services
It should be highlighted that pre-commercial pro-
A contracting authority awards a public con-
curement is not covered by the EU public pro-
tract by negotiated procedure but cannot
curement directives and the WTO Government
prove that this procedure was justified (it can
Procurement Agreement rules. However, Direc-
only be used exceptionally in very specific cir-
tive 2014/24/EU does refer to it, and puts in practice
cumstances).
an exemption for R&D services.
Before using the procedure, carefully check
the list of key requirements and obtain advice R&D service contracts are used where existing solu-
from national public procurement authori- tions on the market are not able to provide a con-
ties if in any doubt. venient solution to a contracting authority’s needs.

21
 uropean Commission, COM(2007) 799 final, Pre-commercial Procurement: Driving innovation to ensure sustainable high
E
quality public services in Europe. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2007:0799:FIN:EN:PDF

47
By using this exemption, a contracting authority can financial capacity requirements for the research and
procure R&D services outside of the EU and WTO development, not for deploying commercial volumes
rules, provided that it still complies with the EU of solutions.
Treaty principles and selects the economic operators
in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner. Contracting
A pre-commercial procurement contract must be of
Sharing of intellectual property and limited duration and may include the development
benefits of prototypes or limited volumes of first products or
In pre-commercial procurement the contracting au- services in the form of a test series.
thority does not reserve all the intellectual property
and the benefits of the R&D exclusively to itself, However, the purchase of the newly created prod-
but shares them with the economic operators un- ucts or services must not be part of the scope of
der market conditions, thus ensuring that there is the same contract. Pre-commercial procurement
no state aid. differentiates the R&D contract from potential sub-
sequent contracts for the purchase of commercial
Benefit sharing means that the contracting author- volumes of the innovative solution created.
ity leaves the intellectual property ownership rights
with the participating economic operators, while 1.5.9. Light regime for procurement of
keeping licence-free rights to use the R&D results social and health services
and the right to (require the economic operators to)
give licences to third parties. For a number of categories of services contracts
in the health and social sectors, contracting au-
The interest of the contracting authority is primarily thorities can use a ‘light’ regime.
the right to use the solution and possibly to license it
in any follow-up procurement. Furthermore, the con- These services, often referred to as ‘services to the
tracting authority encourages competition between person’, are provided within a particular context
more economic operators by progressively selecting which can differ between Member States. In addi-
them based on their performance obtained for pre- tion, they usually have, by essence, a very limited
defined milestones and their tenders for the next cross-border dimension.
phase. Lastly, the contracting authority should have
the possibility to terminate the project at any point The threshold of EUR 750 000 applies to this light
if the results do not meet expected objectives. approach. This is much higher than the threshold
that applies to services under the full regime.
The main advantage for economic operators is that
it allows them to bring a solution to a need in public This light approach can be taken when procuring
service that is not satisfactorily addressed by the health, social and other services that fall within the
current market. They also can test this solution and common procurement vocabulary codes listed in
gather users’ feedback throughout the R&D phase. Annex XIV to Directive 2014/24/EU.
If successful, this process enables them to test the
solutions and sell them to other public procurers or The list of those services includes:
in other markets.
āā health, social and related services;
In addition, pre-commercial procurement can be
particularly interesting for SMEs because tenderers āā administrative, social, educational, health care,
only need to fulfil the professional qualification and and cultural services;

 uropean Commission, Commission staff working document — Example of a possible approach for procuring R&D services
E
applying risk-benefit sharing at market conditions, i.e. pre-commercial procurement, 2007.
Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1511547965552&uri=CELEX:52007SC1668.

48
āā compulsory social security services; āā investigation and security services;

āā hotel and restaurant services; āā international services;

āā legal services, to the extent that they are not ex- āā postal services.
cluded altogether from the Directives;

Practices from Directive 2004/18/EC might lead to error

The former public procurement Directive 2004/18/EC (Classical Directive) drew a distinction
between services (Annex II A) and priority services (Annex II B).
Directive 2014/24 abolishes that distinction and introduces a ‘light’ procurement procedure that
applies to the procurement of health, social and other services that fall within the common procure-
ment vocabulary codes listed in Annex XIV.
Contracting authorities should consult Annex XIV carefully to determine whether a service
requirement previously classified as ‘Part B’ falls inside or outside of the ‘light’ regime.
Although the list of services in Annex XIV is similar to the list in Annex II B under the 2004 Direc-
tive, the lists are not identical. Some service contracts that were formerly ‘Part B’ but are not listed
in Annex XIV will be subject to the standard full procurement rules.

Directive 2014/24/EU includes very few provisions Framework agreements can be applied to works, sup-
on the procurement of light regime services. Thus, plies or services and are concluded within one con-
Member States must put in place national rules tracting authority (or between several contracting
complying with the principles of transparency and authorities) with one or several economic operators.
equal treatment of economic operators, taking into
account the specific nature of the services. The contracting authority advertises the framework
agreement in the OJEU and uses one of the stand-
Nevertheless, under the light regime, contracting ard procurement procedures set out in the Directive
authorities are required to advertise the contract to select and evaluate the tenders. Once it has re-
opportunity in the OJEU, using a contract notice or ceived and evaluated the tenders, the contracting
prior information notice, and to publish a contract authority awards the framework agreement to one
award notice in the OJEU. or more economic operators.

1.5.10. Framework agreements The successful tenderers (normally selected using

an open or restricted procedure) benefit from the
Framework agreements are not a specific proce- exclusivity of the framework agreement. The agree-
dure or a type of contract, but rather a tool that ment governs the way in which contracts will be
is recommended for established and repeti- awarded to framework members and the terms ap-
tive needs when the contracting authority does not plying to that award for a certain amount of time.
know in advance either the contract amount or ex-
actly when their need will occur. Framework agree-
ments are one of the tools and techniques for ag-
gregated procurement defined in EU legislation.

49
The rationale behind using a framework agreement Framework agreements are frequently used by central
for purchasing is that it helps make savings, both in purchasing bodies, acting either on their own behalf
the costs of the procurement thanks to economies of or on behalf of a number of contracting authorities.
scale, and the time spent on the procurement process. Framework agreements can also be easily combined
with joint procurement, such as in the examples below.

Examples of framework agreements

The most appropriate use of a framework agreement is where a contracting authority has a repeated
requirement for works, services or supplies, but where the exact quantities that will be required are
unknown, like in the following cases:
1. ‘A central purchasing body, acting on behalf of 10 health bodies, enters into a framework agree-
ment with four providers for the supply of emergency vehicles.’
2. ‘Four neighbouring local authorities enter into a framework agreement with one economic opera-
tor for the maintenance of roads.’
3. ‘A single government department enters into a framework agreement for stationery with three
suppliers.’

Source: OECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 19, Framework Agreements, September 2016.
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-19-200117.pdf.

More information on framework agreements

Link to comprehensive explanation and guidance on framework agreements:
European Commission, DG GROW, Explanatory note on framework agreements. Available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement/rules-implementation_en

50
1.6. Plan the procedure and management of the contract. This can be done
on the basis of all the key elements that have al-
At this stage, it is recommended to draw up a com- ready been defined: need to be satisfied, team and
prehensive plan for the whole procurement proce- stakeholders, subject matter, duration and value of
dure in order to organise the future implementation the contract as well as the procedure.

Planning can be quick and saves time for the future

Planning is crucial and does not need to entail burdensome and long processes.
It is simply a matter or defining what do to, when, and with which resources. If the contracting
authority gets this part of the process wrong, mistakes and problems will most likely follow.
For common procurement procedures, the core team can do this with just a few hours of work using
a simple planning tool like the one presented in section 1.6.2 Simple planning tool.

The contracting authority should draw up a compre- 1.6.1. Planning complex contracts
hensive timetable, standard tools or rules (e.g. for
communication with tenderers) and devise a system For complex contracts, a Gantt chart can be estab-
for recording key decisions (i.e. register information lished in order to take into account all the required
known at that stage, available options and justifica- tasks, distribute responsibilities and clearly identify
tion of the preferred option). The plan should include the causal relationships between the steps of the
realistic and regular milestones to help track pro- process.
gress while implementing both complex and simpler
contracts. In order to proceed with scheduling in a Gantt chart
you need the following inputs:
The contracting authority is also recommended to
have rules concerning contract management, in- āā the sequence of tasks to be carried out;
volvement from stakeholders, monitoring and con-
trol of the procurement procedures (see chapter 5. āā the task duration estimates;
Contract implementation).
āā human resources requirements;

āā time constraints and main milestones;

āā deliverables or equivalent;

āā dependencies between tasks.

51
A Gantt chart focuses on the sequence of tasks nec- corresponds to the duration of the task or the time
essary to complete a certain project. Each task is needed to complete it. Arrows connecting the tasks
represented as a horizontal bar. The horizontal axis represent the causal relationship between some of
is the time scale over which the project will be im- the tasks (see example below)22.
plemented. Therefore, the length of each task bar

Figure 3. Example of Gantt chart for a public procurement procedure generated

by MS Project

The Gantt chart is an excellent tool for quickly as- 1.6.2. Simple planning tool
sessing the status of a project. It is therefore suit-
able for status reports and for communicating in- For more routine contracts, a comprehensive dash-
formation regarding the progress of a project to all board in the form of a simple table can be easily and
stakeholders. quickly completed to plan and monitor the contract
preparation and implementation.
It can be developed using software like Microsoft
Project or via a Microsoft Excel template which has The indicative table below allows to gather in one
less functionality but is easier and faster to use. single sheet the necessary information for each of
the main phases of the procurement process.

22
 ublic Procurement Directorate (PPD) of the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus, PUBLIC PROCUREMENT BEST PRACTICE GUIDE,
P
2008. Available at: http://www.publicprocurementguides.treasury.gov.cy/OHS-EN/HTML/index.html?7_4_1_5_time_planning_of_
activities.htm.

52
Table 7. Simple dashboard structure for procurement planning

Tasks and key Person in Stakeholders Systems Record Timing/

milestones charge involved and tools keeping Expected
completion

1. Preparation and planning

Detect future need

Engage stakeholders
(appoint working group)

Analyse market

Define the subject matter

Choose the procedure

2. Publication and transparency

Draft procurement
documents

Publish contract notice

Provide clarifications to
potential tenderers

3. Evaluation and award

Open and evaluate

tenders

Award the contract

Sign the contract

Publish the contract

award notice

4. Contract implementation

Manage and monitor the

execution

Issue payments

If relevant, modification
of contract

If relevant, termination of
contract

Ideally, this dashboard table should be prepared to ensure a common agreement and understanding
jointly and should be shared among the relevant in- of the overall planning.
ternal stakeholders at the beginning of the process

53
2. Publication and transparency
The purpose of the publication and transparency phase is to attract competitive tenders that will
deliver the contract in a satisfactory way, that is to say, with outcomes that meet the needs of the
contracting authority.

To do this, it is necessary to: 2.1. Draft procurement

documents
Draft clear procurement documents which clear-
ly set out the need for and the subject matter of the The drafting of the procurement documents is a cru-
contract in the technical specifications, the grounds cial step in the procurement procedure. This is how
for exclusion, and the selection and award criteria; the contracting authority will explain its needs and
its related objectives and requirements to the mar-
Set sufficient time limits in order for tenderers to ket, namely to those interested in tendering.
appropriately prepare their proposals;
The number and nature of the procurement docu-
Properly advertise the contract or invite candi- ments depend on the type of procedure that has
dates to tender, and provide clarifications if needed. been selected. Nonetheless, in most cases, the pro-
curement dossier will include the following items.

Table 8. Main procurement documents

Document Description

Invitation to tender, The invitation is a brief letter inviting economic operators to submit to
or invitation for pre- the contracting authority a tender, or a request to participate in the case of
qualification two-stage procedures (such as the restricted procedure or the competitive
procedure with negotiation).

Contract notice The contract notice is the document that formally and publicly launches
the procurement procedure. Depending on the value of the contract
and on national rules, the contract notice will be published in the Official
Journal of the EU and/or in national, regional or local publications (see
section 2.5.2 Notices to be advertised). It provides essential information
about the contract, refers to the main relevant bodies and indicates where
interested parties can access the full procurement documents.

Technical The technical specifications are the key document in the procurement
specifications dossier. They may include general background information about the
contract, a description of the subject matter, the exclusion grounds, the
selection and award criteria, and details of the specific scope of work
required from the economic operator.

54
Document Description

This document primarily aims to provide economic operators with the

information needed to prepare their tenders or requests to participate. In
addition, technical specifications might serve to protect the contracting
authority at a later stage by setting out a single clear source of
information for the tenderer(s). This thus prevents tenderers from claiming
that they did not know about certain circumstances during the award or
implementation phases.

In the field of services, technical specifications are often referred to as

Terms of Reference (ToR). In some cases, these include more documents in
addition to the technical specifications.

Instructions to The instructions consist of guidelines and formal rules regulating the
tenderers procurement procedure.

These rules aim to support economic operators in preparing and

submitting their tenders or requests to participate. They usually provide
practical indications on the way the proposals should be structured, the
language in which they should be drawn up, the pricing schedule, the
method for electronic submission or the formal presentation requirements
(for example, financial and technical proposals are often required to be
submitted in separate sealed envelopes).

It is recommended to include a formal compliance check-list to help

tenderers prepare the documentation and to facilitate the verification of
documents by the contracting authority/evaluation committee.

European Single The ESPD is a self-declaration of the economic operator’s financial

Procurement status, abilities and suitability for a public procurement procedure. It is
Document (ESPD) available in all EU languages and used as preliminary evidence that the
tenderer meets the conditions required in public procurement procedures.
Thanks to the ESPD, tenderers no longer have to provide full
documentary evidence and all the different forms previously used in EU
procurement. This means access to cross-border tendering opportunities is
now significantly simpler. As of October 2018, the ESPD must exclusively
be provided in electronic form.

Draft contract A draft contract may be included in the procurement documents to provide
clear information to economic operators on the required contractual
arrangements. A draft contract is a detailed legal document, which
generally indicates the contract value, subject matter, duration and
timeframe, payment conditions, and other legal provisions including
protection of parties, representations, warranties, indemnifications, terms
and all applicable laws and regulations.

55
The key elements concerning the administrative part The ESPD enables economic operators to declare
of tenders are further described below, while spe- electronically that they meet the required conditions
cific sections deal in more depth with the technical to participate in a public procurement procedure. In
part of tenders (see sections 2.2. Define specifica- other words, the ESPD consists of a formal state-
tions and standards and 2.3. Define the criteria). ment from economic operators confirming that they
are not excluded under the grounds for exclusion
2.1.1. Set up the ESPD and that they meet the selection criteria.

The European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) Only the successful tenderer will need to provide
aims to reduce the administrative burden on eco- full documentary evidence supporting this declara-
nomic operators, and in particular SMEs, that arises tion. In the future, even this obligation may be lifted
from the need to produce a substantial number of once evidence can be linked electronically to na-
certificates and administrative documents relating tional databases.
to the exclusion grounds and selection criteria.
The figure below sets out the main steps relating to
the ESPD.

Figure 4. 4 steps to verify a tenderer’s eligibility

1 2
Contracting authority creates/ Tenderer indicates its eligibility
reuses an ESPD template, defining and submits the ESPD
the exclusion grounds and with the tender
selection criteria

4 3
Contracting authority only ESPD system automatically
requests originals from generates an overview
the successful tenderer for all tenders

Source: European Commission, DG GROW, 2016.

How does the ESPD work? curement platforms, or use the ESPD tool developed
As of 18 April 2018, EU Member States will put in by the Commission (see Figure 5. below).
place exclusively electronic public procurement for
ESPD. Until that date, the ESPD can be printed, filled The Commission has developed a tool that allows
in manually, scanned and sent electronically. contracting authorities to create their ESPD and at-
tach it to tender documents23. It is then possible for
To create and use the ESPD, contracting authorities contracting authorities to tailor the ESPD to their
can either use a tool integrated into their own e-pro- needs and to export it in a machine-readable format.

23
 uropean Commission, DG GROW, European Single Procurement Document and e-Certis, 2017.
E
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement/e-procurement/espd/.

56
Figure 5. Online tool to create and use the ESPD

Source: European Commission, 2017. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/tools/espd

The ESPD must be included alongside the other pro- In addition, economic operators may reuse an ESPD
curement documents. In addition, the contract no- which has already been used in a previous procure-
tice should indicate that candidates or tenderers are ment procedure, provided that they confirm that the
required to fill in and submit an ESPD as part of the information contained therein remains correct.
application or tender.
e-Certis, online database on
Before awarding the contract, the contracting author- administrative documentary evidence
ity must require the tenderer to which it has decided e-Certis is a free source of information which is
to award the contract to submit up-to-date docu- meant to help economic operators and contracting
ments supporting the information declared in the authorities to identify the different certificates and
ESPD. If the contracting authority already possesses attestations frequently requested in procurement
or has full access to the relevant, up-to-date support- procedures across the EU.
ing documents or other documentary evidence via a
national database, the successful tenderer is not re- The system is available online: https://ec.europa.eu/
quired to submit the supporting documents again. growth/tools-databases/ecertis/

57
It helps tenderers find out what evidence is request- by an economic operator. It is particularly useful in
ed by a contracting authority (e.g. in relation to ex- the framework of cross-border procurement proce-
clusion grounds or selection criteria) and helps con- dure when the different parties come from several
tracting authorities understand documents provided Member States.

e-Certis is a reference tool, not a legal advice service

The reliability of the e-Certis system depends on the information provided by the different public
procurement bodies in all Member States, and the regular update of this information.
As a result, e-Certis cannot guarantee that the information resulting from a query will be recognised
as valid by a contracting authority. It is an information tool to help users identify and recognise the
certificates and attestations that are most commonly requested in the context of procurement proce-
dures of different Member States.
If there is any doubt, it is therefore recommended to contact directly the relevant party (contract-
ing authority or national authorities) to obtain further clarification on the required documentary
evidence.

2.1.2. Draft contract to the contractor that are totally beyond its control, as
these may limit the number of tenders, have a signifi-
Contracting authorities should publish, within the cant impact on the price or lead to contract disputes.
procurement documents, a draft of the contract
that is to be signed with the successful tenderer so It is recommended that contracting authorities use
that all economic operators are aware of the legal standardised pro forma contract issued by their le-
framework regulating the contract implementation gal department or their national public procurement
(see section 5. Contract implementation). bodies. It might also be useful to divide contract
templates into ‘specific conditions’ and ‘general
A well-drafted contract should include provisions on conditions’, the latter being standardised, and the
applicable regulation, subject matter, price, delays, former being tailored to each specific procurement
misconduct, liability, dispute resolution, revision procedure. If there is any doubt, contracting authori-
clauses, intellectual property rights, confidentiality ties should always seek appropriate legal advice.
obligations and any other relevant aspects.
The full set of procurement documents and the full
The contract should be fair and balanced in terms tender from the successful tenderer should be at-
of risk sharing. In particular, contracting authorities tached to the final contract signed by all parties.
should avoid clauses or contract terms shifting risks

58
 Contract changes might lead to errors
The possibility of contract modifications needs to be thoroughly considered during the planning
stage. As a result, the draft contract should state clear, precise and unequivocal revision clauses
including the scope and nature of possible modifications as well as the conditions under which they
may be used.
The underlying principle is that any modifications of the original procurement procedure that sub-
stantially change the contract in terms of subject matter, value, timetable or scope, to the extent that
it might have changed the outcome of the original procedure, should be considered as a new contract
for additional works or services.
More information is provided in chapter 5 Contract implementation.

There are three main types of specifications, based

2.2. Define specifications on input, output or outcome:
and standards
āā The input-based specification is a series of in-
2.2.1. Specifications drafting structions on how to execute a determined task.
This type of specification is rarely used (except
The most important document in the procure- for basic procurements) because it is not flexible,
ment procedure is the technical specifications often does not ensure value for money and may
document. not allow the tenderer to bring added value or
innovation. These are usually used with an award
The purpose of the specifications is to set out to the criterion based on the lowest price (see 2.3.3.
market a clear, accurate and full description of the con- Award criteria).
tracting authority’s needs, and thus to enable economic
operators to propose a solution to meet those needs. āā The output-based specification focuses on the
desired outputs or deliverables in business terms,
Specifications form the basis for choosing the suc- rather than on detailed technical specifications of
cessful tenderer and they will be part of the final how the outputs are to be provided. This allows ten-
contract setting out what the successful tenderer derers to propose innovative solutions that might
has to deliver. The final review and validation of the not have occurred to the contracting authority.
specifications is therefore a key decision point in
the procurement procedure, and it is important that āā The outcome-based (or result-based) specifica-
those undertaking it have the knowledge, authority tion can be the easiest of all to draft, but the hard-
and experience necessary for the task. est to evaluate and monitor. It is a description of a
need and a statement of expected benefits rather
Specifications usually describe the needs of the con- than a description of inputs and deliverables.
tracting authority, the subject matter of the contract
explaining the service, supply or work to be provided, The latter two types of specifications can be com-
the inputs and the expected outputs and outcomes, bined, requiring tenderers to develop a methodolog-
the standards required and some background and ical proposal which sets down how the requirements
context material. When drafting the specifications, can be met. Since each tenderer could propose
drafters should bear in mind the fact that these something different, the contracting authority needs
have a direct impact on cost. to be able to evaluate these alternatives.

59
As a general rule, well-prepared technical specifica- āā be drawn up so as to take into account acces-
tions should: sibility criteria for persons with disabilities or be
designed for all users where the procurement is
āā be precise in the way requirements are described; intended for use by natural persons, either the
general public or staff of the contracting authority;
āā be easily understood by economic operators and
all other stakeholders; āā be approved by the contracting authority’s rel-
evant management chain depending on the ap-
āā have clearly defined, achievable and measurable plicable internal rules.
inputs, outputs and outcomes;
Works technical specifications should cover, as a
āā provide sufficiently detailed information to allow minimum: technical works description, technical re-
economic operators to submit realistic and tai- port, design package (design drawings, design calcu-
lored tenders; lations, detailed drawings), assumptions and regula-
tions including working conditions (traffic deviation,
āā take into account as much as possible the views night works), bill of quantities (if applicable), works
of the contracting authority, potential users of price list and a time schedule.
or beneficiaries from the contract, and external
stakeholders, as well as inputs from the market; If relevant, technical specifications should provide
explicit review clauses to allow for a certain degree
āā be drafted by persons with sufficient expertise of flexibility for possible modifications of the con-
either from the contracting authority or using ex- tract during implementation. Review clauses must
ternal expertise; specify the scope and nature of possible changes
in a clear and precise way and must not be drafted
āā not mention any brand names or requirements in broad terms with a view to covering all possible
which limit competition; modifications. They must also indicate the condi-
tions under which they may be used (see section
5.3. Deal with contract modifications).

Solid technical specifications improve the overall quality of the procedure

Weak drafting of the specifications is often a root cause of subsequent contract modifications, due
to not properly reflecting the needs of the contracting authority and the results expected from the
works, supplies or services.
This lack of clarity can lead to contract changes, either modifying or adding tasks, and thus altering
both the scope and value of the contract from what was initially planned. Contracting authorities
would have to then consult the contract modifications rules and, if necessary, run a new procurement
procedure (see section 5.3. Deal with contract modifications).
In addition, clear, complete and precise technical specifications help economic operators produce
high-quality tenders tailored to the needs of the contracting authority.
Using specific subject matter expertise (whether internal or external) contributes to the overall effi-
ciency of the process by providing information which has been properly researched, analysed, assessed
and written.

60
Subject matter The specifications must describe the subject
The information included in the contract notice and/ matter in a clear and neutral form without any
or the procurement documents must be sufficient for kind of discriminatory references to certain brands
potential tenderers/candidates to identify the sub- or companies. If this cannot be avoided for objective
ject matter of the contract. For example, the techni- reasons, contracting authorities should always add
cal specifications should not just describe ‘furniture’ the words ‘or equivalent’.
or ‘cars’ without explaining what kind of furniture or
cars are being purchased.

The person(s) in charge of the specifications drafting

should be sufficiently skilled to describe the needs
and expectations accurately and should get support
from other stakeholders.

Avoid discriminatory technical specifications

Contracting authorities cannot set technical specifications for supply of equipment by specifying
a particular brand without allowing for an ‘equivalent’ or by using tailor-made specifications that
either intentionally or unintentionally favour particular suppliers.
This sometimes happens where inexperienced staff are responsible for drafting the technical speci-
fications for a piece of equipment and simply copy the specifications directly from a brochure of a
particular manufacturer without realising that this may limit the number of companies that will be
able to supply this equipment.
The words ‘or equivalent’ should be used in all cases where reference to a particular brand is unavoidable.

Budget An open competition without a disclosed budget is

It is considered a good practice to include the esti- always possible, but the procurement documents
mated budget (i.e. the estimated contract value) in must state that the contracting authority reserves
the contract notice or in the technical specifications, the right not to proceed if no reasonably priced ten-
to make the procurement documents as transparent ders are received (or for any other objective reason).
as possible. In these cases, an unpublished maximum acceptable
price must be fixed by the contracting authority be-
This implies that the indicated budget must be re- fore launching the procurement procedure and the
alistic for the works, services or supplies requested. technical specifications need to be precisely drafted.
The contract value does not only give an indication
to tenderers for the setting up of their financial of- Variants
fers, it also provides key information on the results As a general rule, economic operators should pre-
and quality levels expected from the contracting au- pare their tenders on the basis of what is requested
thority (see section 1.4.4. Contract value). in the procurement documents. However, contract-
ing authorities can decide to leave room for different
approaches or alternative solutions. To do this, they
can allow the proposal of variants.

61
The procurement documents including the contract 2.2.2. Strategic use of green, social
notice must state clearly whether or not variant and innovation criteria in public
tenders will be allowed. If variant tenders are al- procurement
lowed, then contracting authorities should ensure
the following: Traditionally, the main goal of public procurement is
to achieve the best value for money while purchas-
āā The possibility of variant tenders should be ad- ing works, supplies or services. However, in a context
dressed at planning stage. Market research of financial scarcity and budgetary constraints, pub-
should show whether there is a possibility that lic authorities increasingly use public procurement,
the draft specifications can be delivered by a con- not only to satisfy a need and to purchase works,
tractor by methods other than those anticipated. supplies or services, but also to serve strategic pol-
If so, and if the contracting authorities is willing icy objectives.
to make use of this possibility, then the specifica-
tions should be drafted accordingly. Given the significant proportion of public-sector con-
tracts in European economies (about 14 % of GDP
āā Contracting authorities can invite variant ten- in the EU), public procurement seems a powerful
ders only in the case of specifications based tool to promote environmental, social and innova-
on output or outcome, but not on input where tion goals and to stimulate SME access to public
the contracting authorities provide instructions to contracts.
tenderers. The contracting authorities should set
out the minimum requirements that the variants There are three commonly used forms of strategic
have to meet. public procurement24:

āā The award criteria and evaluation method āā Green public procurement (GPP) consists of
must be designed in such a way that both ‘com- procuring goods, services and works with a re-
pliant’ and ‘variant’ tenders can be evaluated us- duced environmental impact throughout their
ing the same criteria. In these cases, it is crucial life cycle, when compared to goods, services and
that the award criteria are thoroughly tested at works with the same primary function that would
the procurement planning stage to ensure that otherwise be procured25;
they enable a fair, open and transparent evalua-
tion. In extreme cases, if this is not the case, this āā Socially responsible public procurement
can lead to the tender having to be cancelled and (SRPP) allows contracting authorities to take
restarted. into account different social considerations, such
as social inclusion, labour standards, gender
Allowing for variants in technical specifications is equality and ethical trade26;
a challenging task which will require appropriate
technical expertise during the evaluation of tenders. āā Public procurement for innovation (PPI) al-
Therefore, the acceptance of variants needs to be lows contracting authorities to purchase innova-
addressed and agreed as early as possible, before tive goods and services that are not yet com-
the procurement procedure is advertised. mercially available on a large-scale basis. With

24
 uropean Commission, DG GROW, Study on Strategic use of public procurement in promoting green, social and innovation
E
policies — Final Report, 2016. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/17261.
25
 uropean Commission, Communication (COM(2008) 400) Public procurement for a better environment.
E
Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52008DC0400.
26
 uropean Commission, DG EMPL, Buying social: a guide to taking account of social considerations in public procurement, 2011.
E
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=978.

62
 the contracting authority acting as the launch āā lay down conditions related to the way the con-
customer, this is a demand-side tool to encour- tract is carried out, including environmental or
age innovation while satisfying the needs of the social considerations. These conditions must be
contracting authority27. non-discriminatory and compatible with EU law
(e.g. clauses related to labour conditions must
The EU procurement legislative framework explicitly be drawn up in compliance with the EU rules on
allows contracting authorities to use some specific minimum standards applicable to all European
provisions to facilitate work towards strategic workers);
goals in procurement procedures. They may:
āā reserve some service contracts for specific or-
āā include specific requirements (e.g. social or envi- ganisations, provided that they meet five condi-
ronmental) as award criteria when using the best tions:
price-quality ratio, provided that these require-
ments relate to the contract;  they pursue a public service mission;

āā require certifications, labels or other equivalent 

they reinvest profits in the organisation’s
evidence of the application of quality, environ- objective;
mental or social standards (see section 2.2.3.
Use of standards or labels);  they are managed on the basis of employee
ownership or participatory principles;
āā take into account the life-cycle cost when setting
the award criteria in order to encourage more  they must not have been awarded a contract
sustainable purchases. This practice might save within the past three years;
money in the long term, despite appearing on ini-
tial examination to be more costly (see section 
contracts awarded using this option cannot
2.3.3. Award criteria); have a duration of more than three years.

āā use procedures designed to support innovation in āā reserve some contracts for organisations where
public procurement such as the competitive dia- at least 30 % of the workforce consists of people
logue and the innovation partnership (see sec- with disabilities or disadvantaged people.
tions 1.5.4. Competitive dialogue and 1.5.5. Inno-
vation partnership);

Reserved contracts to support social inclusion

Regardless of the type of contract (supply, works, service) and its subject matter, contracting authori-
ties are allowed to either reserve participation in the tendering procedure for sheltered workshops
and economic operators whose main goal is the integration into the workforce of people with disa-
bilities or disadvantaged people, or to require that the contract is carried out by a sheltered workshop
that has these as their main goals.
Tenders may legitimately only be considered if at least 30 % of the staff employed in carrying out the con-
tract are people with disabilities or disadvantaged people. If the contracting authority decides to make
use of this option, it must clearly specify the reserved nature of the procurement in the contract notice.

27

OECD, Public Procurement for Innovation — Good practices and strategies, 2017.
Available at: http://www.oecd.org/gov/public-procurement-for-innovation-9789264265820-en.htm.

63
 Common green public procurement criteria at EU level
In order to facilitate the inclusion of environmental considerations in procurement procedures, the
European Commission has developed practical sets of green public procurement criteria (techni-
cal specifications and award criteria) for different product groups which contracting authorities can
directly use if they wish to procure environmentally friendly products and services28.
In addition, the Commission regularly publishes information and guidance to support contracting
authorities in using GPP, including:
āā a list of European and international eco-labels29;
āā “Buying green! A handbook on green public procurement” available in all EU languages30 which
provides guidance on how environmental considerations can be included at each stage of the
procurement process in the current EU legal framework;
āā a compilation of good practice cases31.

2.2.3. Use of standards or labels Contracting authorities should only refer to stand-
ards which are drawn up by independent bodies,
The use of standards, labels or certifications in pub- preferably at European or international level such as
lic procurement is widespread, as these are objec- the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) or
tive and measurable and represent a practical and certifications from the International Organisation for
reliable way for contracting authorities to verify the Standardisation (ISO).
compliance of tenderers with certain minimum re-
quirements. Contracting authorities may reference If they chose to mention a national or regional certi-
commonly known standards or labels in the procure- fication, contracting authorities must accept equiva-
ment documents in order to ensure that the product lent certifications from other Member States or any
or service is delivered in compliance with particular other evidence proving that the requirement is met.
sectoral or quality standards.

Standards or labels used in procurement procedures

usually refer to quality assurance, environmental
certification, eco-labels, environmental management
systems, and social requirements such as accessibil-
ity for people with disabilities or gender equality.

28
 uropean Commission, DG ENV, EU Green Public Procurement criteria (all EU languages).
E
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/eu_gpp_criteria_en.htm.
29
 uropean Commission, DG ENV, List of existing EU and international eco-labels.
E
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/ecolabels.pdf.
30
 uropean Commission, DG ENV, Buying green! A handbook on green public procurement, 2016.
E
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/buying_handbook_en.htm.
31
European Commission, DG ENV, GPP good practices. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/case_group_en.htm.

64
 When requiring a standard or a label, use the words ‘or equivalent’
As a general rule, any terms of the technical specifications which can be interpreted as discriminatory,
particularly against tenderers from another country or requiring goods that only one supplier (or
suppliers from one country) can deliver, are not acceptable.
If a contracting authority would like to mention a specific standard or a particular label, explaining
clearly what the requirements are, the specifications should clearly indicate that equivalent standards
or labels will also be accepted.
The use of the words ‘or equivalent’ is therefore necessary to avoid restricting competition.

āā Exclusion grounds are circumstances in which

2.3. Define the criteria an economic operator must be excluded from the
procurement procedure;
Contracting authorities have to define the criteria for
choosing the best tender in the procurement docu- āā Selection criteria determine the suitability of
ments. These criteria must be made publicly avail- tenderers to carry out the contract;
able in a clear and transparent way.
āā Award criteria determine which tenderer has
There are three types of criteria which are used to developed the most economically advantageous
choose the winning tender: proposal that delivers the expected results and
should therefore be awarded the contract.

Do not mix up the different criteria

It is important to clarify the differences between the types of criteria. Contracting authorities and eco-
nomic operators should ensure they do not confuse these different types.
The three types of criteria correspond to three different steps in the selection of the winning tender. They
pursue different objectives and are meant to answer three different questions.

Exclusion grounds Selection criteria Award criteria

Who must be excluded from Who is capable of executing Whose proposal will deliver the expected
the procurement procedure? the contract? results in the best possible way?

When identifying the criteria, contracting authorities should have these questions in mind in order to
avoid any confusion and the potential inclusion of inappropriate criteria.

65
2.3.1. Exclusion grounds In addition to mandatory exclusion grounds, contract-
ing authorities are also recommended (and may be
Contracting authorities must exclude from the pro- obliged, depending on the national transposition of the
curement procedure all economic operators that in- relevant EU Directives) to exclude from participation
fringe or have infringed the law or who have demon- in a procurement procedure any economic operator in
strated highly reprehensible professional behaviour. one of the following situations (i.e. optional exclu-
The legislation defines a series of exclusion grounds sion grounds depending on the Member State):
which are either mandatory or left to the discretion
of contracting authorities, depending on national āā non-compliance with environmental, social or la-
transposition of the relevant EU Directives. bour law;

In cases of joint tendering where several economic āā bankruptcy or being subject to insolvency pro-
operators form a consortium to submit a common ceedings;
tender, the exclusion grounds apply to all tenderers.
āā serious professional misconduct affecting the
Mandatory exclusion grounds must be applied by economic operator’s integrity;
all contracting authorities.
āā distortion of competition, for example either
Economic operators who have been convicted of one through collusion with other tenderers or via
of the following legal offenses must be excluded the involvement of an economic operator in the
from any procurement procedure: preparation of the procurement procedure;

āā participation in a criminal organisation; āā conflict of interest that cannot be resolved by

‘softer’ measures than exclusion;
āā corruption;
āā significant deficiency in carrying out a previous
āā fraud; public contract;

āā terrorism; āā failure to provide information to verify absence

of grounds for exclusion;
āā money laundering;
āā exerting undue influence on the on the decision-
āā child labour or human trafficking. making process of the contracting authority, to
obtain confidential information conferring undue
In addition, economic operators who have not prop- advantages in the procurement procedure or to
erly paid taxes and social security contributions negligently provide misleading information that
in their Member State must also be excluded from may have a material influence on decisions con-
any procurement procedure. cerning exclusion, selection or award.

On an exceptional basis, contracting authorities In order for contracting authorities to properly as-
can accept a derogation to this rule if only minor sess compliance with the exclusion grounds, it is
amounts of taxes or social security contributions are crucial that they access up-to-date information,
unpaid or if the economic operator was informed of either via national databases from other adminis-
its breach of obligations so late that it was not pos- trations or via the documentation provided by the
sible for them to issue the payment in time. tenderers. This is particularly important in cases of
financial difficulties affecting the suitability of an
economic operator or because of an unsettled debt
relating to taxes or social contributions.

66
 State the criteria and their weighting in the contract notice or
in the technical specifications
The exclusion grounds, selection and award criteria, and their respective weighting, must be stated
either in the contract notice, the technical specifications or other procurement documents.
The use of specific check-lists and standardised forms of contract notices or procurement documents
help to avoid forgetting these key elements.

2.3.2. Selection criteria āā determined by taking into account the specific

need of each contract;
Selection is about determining which economic
operators are qualified to carry out the con- āā relevant to the specific contract to be awarded
tract. The selection criteria aim to identify the can- and not set out in an abstract way;
didates or tenderers which are capable of delivering
the contract and its expected results. āā formulated simply and clearly, so that they can
be easily understood by all economic operators;
To be selected, economic operators have to demon-
strate that they can carry out the contract thanks āā designed in such a way that economic operators,
to their: including small and medium-sized enterprises,
that have the potential to be efficient providers
āā suitability to pursue the professional activity; would not be deterred from participating.

āā economic and financial capacities; and The selection criteria must always mention ‘or
equivalent’ when specifying standards, brands or
āā technical and professional abilities. origins of any type.

Defining the selection criteria Since the selection criteria depend upon the specific
The selection criteria are the minimum levels of nature and scope of the procurement, best practice
ability which are required to participate, and they is to define them when drafting the specifications.
must be:
The table below summarises potential selection cri-
āā compliant with the EU Treaty principles, in par- teria provided for in Directive 2014/24/EU, which
ticular the principles of transparency, equal can be used by contracting authorities to select
treatment and non-discrimination; tenderers.

āā related to and proportionate to the size and na-

ture of the contract;

67
Table 9. Examples of selection criteria

Objective Requirement for economic operators

Assess suitability Be enrolled in one of the official professional or trade registers kept in the
to pursue the relevant Member State
professional
activity Official authorisation to perform a certain type of service (e.g. civil engineers,
architects)

Valid professional insurance certificate (this can also be requested at the time
of signing the contract)

Assess economic Minimum yearly turnover, which must not exceed twice the estimated contract
and financial value (e.g. EUR 2 million where the contract value is EUR 1 million per year),
capacity including a particular minimum turnover in the area covered by the contract

Information on annual accounts showing the ratio between assets and

liabilities (e.g. a minimum solvency level of 25 % or more)

Appropriate level of professional risk indemnity insurance

Assess technical Appropriate human resources (e.g. relevant qualifications for key staff) and
and professional technical resources (e.g. specific equipment) to carry out the contract to the
ability required quality standard

Experience of the contractor itself — not of individual staff members — to

carry out the contract to an appropriate quality standard (e.g. references from
previous contracts within the last three years, including at least two from
similar contracts)

The necessary skills, efficiency, experience and reliability to provide the service
or to execute the installation or the work

Substantial changes to the selection criteria once set are not acceptable
After publication of the procurement documents, only minor changes to the main selection criteria are
acceptable, such as changes in the wording or the address to which applications should be submitted.
Changes in requirements such as financial details (yearly turnover or equity rate), the number of refer-
ences, or the required insurance cover are considered significant changes. These require an extension of the
application/submission deadline (see section 2.4 Set the time limits) or a cancellation of the procedure.

32
The full list of professional or trade registers in EU Member States is provided in Annex XI of Directive 2014/24/EU.

68
Assessing the selection criteria āā the minimum number of candidates they intend
The methodology to select tenderers depends on the to invite; and
nature and complexity of the procurement proce-
dure. The methodology should enable the contract- āā where appropriate, the maximum number of
ing authority to objectively and transparently deter- candidates that will be invited.
mine which tenderers are capable of delivering.
When scoring applicants, the decision on points
The selection criteria can be assessed via: must always be followed by comments, in order to
be able to explain the results in the future.
āā a ‘comply or fail’ question;
As with many procurement aspects, the selec-
āā a weighting system for the criteria; tion criteria and the methodology for select-
ing tenderers must be transparent and made
āā an assessment methodology, for more compli- available in the procurement documents.
cated contracts.
When defining the selection criteria, common errors
A numerical scoring methodology can also be used made by contracting authorities are:
to help contracting authorities rank and shortlist
tenderers, if needed. In restricted procedures, after āā failing to check that all the selection criteria are
screening out those tenderers that do not meet the relevant and proportionate to a particular pro-
minimum selection criteria, a numerical rating should curement, and simply reusing the same criteria
be allocated if the number of applicants needs to be in new procedures;
reduced in order to make a shortlist. In these cases,
contracting authorities must set out, in the contract āā adding questions without any thought as to the
notice or in the invitation to confirm interest: potential responses;

āā the objective and non-discriminatory method āā failing to publish the methodology for assessing
they intend to apply; and scoring compliance with the selection criteria.

Unlawful and/or discriminatory selection criteria

The selection criteria must not be disproportionate or unfair and should not unnecessarily limit the
number of tenderers. For example, contracting authorities must give a reasonable revenue require-
ment per year and may not distinguish between a public sector and a private sector reference. If in
doubt, legal advice should be sought.
The examples of obligations set out below refer to cases where economic operators have been deterred
from tendering because of unlawful selection criteria and have led to financial corrections for con-
tracting authorities:
1. already having an office or representative in the country or region or experience in the country
or region;
2. having an annual revenue of EUR 10 million even if the contract value is only EUR 1 million;

69
 3. having at least 5 similar references from the public sector only, and not the private sector (e.g. for
cleaning contracts), unless justified and non-discriminatory;
4. providing references for previous works that are significantly higher in value and scope than the
contract being tendered, unless justified and non-discriminatory;
5. already having qualifications/professional certificates recognised in the country of the contracting
authority at the time of submission of tenders, as this would be difficult for foreign tenderers to
comply with in such a short timeframe;
6. complying with a particular professional standard without using the wording ‘or equivalent’ (e.g.
standards set by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), global standards
from the International Federation of Social Workers, NSF Water Treatment Standards, norms from
the International Civil Aviation Organisation or the International Air Transport Association, etc.).

2.3.3. Award criteria The approach chosen for the award criteria must be
clearly stated in the contract notice. In addition, when
Following the selection of tenderers who comply using the best price-quality ratio, detailed award cri-
with both the exclusion grounds and the selection teria and their weighting should be indicated either
criteria, contracting authorities must choose the best in the contract notice or in the procurement docu-
tender on the basis of the award criteria. As with the ments (e.g. technical specifications) through a scor-
selection criteria, the award criteria must be set in ing matrix or a clear evaluation methodology33.
advance, published in the procurement documents
and must not impair fair competition. Price only or lowest price
The price-only approach means that price is the only
Contracting authorities must base the award of con- factor that is taken into account when choosing the
tract on the most economically advantageous best tender. The tender with the lowest price wins
tender. The application of this criterion can be done the contract. No cost analysis and no quality consi-
through three different approaches, all of which in- derations are assessed in this choice.
volve an economic element:
The use of the price-only criterion can be useful in
āā price only; the following cases:

āā cost only, using a cost-effectiveness approach āā For works where the designs are provided by the
such as life-cycle costing; contracting authority or for works with a pre-
existing design, it is common to use the lowest
āā best price-quality ratio. price criterion.

Contracting authorities are free to choose one of āā For supplies which are simple and standardised
these three methods, except in cases of the compet- off-the-shelf products (e.g. stationery), the price
itive dialogue and the innovation partnership, where may be the only relevant factor on which the
the criterion of the best price-quality ratio must be contract award decision is based.
used. The price criterion can also take the form of a
fixed price on the basis of which economic operators āā For some standardised services (e.g. cleaning
will compete on quality criteria. services for buildings or publishing services), a

33
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 8, Setting the Award Criteria, September 2016.
O
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-8-200117.pdf.

70
 contracting authority may prefer to define in de- āā acquisition costs (e.g. purchase, installation, ini-
tail the exact specification requirements and then tial training);
select the tender that meets the requirements
and offers the lowest price. āā operational costs (e.g. energy, consumable, main-
tenance);
It should be noted that, even though the application
of the price-only criterion is still allowed and can be āā end-of-life related costs (e.g. recycling, disposal);
useful for simple purchases, contracting authorities
may decide to limit the use of this criterion because āā environmental impacts (e.g. polluting emissions).
it might not help reach the best value for money.
Contracting authorities must specify the method
Cost-effectiveness, life cycle costing which will be used to assess life-cycle costs in the
With the cost-effectiveness approach, the winning procurement documents and must indicate precisely
tender is the one with the lowest total cost, taking which data will be needed from tenderers to do this.
into account all costs of the goods, works or services
throughout the duration of their life cycle. The life-
cycle costs cover all costs incurred by the contracting
authority, either one-off or recurrent costs, including34:

Calculation tools and resources on life-cycle costing

The National Agency for Public Procurement in Sweden has developed specific life-cycle costing
calculation tools for the following product groups: outdoor and indoor lighting, vending machines,
household and professional appliances.
Available at: http://www.upphandlingsmyndigheten.se/en/subject-areas/lcc-tools/.
The SMART SPP project developed and tested a tool in Excel format to help contracting authorities
assess life-cycle costs and CO2 emissions and compare tenders.
Available at: http://www.smart-spp.eu/index.php?id=7633.
The European Commission has developed a calculation tool for life-cycle costs which aims to facili-
tate the use of this approach by public procurers. It focuses on specific product categories, such as
office IT equipment, lighting and indoor lighting, white goods, vending machines and medical elec-
trical equipment.
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/lcc.htm.

34
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 34, Life-cycle Costing, September 2016.
O
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-34-200117.pdf.

71
Best price-quality ratio tial. Experience has shown that when procuring
The purpose of the best price-quality ratio is to this type of service, using the best price-quality
identify the tender that offers the best value for ration delivers the best results in terms of value
money. It must be assessed on the basis of criteria for money.
linked to the subject matter of the public contract
in question. These criteria may include qualitative, The award criteria based on price-quality ratio will
environmental and/or social aspects. generally be scored using a system that assigns
weightings to the different criteria. The relative
The best price-quality ratio is considered appropri- weighting of each criterion used to evaluate the
ate in cases such as: tenders must be stated in percentages or in quanti-
fiable scores, for example ‘price 30 %, quality 40 %,
āā works designed by the tenderer; service 30 %’. Where this is not possible for objec-
tive reasons, the criteria should be listed in descend-
āā supplies that involve significant and specialised ing order of importance (see section 4.2. Apply the
product installation and/or maintenance and/or award criteria).
user training activities - for this type of contract,
quality is normally of particular importance; The table below sets out typical award criteria and
sub-criteria that can be used when the contract-
āā services linked to intellectual activity such as ing authority choses the best price-quality ratio
consultancy services where the quality is essen- approach.

Table 10. Examples of award criteria of the best price-quality ratio approach

Criteria Sub-criteria

Price Fixed price

Rates (e.g. daily fees, unit costs)

Life-cycle cost

Quality Technical merit

Aesthetic and functional characteristics

Accessibility and design for all users

Social, environmental and innovative conditions

Organisation Project management

Risk analysis

Quality control

Staff assigned to carry out the Where the quality of the staff assigned has a significant
contract impact on the way the contract will be carried out:

āā Qualification of staff;

āā Experience of staff.

72
 Criteria Sub-criteria

Service Delivery conditions such as delivery date, delivery process

and delivery period or period of completion

Maintenance

After-sale service

Technical assistance

The award criteria should be specific to each public when preparing the procurement documents and
contract. Contracting authorities should define them must not modify them afterwards.

Never amend the award criteria during the procurement process

The award criteria and their weightings are considered substantial elements of the procurement docu-
ments and thus must not be amended after the contract notice has been published.
As with the selection criteria, if the award criteria included in the procurement documents are not
correct and need to be modified, an extension of the deadline for tenders is required (see section
2.5.2. Notices to be advertised).
In addition, clarifications to tenderers must not have the effect of changing the criteria that have been
submitted or any other substantial information.

Setting the award criteria for a complex contract Since award criteria must be specific to each pro-
requires considerable technical skills and therefore curement procedure and closely linked to the sub-
contracting authorities may need to seek expert ad- ject matter of the contract, one-size-fits-all award
vice either internally or externally (see section 1.2. criteria cannot and should not be drawn up. Nev-
Engage stakeholders). Technical advisors can also ertheless, in order to provide further guidance to
be used as non-voting members of evaluation com- procurement practitioners, it is possible to point out
mittees (see chapter 4. Evaluation of tenders), but common mistakes that should be avoided and to list
it is important that they do not have any conflict of some examples of do’s and don’ts when designing
interest with regard to potential tenderers (see sec- award criteria.
tion 1.2.3. Integrity and conflict of interest).

73
 Bad practices when defining award criteria
The examples below are either bad practices or mistakes that have led to financial penalties because they
were not compliant with procurement rules and have deterred economic operators from tendering:
1. award criteria not clearly linked to the subject matter of the contract.
2. award criteria too vague, e.g. quality is evaluated based on the product’s durability and robust-
ness, but there is no clear definition of durability or robustness in the procurement documents.
3. minimum requirements used to award the contract (e.g. warranty period of 5 years, blue colour,
time of delivery of 7 days) when they should be used as selection criteria (i.e. yes/no response).
4. mathematical errors when adding up scores and ranking tenders.
5. mixing selection criteria and award criteria, where selection criteria are used as award criteria or
criteria that were already used at selection stage are used again at award stage. For example, previous
experience with a similar contract should not be used as an award criterion, as it relates to the capac-
ity of the tenderer to carry out the contract. This should be assessed at the selection stage, not at the
award stage. However, experience of the staff assigned to the contract, where the quality of the staff
can have a significant impact on the delivery of the contract can be used as an award criterion.
6. use of average pricing, where tenders that are close to the average of all tenders receive more
points than tenders further away from the average. Although the tender price is an objective cri-
terion to use at award stage, the use of this methodology leads to unequal treatment of tenderers,
particularly those with valid low tenders.
7. use of contract penalties as an award criterion, where the higher the contract penalty the tenderer
is willing to pay for late delivery of the contract, the more points it is awarded. Such penalties, if
envisaged, must only be included in the terms of the contract.
8. use of the duration of the contract as an award criterion – the duration of the contract should be
set out in the procurement documents and should be the same for all potential contractors.
9. use of contract ‘extras’ as an award criterion, for example giving additional points to tenderers
who offer free items in addition to those requested.
10. using the level of subcontracting as an award criterion in order to limit this, for example by award-
ing higher points to tenderers who propose not to use sub-contracting compared to those who
propose sub-contracting.

74
The table below sets out some examples of good practices when designing criteria.

Examples of do’s and don’ts in defining award criteria

The following examples of award criteria highlight some important details that should be taken into
account when designing award criteria.
Those details can make a difference between a useful criterion and an ineffective one.

Don’ts Do’s

Tenderer’s minimum opening hours from Minimum opening hours from 08.00 to 16.00.
08:00 to 16:00. Long opening hours will be Longer opening hours up to 24/7 will be
evaluated positively. evaluated and weighted positive.

→ ‘Long opening hours’ are not defined by the → The tenderers compete between opening
contracting authority. hours from 8:00-16:00 to 24/7.

Days of delivery from ordering. Short delivery Days of delivery from ordering within a
time will be evaluated positively. maximum of 12 days. An offer of 4 days will
be evaluated and weighted positively.
→ ‘Short delivery time’ is not defined by the
contracting authority, e.g. maximum days → The tenderers compete between 12 and 4
and days in the offer that will be weighted days. No extra points will be awarded for a
positively. delivery time faster than 4 days.

The scoring model can be listed and published

as follows:
≤4 days: 5 points
5-6 days: 4 points
7-8 days: 3 points
9-10 days: 2 points
11 days: 1 point
>12 days 0 points

Extra cost for urgent orders. Extra cost for urgent orders. The estimated
number of ‘urgent orders’ per year is 500.
→ The contracting authority should provide an
estimated number of ‘urgent orders’ per year → The tenderers can calculate a total cost per
to enable tenderers to calculate the related year for urgent order which is realistic and
costs. clear.

Product warranty of a minimum of 2 years Product warranty of a minimum of 2 years

from production date. from production date. A warranty of 5 years
will be evaluated and weighted positively.
→ No preferred warranty duration is defined
by the contracting authority. → The tenderers compete between 2 and 5
years in warranty duration. No extra points
will be awarded for a warranty of more than
5 years.

75
Formula to rank tenders To calculate which tender offers the best price-qual-
Once the award criteria have been evaluated and ity ratio, contracting authorities should take into ac-
scored, a specific formula should be used to rank count the quality score and the price, both expressed
tenders and to establish which tender should win the in the form of indices. The method used must be
competition. This does not apply if the price-only cri- indicated in the procurement documents and must
terion has been used, where the ranking of tenders remain unchanged during the entire procedure.
can be easily done by comparing the financial offers
There is no one required way to define the best price-
quality ratio but two formulas are commonly used:

(a) a basic method with no particular weighting between price and quality:

cheapest price
Score for tender X = x total quality score (out of 100) for tender X
price of tender X

(b) a method applying a weighting for quality and price expressed as a percentage (e.g. 60 %/40 %):

cheapest price
Score for tender X = x 100 x price weighting (in %) + total quality score
price of tender X
(out of 100) for tender X x quality criteria weighting (in %)

The weighting determines how much extra money The example below shows the differences in calcu-
the contracting authority is prepared to spend in or- lating results and ranking for three valid tenders (A,
der to award the contract to an economic operator B and C) using the two methods above.
whose tender provides a higher technical value.
The weighting formula (b) clearly emphasises the
Both formulae give a final mark out of 100 points. importance of quality compared to formula (a).
The tender with the highest mark must be awarded
the contract.

Table 11. Example of calculations to rank tenders

Tender Price Quality (a) No weighting formula (b) Weighting formula
score
40 % for price, 60 % for quality
Calculation Ranking Calculation Ranking
A 100 62 100 x 62 = 62 points 1st 100 x 100 x 0.4 + 62 x 0.6 2nd
100 100
= 77.20 points
B 140 84 100 x 84 = 60 points 2nd 100 x 100 x 0.4 + 84 x 0.6 1st
140 140
= 78.97 points
C 180 90 100 x 90 = 50 points 3rd 100 x 100 x 0.4 + 90 x 0.6 3rd
180 180
= 76.22 points

76
2.4. Set the time limits 2.4.1. Minimum time limits

At this stage of the process, the contracting author- As explained above (see section 1.5. Choose the
ity must set the length of time between the publica- procedure), the choice of procedure should be made
tion of the procurement procedure and the deadline and justified at the planning stage. For each type
for the submission of tenders or requests to partici- of procedure, contracting authorities must comply
pate by economic operators. with the minimum timescales set out in Directive
2014/24/EU.
Contracting authorities can choose to provide eco-
nomic operators with more or less time to prepare The table below summarises the required minimum
their proposals, taking into account the size and time limits that must be respected for procedures
complexity of the contract. above EU thresholds.

In practice, contracting authorities usually face sig- It should be noted that the publication of a prior infor-
nificant time constraints and tight internal deadlines. mation notice (PIN) combined with the possibility for
Therefore, they tend to apply the minimum time lim- economic operators to submit their tenders electroni-
its allowed in the legislation. Also, in exceptional cas- cally substantially reduces the minimum time limits.
es, contracting authorities can use accelerated proce-
dures in order to speed up the procurement process.

Table 12. Minimum time limits above EU thresholds

Receipt of requests to Receipt of tenders

participate

Procedure Ordinary E-submission Ordinary submission E-submission

submission

Open – – 35 days without PIN 30 days without PIN

15 days with PIN 15 days with PIN

Restricted 30 days 30 days 30 days without PIN 25 days without PIN

10 days with PIN 10 days with PIN

Competitive 30 days 30 days 30 days without PIN 25 days without PIN

procedure with
10 days with PIN 10 days with PIN
negotiation

Competitive 30 days 30 days No minimum No minimum

dialogue

Innovation 30 days 30 days No minimum No minimum

partnership

Negotiated – – No minimum No minimum

procedure without
prior publication

Design contest – – No minimum No minimum

Source: Directive 2014/24/EU, Articles 27 to 31, in number of days from date of dispatch of the contract notice in the OJEU.

77
Further explanations are provided below for the Restricted procedure
most commonly used procurement procedures: the Directive 2014/24/EU requires a minimum of
open procedure and the restricted procedure. 30 days from the date on which the contract notice
(CN) is published on the OJEU to the receipt of re-
Open procedure quest to participate.
Directive 2014/24/EU allows a minimum of 35 days
from the date on which the contract notice (CN) is If the CA wishes to limit the number of tenderers
published on the OJEU to the receipt of tenders. under this procedure, the limit must be a minimum
of five. The CA is however not obliged to specify a
This period can be reduced by 5 days if the contract limit if it does not intend to apply one.
notice is transmitted electronically and the contract-
ing authority offers full electronic access to the pro- On the basis of the requests to participate, the con-
curement documents. tracting authority then selects a minimum of five
candidates who will be invited to tender.
The period can be reduced to 15 days from the
date of the CN publication if a prior information Written invitations to tender must then be issued
notice (PIN) was published between 35 days and to those selected, allowing a minimum of 30 days
12 months before the date of the CN publication. from despatch of the invitations to the receipt of
The PIN must include all the information required for tenders. This period can be reduced by 5 days if the
the contract notice in Directive 2014/24/EU (Annex contracting authority accepts tenders submitted
V, part B, section I), provided that this information electronically.
was available at the time the PIN was published.
If a prior information notice (PIN) was published
All responses to questions from tenderers must be an- electronically between 35 days and 12 months
onymised and sent out to all interested parties at the before the date of publication of the CN, the time-
latest 6 days before the tender submission deadline. frame for submission of tenders can be reduced to
10 days. As with the open procedure, the PIN must
Clarifications provided to tenderers should not have include all the information required for the contract
the effect of changing important aspects of the ini- notice in Directive 2014/24/EU (Annex V, part B, sec-
tial specifications (including the initial selection and tion I), provided that this information was available
award criteria). To ensure full transparency, all clari- at the time the PIN was published.
fications should be published prior to the deadline
for submission of tenders on the website of the con- All responses to questions from tenderers must be an-
tracting authority, so that they are available to all onymised and sent out to all interested parties at the
potential tenderers. latest 6 days before the tender submission deadline.

A contract award notice must be published within 30 A contract award notice must be published within 30
days of the conclusion of the contract (signature of days of the conclusion of the contract (signature of
all parties). all parties).

78
 Non-compliance with minimum time limits leads to financial corrections
Contracting authorities need to consider the time limits set out in articles 27 to 31 of Directive
2014/24/EU before publishing the notice and set realistic timetables at the planning stage (see Table
12. Minimum time limits above EU thresholds).
If the time limits for receipt of tenders (or receipt of requests to participate) are shorter than the time
limits set out in Directive 2014/24/EU, the contracting authority will fail to give economic operators
sufficient time to participate.
If time limits are reduced as a result of publication of a prior information notice (PIN), contracting
authorities must ensure that the PIN contains all of the information needed for the contract notice.

2.4.2. Extension of time limits or fewer 4 days in an accelerated procedure (see

initially set out section 2.4.3. Reduction of time limits: the accel-
erated procedure);
These time limits can be extended so that economic
operators are aware of all relevant information re- āā on-the-spot access to information is necessary
garding the procurement documents if: for economic operators to prepare their tenders -
for example, information that can only be ac-
āā t here have been significant modifications to the cessed via on-site visits, data that doesn’t exist
procurement documents; in machine-readable format or particularly large
documents.
āā answers to requests for clarification have been
provided to potential tenderers fewer than
6 days before the deadline for receipt of tenders,

Lack of publication of extended time limits in the OJEU for either receipt
of tenders or requests to participate
Details of extensions to the time limits for receipt of tenders (or receipt of requests to participate)
must be published in accordance with the relevant rules.
All time limit extensions need to be published in the OJEU, for contracts where publication of a
contract notice in the OJEU was required in accordance with Articles 18, 47and 27-31 of Directive
2014/24/EU.

79
2.4.3. Reduction of time limits: the āā the use of the accelerated procedure must be ap-
accelerated procedure propriately justified in the contract notice with a
clear and objective explanation;
The accelerated provisions provided for in Directive
2014/24/EU allow contracting authorities to speed āā these accelerated provisions apply only to three
up a particularly urgent public procurement proce- types of procedure: the open procedure, the re-
dure when the normal time limits would be impracti- stricted procedure and the competitive procedure
cal. Although this is not a separate procurement pro- with negotiation.
cedure (see 1.5. Choose the procedure), this practice
is referred to as an ‘accelerated procedure’. The table below sums up the reduction of time limits
possible as a result of the accelerated procedure.
The time limits can be shortened under the following
conditions:

āā the urgency of the procedure renders the stan-

dard time limits unrealistic;

Table 13. Accelerated time limits

Procedure Standard time limit Accelerated Standard time Accelerated

for the receipt time limit limit for the time limit
of requests to receipt of
participate tenders

Open – – 35 days 15 days

Restricted 30 days 15 days 30 days 10 days

Source: Directive 2014/24/EU, Articles 27 and 28, in number of days from date of dispatch of the contract notice in the OJEU.

The accelerated procedure is often mis-used, and use with clear and objective facts.
contracting authorities must be able to justify its

The ‘accelerated procedure’ is not a procedure as such

The possibility offered by Directive 2014/24/EU to ‘accelerate’ an open or a restricted procurement
procedure does not constitute an additional type of procedure.
This process should not be confused with the negotiated procedure without publication, based on
extreme urgency resulting from unforeseeable circumstances, which does not require the publication
of a contract notice (see section 1.5.7. Negotiated procedure without prior publication).

80
2.5. Advertise the contract 2.5.1. Above the thresholds, advertising
in the OJEU is mandatory
Advertising the contract consists of making the pro-
curement procedure public so that all interested If the value of a contract is above the EU thresh-
economic operators have the option to participate olds (see section New definitions, new thresholds,
and submit a proposal (either a request for partici- and a new category of contracting authority), then
pate or a tender). Directive 2014/24/EU must be followed and, in con-
sequence, the contract must be advertised in the
Publication is one of the most important elements Supplement to the Official Journal of the European
of public procurement to ensure transparency, equal Union (OJEU). Notices are published by the Publica-
treatment and competition between economic ope- tions Office of the European Union free of charge.
rators within the Single Market.
Public contracts which are required to be advertised
Advertising helps to improve transparency and fight in the OJEU may also be published in other interna-
corruption because it ensures that economic opera- tional, national or local official journals or newspa-
tors and civil society, including the media, as well pers. Contracting authorities must keep in mind that
as the general public, are aware of available public this additional advertising must not be published
contracts opportunities and also of past awarded before the contract notice has been published in the
contracts. Advertising also allows contracting au- OJEU and must not contain any information that is
thorities to inform as many potential economic ope- not included in the OJEU contract notice.
rators as possible about business opportunities in
the public sector and therefore enables these opera- In addition, contracts whose value is below EU thresh-
tors to compete, which leads to the best value-for- olds but which may have potential cross-border in-
money outcomes for contracting authorities35. terest should also be advertised in the OJEU. As a
general rule, publication in the OJEU is open to any
type of procurement below EU thresholds, even those
which do not have a particular cross-border interest.

If any doubt, advertise in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU)

Failure to advertise appropriately is one of the most serious errors.
Where contracts below the EU thresholds have potential cross-border interest, the safest course of
action to avoid any risk of irregularity and possible financial corrections is to advertise the contract
in the OJEU and in a national public procurement web-site or a well-known public procurement
web-site.
If in any doubt for instance about thresholds or about the potential for cross-border interest in a con-
tract, advertising in the OJEU is recommended as a way of ensuring EU-wide competition.
Many Member States electronic procurement platform are now connected to the electronic supple-
ment of the OJEU (TED) and the publication on the OJEU can be done in parallel to national
advertising. However, to avoid any errors, contracting authorities should always carry out a quick
double-check on the TED platform to ensure that the notice is properly published.

35
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 6, Advertising, September 2016.
O
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-6-200117.pdf.

81
2.5.2. Notices to be advertised All notices submitted to the OJEU must use a
standard vocabulary. The Common Procurement
A fundamental tenet of EU public procurement law Vocabulary (CPV) is an 8-digits (with a 9th for
is that all contracts above EU thresholds should be verification) classification system which aims to
published in notices following a standard format at standardise the references used by contracting au-
EU level in the OJEU, so that economic operators in thorities to describe the subjects of procurement
all Member States are able to tender for contracts contracts. The CPV codes may be accessed online,
for which they consider they meet the requirements. via the SIMAP website37.

Contracting authorities can prepare the notices ei- Public procurement practitioners can also refer to
ther via their usual e-procurement platform if it the specific guidance developed by the European
can generate notices which are compliant with the Commission to complete the standard forms to be
EU standard forms, or via eNotices, the online ap- used above EU thresholds38.
plication to prepare and publish public procurement
notices36. The essential documents that must be advertised in
the OJEU above EU thresholds are the three notices
described below.

Table 14. Main notices that have to be published for contracts above EU thresholds

Notice Standard Purpose Mandatory? Timeframe

acronym forms39

PIN Prior information Alerts the market to No Between 35 days and

notice future contracts 12 months prior to
the publication of the
CN or invitation to
candidates

CN Contract notice Launches a Yes –

procurement procedure

CAN Contract award Informs the market Yes Within 30 days of

notice of the outcome of a the conclusion of the
procurement procedure contract

36
European Commission, SIMAP, eNotices. Available at: http://simap.europa.eu/enotices/.
37
European Commission, SIMAP, Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV). Available at: http://simap.ted.europa.eu/web/simap/cpv.
38
 uropean Commission, DG GROW, Public procurement standard forms guidance, version 1.05, 2015-09-19.
E
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/14683/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/pdf.
39
 uropean Commission, SIMAP, Standard forms for public procurement.
E
Available at: http://simap.ted.europa.eu/en/web/simap/standard-forms-for-public-procurement.

82
Prior Information Notice (PIN) Contract Notice (CN)
The publication of a PIN is not mandatory. If the procurement is above the EU threshold (and
therefore falls within the scope of Directive 2014/24/
Nonetheless, by publishing a PIN at the beginning of EU) it is mandatory to publish a CN.
the year, it is possible to take advantage of reduced
time limits for the submission of tenders (see sec- The CN provides information on the contracting au-
tion 2.4. Set the time limits). thority, the subject matter of the contract (including
the CPV codes), the contract value, the conditions for
The PIN was introduced so that contracting authori- participation (legal, economic, financial and techni-
ties could inform the market of all its upcoming con- cal information), the type of contract, the procedure
tracts for example in the next six months or in the used, the time limit and instructions for the sub-
next year. The PIN can also be used to announce mission of tenders, as well as the relevant review
upcoming preliminary market consultations, even if bodies.
these consultations can also be launched without
the publication of the PIN. This goes alongside a Once the notice has been published, substantial
regular forecast of procurement procedures (most changes to the main content of the procurement
of the time on an annual basis) that contracting au- documents (such as the technical requirements, vol-
thorities should develop to encourage the high qua- ume, time schedule, selection and awarding criteria
lity of public procurement in general40. and contract terms), cannot be made unless an ex-
tension of time limits is provided for (see section
More recently, contracting authorities have been 2.4.2. Extension of time limits initially set out).
using the PIN on a contract-specific basis. The PIN
must be published between 35 days and 12 months If any minor changes in the procurement document
before the publication of the specific contract via the occur before the deadline for submission of tenders,
contract notice. contracting authorities must publish the changes in
the OJEU and are always recommended to extend
the deadline for submission of the tender.

Lack of publication of the contract notice might lead to serious financial

corrections
Other than in very specific cases, the lack of publication of a contract notice for a contract with a
value above the EU thresholds will be considered a breach of EU procurement rules and may lead to
a financial correction that could go from 25 % to 100 % of the related expenditure41.
The advertisement requirements of Directive 2014/24/EU are met when the contract notice is pub-
lished and all information required by the standard form is provided in a clear and precise manner.

40
 uropean Commission, DG REGIO, Stock-taking of administrative capacity, systems and practices across the EU to ensure
E
the compliance and quality of public procurement involving European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds, January 2016.
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/how/improving-investment/public-procurement/study/.
41
 uropean Commission, Commission Decision of 19.12.2013 on the setting out and approval of the guidelines for determining
E
financial corrections to be made by the Commission to expenditure financed by the Union under shared management, for non-
compliance with the rules on public procurement, COCOF(2013)9527 final.
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/cocof/2013/cocof_13_9527_en.pdf.

83
Contract Award Notice (CAN) It is possible to send a corrigendum of the published
The CAN sets out the decision resulting from the information using the form F14 Corrigendum - No-
procurement procedure (see section 4.6. Award the tice for changes or additional information, which has
contract). Apart from information on the award, in- been created by the EU’s Publications Office. Addi-
cluding the successful tenderer and the final con- tional instructions on using a corrigendum are pub-
tract value, most of the content related to the pro- lished on the SIMAP website43.
curement procedure can be automatically filled in
thanks to the information in the contract notice. 2.5.3. Access to tender documents
However, the contracting authority needs to make
the conscious decision to publish the CAN within the Contracting authorities must give unrestricted and
required timeframe. full direct access to the procurement documents,
free of charge, from the date of publication of the
If a contract is not awarded, it is recommended (but contract notice (CN). To do this, the contract notice
not mandatory) that the contracting authority publish- must specify to interested parties the website where
es a CAN stating the reason why the contract was not these procurement documents are available.
awarded. Most of the time, this is due to the fact that
no tenders or requests to participate were received or If this full and free direct access to procurement
all of them were rejected. Other reasons leading to documents cannot be offered, contracting authori-
the cancellation of the procedure must be indicated42. ties must indicate in the contract notice or in the
invitation to confirm interest that the procurement
Where the contract is awarded, the CAN provides in- documents concerned will be provided by other
formation about the tenders received (numbers of means. The potential tenderers or candidates may
tenders and main characteristics of the tenderers), then access the procurement documents and submit
the name and details of the successful tenderer their proposals via an electronic platform or using
(i.e. the contractor) and the total final value of the email.
contract.
Similarly, contracting authorities must supply ad-
Additional notices ditional information related to the contract notice
Contracting authorities must always inform the mar- and the procurement documents to all interested
ket (i.e. potential tenderers) if any changes are made tenderers. Therefore, contracting authorities must
to the procurement documents and the notices (e.g. carefully keep track of all economic operators who
date for receipt of tenders) via the publication of a have downloaded the procurement documents or
further notice and additionally by informing all those who have expressed an interest or asked for a clari-
that have expressed an interest in the contract. fication on the procurement procedure.

42
 ECD/SIGMA, Public Procurement Training Manual, Update 2015. Module E, Conducting the procurement process, 2.11.1
O
Advertising the award of the contract.
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/public-procurement-training-manual.htm.
43
 uropean Commission, SIMAP, F14 Corrigendum — Notice for changes or additional information.
E
Available at: http://simap.ted.europa.eu/documents/10184/99173/EN_F14.pdf.
European Commission, SIMAP, Instructions for the use of the standard form 14 ‘Corrigendum’. Available at: http://simap.ted.
europa.eu/documents/10184/166101/Instructions+for+the+use+of+F14 _EN.pdf/909e4b38-1871-49a1-a206-7a5976a2d262.

84
85
3. Submission of tenders and selection
of tenderers
The purpose of the submission and selection phase is to ensure that compliant tenders are received
and selected according to the rules and criteria established in the procurement documents (see
section 2.1. Draft procurement documents).

Ensure transparency before the submission of tenders

Before the submission of tenders, potential tenderers may be allowed to contact the contracting
authority to ask for some clarifications, provided that this is foreseen in the tender documents, that
communication channels are available to all potential tenderers and that clear timeframes and cut-off
dates are set.
In such cases, communication is recommended to be exclusively in writing and all additional infor-
mation provided by the contracting authority must be made public to all potential tenderers, and not
only to the tenderer requesting clarifications.
Communication with the tenderers after the deadline for submission of tenders is limited to clarifica-
tion of the tender only in open and restricted procedures. Any dialogue relating to the substance of
an offer is not acceptable and would be interpreted as negotiation.

3.1. Ensure a delivery of tenders If a hard copy proposal is required, it is essential to

according to instructions precisely explain the delivery instructions — where the
tender should be sent (name, address, room or office
Contracting authorities should provide clear techni- number), the number of copies required and any pack-
cal and administrative instructions in the procure- aging instructions. Contracting authorities may also
ment documents to support economic operators in specify that the tenders have to be presented in an
the preparation and submission of their tenders or envelope containing no company identification such as
requests to participate. company stamps or logo. In case of electronic procure-
ment, in particular in the case of e-submission, the rel-
It is also recommended to include a formal com- evant websites and e-procurement platforms must be
pliance check-list to help tenderers prepare the made available to all potential tenderers.
required documentation and also facilitate the veri-
fication of documents by the contracting authority The time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to par-
(see section 2.1. Draft procurement documents). ticipate must be included in the contract notice. It is
the tenderer’s responsibility to ensure delivery in time.

86
 Be clear about the date and time of delivery
Stating a clear deadline in the contract notice and procurement documents is extremely important to
avoid that a potential tenderer missing it will simply be disqualified from the process.
In order to avoid any misunderstanding, contracting authorities should indicate:
āā The complete date (day, month, year); and
āā The exact time (hour, minutes).
If a hard copy in paper is required from the tenderers and can be send by post, it should be indicated if
the date of the postal stamp is considered valid or if the hard copy has to be delivered to the contract-
ing authority’s venue before the deadline.

If the decision is to extend the tender submission structure for the submission and generate automat-
date (2.4.2. Extension of time limits initially set out) ic confirmation for receipt to tenderers.
then all tenderers should be immediately informed in
writing and a notice sent to the OJEU or other e-pro- The submission of tenders should be kept confiden-
curement platform used. This aims to make all poten- tial and in safe custody.
tial tenderers aware of the new deadline in case they
may be interested in submitting a tender given the The following task of the contracting authority is to
extended timeframe. This includes any tenderers who check all tenders to ensure that they are formally
have already submitted their tenders and can then compliant with the instructions to tenderers (e.g.
submit a replacement tender by the new deadline. number of copies, packaging, structure of the ten-
der). If they are not, and there is no possibility to ask
for clarifications (either because the non-compliance
3.2. Acknowledge receipt goes beyond what is allowed by rules on clarifica-
and open tenders tions, or clarifications themselves are simply not al-
lowed in national law), they should immediately be
Whether tenders are submitted in paper or via elec- rejected as non-compliant and an explanation given
tronic means, contracting authorities are advised to to the tenderer as to why it has been rejected. The
establish a list of the incoming tenders, with the rejection and the reason(s) must be recorded.
name of tenderers as well as the dates and times
of receipt. It is considered as good practice that contracting au-
thorities organise a formal opening ceremony of
In addition, tenderers should receive an official writ- the tenders that are compliant with formal require-
ten confirmation of receipt with the date and time of ments. At least two persons from the Evaluation
delivery recorded, whether their tenders have been Committee should be present to record the tender
submitted by post, courier, in person or electronically. details (4.1. Set up the evaluation committee). The
place, time and date of the opening ceremony may
In the case of e-submission of tenders, e-procure- be included in the contract notice so that all tender-
ment portals should provide a reliable delivery ers or other interested stakeholders can attend.

87
It should be noted that this practice varies among The assessment of exclusion grounds and selec-
European countries and that, in case of doubt con- tion criteria could be conducted thanks to a matrix
cerning the organisation of such event, contracting gathering the criteria disclosed in the procurement
authorities should consult their national procure- documents and the different tenders (see below
ment authorities. Table 15. Matrix for the assessment of exclusion
grounds and selection criteria). Exclusion grounds
and selection criteria must not be modified during
3.3. Assess and select tenders the assessment.

The selection of tenderers consists in assessing the Even if exclusion grounds and selection are trans-
tenderers on the basis of the exclusion grounds and parent and objective criteria, it is recommended that
the selection criteria set out in the procurement at least two persons from the contracting authority
documents (see section 2.3. Define the criteria). The and/or the Evaluation Committee (see section 4.1.
evaluation of tenders will be done after this phase Set up the evaluation committee) perform this as-
on the basis of the award criteria (see chapter 4. sessment, one analysing each criterion, and one re-
Evaluation of tenders). viewing the assessment.

Table 15. Matrix for the assessment of exclusion grounds and selection criteria

Assessment Assessor’s name: Date of assessment:

Review Reviewer’s name: Date of review:

Tenders Tender A Tender B Tender …

Exclusion ground 1 Compliant: Yes/No Compliant: Yes/No …

Source: … (ESPD, other) Source: … (ESPD, other)

Exclusion ground 2 Compliant: Yes/No Compliant: Yes/No …

Source: … (ESPD, other) Source: … (ESPD, other)

Exclusion ground 3 Compliant: Yes/No Compliant: Yes/No …

Source: … (ESPD, other) Source: … (ESPD, other)

Exclusion ground … … … …

Requirements are  Yes  Yes …

met to be selected
as tenderer  No, the tenderer is  No, the tenderer is
excluded from the excluded from the
procurement process. procurement process.

Selection criteria 1 Compliant: Yes/No Compliant: Yes/No …

or or
Score: … Score: …
Source: … (ESPD, other) Source: … (ESPD, other)
Comment: Comment:

88
 Tenders Tender A Tender B Tender …

Selection criteria 2 Compliant: Yes/No Compliant: Yes/No …

or or
Score: … Score: …
Source: … (ESPD, other) Source: … (ESPD, other)
Comment: Comment:

Selection criteria … … … …

Tenderer selected:  Yes  Yes …

tender may be
evaluated  No, the tenderer is  No, the tenderer is
excluded from the excluded from the
procurement process. procurement process.

First, the contracting authority will establish whether gotiate or participate in dialogue. In the case of the
there are grounds for excluding economic operators open procedure, the tenders that they have already
from participating and if any derogation has been submitted will be evaluated44.
established (see section 2.3.1. Exclusion grounds).
The contracting authority will then consider whether If a tenderer fails to comply with an exclusion ground
the economic operators that have not been excluded or a selection criterion, the tender should be treated
meet the relevant requirements to be selected as as ineligible, and the rest of the tender should not
tenderers. The economic operators that have been be evaluated.
selected will then be invited to submit tenders, ne-

Joint tendering to comply with the selection criteria

It is common practice that several economic operators decide to cooperate and join forces to prove that, as
a group or a consortium, they comply with the economic and financial standing, technical or professional
ability required in the selection criteria. For example, it would be sufficient for the economic and financial
standing requirements to be satisfied by the group as a whole and not by each individual member.
In addition, an economic operator, may, where appropriate, and with regard to a specific contract,
rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links that it may have with
them. In this case it must prove that it will have at its disposal the necessary resources, for example by
producing an undertaking by those entities to that effect.
This possibility helps to foster the participation of SMEs in procurement procedures.

44
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 7, Selecting Economic Operators, September 2016.
O
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-7-200117.pdf.

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 Acceptance of tenderers who should have been eliminated
Cases have been noted of tenderers that should have been eliminated for failing to meet a particular selec-
tion criterion, nonetheless being accepted for evaluation by the Evaluation Committee. In some cases, such
tenderers have gone on to win the contract. This is a clear case of unequal treatment and must be avoided.
Contracting authorities are advised to make sure that the four-eyes principle is implemented within
the Evaluation Committee to ensure that there is a review, at least of the successful tenderer, to ensure
that the tenderers qualified for evaluation have met all selection criteria.

3.3.1. Use of scoring During the assessment, each tenderer must be

treated equally and the approach used for scoring
When a scoring mechanism is foreseen to assess must be consistent, non-discriminatory and fair.
the compliance with selection criteria, contracting
authorities should make sure that the scoring is ap- The scores should be established only on the basis
plied in the most objective and consistent way pos- of the information contained in the tenders and the
sible by an Evaluation Committee (see section 4.1. Evaluation Committee cannot take into account any
Set up the evaluation committee). other information received by any means, including
personal knowledge or experience of the tenderer.
First of all, the approach to scoring needs to be
agreed by the Evaluation Committee before any The contents of the Evaluation Committee’s scores,
members start scoring. The scoring mechanism individually or in total, should not be disclosed to
should have been disclosed in the contract no- any person outside of the Committee.
tice and procurement documents and it should be
clearly explained to each member of the Evaluation 3.3.2. Request for clarification
Committee.
If a tenderer does not comply with the exclusion
Furthermore, it should be decided whether to score grounds and selection criteria, it must be rejected.
individually or as a group and how scores will be
allocated. If individual scoring is applied, each mem- At this stage, contracting authorities can ask tender-
ber has to establish an individual assessment matrix ers to confirm or clarify information, for instance if
to show each individual committee member’s scores some information is written unclearly or is clearly
as well as the total. If preferred, the Evaluation Com- wrong. Contracting authorities may also invite ten-
mittee can agree a single score as a group rather derers to supplement or clarify the documentation
than being an average of individual scores. A single submitted. Any request for clarification and the cor-
assessment matrix should be used for this option. responding response must be in writing.

Double-check national procurement law before asking clarification

In some countries, national procurement legislation may not allow contracting authorities to request
tenderers to clarify information at this stage or may allow it only under certain conditions.
Contracting authorities are recommended to verify the corresponding national public procurement
provisions or contact the competent national public procurement body.

90
Clarifications are not to be understood as negotia- For example, a contracting authority could ask for
tions. Missing certificate or supporting documents, a particular document (e.g. an existing certificate)
accidental calculation, arithmetic errors, spelling which the tenderer had overlooked enclosing with
mistakes or typos will be accepted as supplements the others. However, once it does it, the contracting
or clarifications. Substantial changes or modifica- authority is obliged to treat all tenderers equally and
tions of the tender is not allowed. has to ask for additional documentation from all ten-
derers whose documents need to be supplemented.

Unequal treatment of tenderers

During the selection process, contracting authorities must ensure that all requests for clarification or sup-
plementary documents concerning selection criteria are made for all affected tenderers on an equal basis.
The Evaluation Committee has to ask clarifications from all tenderers in relation to omissions on the same
aspects of their tenders.
For example, requesting one tenderer to submit a tax compliance certificate that was obviously omitted
from the tenderers submission whilst not requesting this from another tenderer would represent unequal
treatment.

To ensure maximum competition, contracting au- However, to ensure adequate competition, it is re-
thorities may request supplementary information as quired that a minimum of five tenderers are invited
well, provided that this does not change the tender’s to submit tenders provided that there is at least this
content. number meeting the selection criteria, and a mini-
mum of three tenderers in the case of competitive
Following the assessment of the additional infor- procedure with negotiation, competitive dialogue
mation requested, the Evaluation Committee should and innovation partnership.
then proceed to evaluate all the selected tenders.
It should be noted that shortlisting is not allowed in
3.3.3. Shortlist open procedures.

If the framework of certain procurement procedures

such as the restricted procedure (see section 1.5.
Choose the procedure), contracting authorities may
choose to shortlist only a limited number of quali-
fied tenderers if this has been indicated in the con-
tract notice with the number or range of candidates
to be shortlisted.

Shortlisting of tenderers who meet the minimum

selection criteria must be carried out by non-dis-
criminatory and transparent rules and criteria made
known to candidates.

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4. Evaluation of tenders and award
The purpose for evaluating tenders is to identify which of them, meeting exclusion grounds and
selection criteria, is the most economically advantageous based on the published award criteria.

The evaluation of tenders should be carried out by The evaluation committee is often chaired by the
an evaluation committee (sometimes referred to contract manager in charge of the procurement pro-
as evaluation panel) whose objective is to issue a cedure within the contracting authority.
recommendation on the contract award to the con-
tracting authority. He/she can be assisted by a secretary with a finan-
cial and/or legal background in public procurement.
The evaluation must be conducted in a fair and In smaller procurement procedures, the roles of
transparent manner on the basis of the award crite- chair and secretary can be taken on by one single
ria published in the procurement documents. person (e.g. the contract manager).

The evaluators are technical staff from the contract-

4.1. Set up the evaluation ing authority or external experts specialised in the
committee subject matter of the contract. It is also possible to
involve as non-voting members technical advisors
It is best practice to establish an evaluation com- or external stakeholders linked to the outcome of
mittee as soon as the decision has been taken to the contract.
proceed with the procurement to ensure that its pro-
cess involves all participants who have the neces- The table below presents an example of a suitable
sary qualifications and expertise from the beginning evaluation committee that can be applied to most
(see section 1.2. Engage stakeholders). procurement procedures.

Table 16. Example of evaluation committee structure

Chair Secretary Evaluators

Leads, coordinates, gives Supports the chair and carries Assess the tenders
guidance and controls the out the administrative tasks (independently or jointly) on
evaluation of tenders; linked to the evaluation; the basis of the award criteria
according to the evaluation
Ensures that the evaluation is Drafts and records minutes
method stated in the
carried out in accordance with of meetings and evaluation
procurement documents;
procurement law and Treaty reports;
principles; Sign a declaration of absence
Does not necessarily have
of conflict of interest and
Signs a declaration of absence voting power.
confidentiality.
of conflict of interest and
confidentiality.

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Contracting authorities should require that all mem- In addition, separate red flag or data mining tech-
bers of the evaluation committee sign a declaration niques should be used to identify and investigate
of absence of conflict of interest and confidentiality any possible undisclosed links between members of
(see section 6.5. Template declaration of absence of the evaluation committee and tenderers (see sec-
conflict of interest and confidentiality). tion 1.2.3. Integrity and conflict of interest).

Avoid undisclosed conflict of interest

Contracting authorities should have guidelines or protocols to deal with conflict of interest, in particular
concerning members of evaluation committees.
For example, if the husband of a member of an evaluation committee is a senior employee of one of the
tenderers, this member has to inform the contracting authority and withdraw from the committee as well
as from the procurement procedure in general.

4.2. Apply the award criteria āā price only;

During the drafting of procurement documents, the āā cost only using a cost-effectiveness approach,
contracting authority will have taken a decision as to such as life-cycle costing;
which evaluation method to follow. This method has
to be clearly presented in the procurement docu- āā best price-quality ratio.
ments (2.3. Define the criteria) according to the type
of award criteria:

It is forbidden to modify a tender during evaluation

Contracting authorities must not allow tenderers to modify their tenders during the evaluation process, for
example through the submission of additional substantial information.
The chair of the evaluation committee and/or the procurement officer in charge must ensure that only the
information presented at the deadline for submission is evaluated.
Similarly, contracting authorities must not modify a tender under any circumstances: this may be consid-
ered as favouritism or corruption.

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 Do not negotiate during the evaluation in an open or restricted procedure
In the context of an open or restricted procedure, contracting authorities cannot negotiate with the tender-
ers during the evaluation stage. This would lead to a modification of the initial conditions set out in the
contract notice and procurement documents (e.g. a significant change in the scope of the project or the
contract price).
Any clarifications or communication with tenderers after they submit the tender should be in writing.
If the contracting authority has concerns about the clarity of the procurement documents, it should con-
sider re-launching the procedure with revised specifications.

4.2.1. Price only āā any arithmetical error must be corrected and re-
corded;
If the lowest price criterion is chosen, the evalua-
tion method is rather simple and transparent since āā any discount must be applied;
it only involves comparing the different financial of-
fers, provided that the technical offer, if any, is com- āā tenders that appear to be abnormally low must
pliant with the technical specifications. be duly investigated.

Nevertheless, some important aspects need to be The lowest price or price-only criterion is only ad-
taken into account when assessing tendered prices: visable on condition that the technical specifications
and quality minimum requirements are defined up-
āā financial offers must include all price elements, front by the contracting authority and, therefore,
in accordance with the requirements set in the must be the same in all tenders.
procurement documents;

Never change the scope of the contract

If the scope of the contract is modified during the course of the procurement procedure, it will particularly
affect the evaluation of financial offers.
Indeed, the financial offers proposed by the tenderers will not be proportionate to the new scope (either
reduced or increased) and their evaluation will be irrelevant.
Such change should require the procedure to be cancelled because tenderers may have offered different
prices and additional economic operators may have expressed an interest if they had known the contract’s
real value.

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4.2.2. Life-cycle costing 4.2.3. Best price-quality ratio

If a cost-effectiveness approach is used, the evalu- The most economically advantageous tender on the
ation committee has to apply the method published basis of the best price-quality ratio has become a
in the procurement documents to calculate the costs commonly used evaluation method among con-
over the life-cycle of the products, services or works. tracting authorities, even though in some countries
Whenever a common method for calculating life- the price-only criterion remains the main practice.
cycle costs (LCC) has been made mandatory in the
legislation of the Member States, that method must In that context, contracting authorities need to have
be applied. the capabilities to carry out an evaluation based on
price and quality, technical merits and functional
Life-cycle costs may cover costs borne by the con- characteristics. The tenderers equally need to un-
tracting authority or other users as well as costs at- derstand how to prepare a tender on that basis.
tributed to environmental externalities linked to the
products, services or works during their life cycle, In some cases, contracting authorities may seek
provided their monetary value can be determined help from external experts who are independent
and verified46. of any tenderers (see section 1.2.2. External key
stakeholders).
The Evaluation Committee should make sure that:
If a best price-quality ratio approach is used, the
āā tenders include the data that has been indicated evaluation committee has to apply the published
in the LCC method published in the procurement specific criteria and their relative weighting. If a
documents; more detailed evaluation methodology was dis-
closed in the tender documents, this methodology
āā the published method to determine the LCC has must be followed45.
not been changed during the evaluation process;
An evaluation matrix may be used to carry out
āā The same method is used for each tender. the evaluation of tenders. This matrix could serve
as both a practical instrument and a record-keeping
When evaluating and scoring the financial offers, the tool to be included in the evaluation report (see sec-
evaluators should follow the same logic as for the tion 4.5.2. Evaluation report).
price-only criterion, making sure that all costs are
included, arithmetical errors are corrected, discounts When scoring tenders against the award criteria,
are applied and that any tender that appears to be the scoring rationale must be decided before the
abnormally low is investigated. evaluation committee members start evaluating.
One suggestion is to have a graduated approach as
shown in the following table:

The matrix below refers to best price-quality ratio

criteria but can be adapted to other award crite-
ria. The criteria and their corresponding weightings
are merely indicative and should only serve as an
example.

45
 CD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 9, Tender Evaluation and Contract Award, September 2016.
E
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-9-200117.pdf

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Table 17. Matrix for the evaluation of tenders based on the best price-quality ratio
Tender ID A, B, …
Evaluation Evaluator(s) name: Date:

MEAT Weigh- Score Category Weigh- Score Subset Weigh- Score

ting ting ting
Price 30 … Cost 30 … Cost 30 …
… Technical 25 … Relevance 12 …
Added value 5 …
Management 8 …
Delivery 10 … Responsiveness 4 …
and flexibility
…
Communication 4
…
Risk 2
management
Quality 70 Resources 15 … Relevance 10 …
Staff 5 …
management
Environment 10 … Commitment/ 7 …
measures
…
Targets 3
Social 10 … Commitment/ 7
responsibility measures
Targets 3
TOTAL 100 …

While conducting the evaluation, the evaluation The members of the evaluation committee must
committee should pay particular attention to the agree a consistent approach when scoring the ten-
following: ders to ensure a meaningful and quality evaluation.

āā the published award criteria should always in- When evaluating and scoring the financial offers, the
clude a criterion on the price; evaluators should follow the same logic as for the
price-only criterion, making sure that all costs are
āā the award criteria and their weightings, includ- included, arithmetical errors are corrected, discounts
ing sub-criteria as well as any evaluation metho- are applied and that any tender that appears to be
dology, cannot be modified during the evaluation abnormally low is investigated.
process.

96
 Modification of award criteria or evaluation methodology after the tender
submission deadline
Some evaluators might sometimes wrongly modify some criteria or develop additional criteria or sub-cri-
teria during the evaluation process, even when these changes or additional aspects are not included in the
procurement documents. These practices are unlawful and must be avoided.
Yet, if the award criteria are modified during the evaluation process, the award will be done on the basis of
criteria that were not published, resulting in an incorrect evaluation of tenders.
If the award criteria need to be modified after the contract notice is published, the contracting authority
has to either (i) cancel the procurement procedure and re-launch it; or (ii) issue an erratum and possibly an
extension of the deadline for submission of tenders.

4.3. Deal with abnormally low The tenderer should explain why its financial offer is
tenders particularly low and whether there are any circum-
stances which would reasonably account for the low
Evaluating ‘abnormally low tenders’ can be chal- offer, such as:
lenging for contracting authorities since there is no
straightforward approach that can be used to iden- āā innovative technical solutions;
tify them. Abnormally low tenders refer to the situa-
tion where the price offered by an economic operator āā possibility of the tenderer to obtain state aid;
raises doubts as to whether the offer is economi-
cally sustainable and can be carried out properly46. āā particular circumstances allowing it to obtain
supplies or subcontract tasks at favourable con-
When the financial offer of a tender seems to be ditions.
abnormally low, the evaluation committee should
require the tenderer to clarify in writing that the of- Based upon the analysis of the justification provided
fer is economically sustainable and it can be carried by the tenderer, the evaluation committee should
out properly. It can be the case that the tenderer decide if the tender is to be rejected or accepted.
has misunderstood the specifications, has underes-
timated the workload or the risks or that the techni- The rejection of an abnormally low tender must be
cal requirements were unclear. duly justified in the evaluation report.

46
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 35, Abnormally Low Tenders, September 2016.
O
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-35-200117.pdf.

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 Rejection of abnormally low tenders without justification
Contracting authorities must always give tenderers with low tenders the opportunity to justify their low
offers and they cannot be automatically excluded. It is mandatory to seek for a written justification from
the tenderer clarifying the reasons for the low-price offer.
When a tender is rejected, the decision must be clearly justified in the evaluation report and refer to the
answer from the tenderer.
In addition, some contracting authorities use a benchmark minimum offer price, often calculated by using
a mathematical formula.
Tenders below this benchmark are automatically eliminated before tenderers get a chance to justify their
low offers. This practice is unlawful and must be avoided.

4.4. Request clarifications documents when the text of the tender is too vague
or unclear and when certain circumstances, of which
In the case of open and restricted procedures, the contracting authority is aware, suggest that this
the evaluation committee can request clarifica- ambiguity can be easily explained or eliminated. In
tions from tenderers concerning their tenders. It such cases, the contracting authority should not ex-
should be noted that other procedures also allow clude the tenderer without first requesting clarifica-
for clarifications and even expect negotiations with tion or that additional documents be submitted.
the tenderers.
In accordance with the principle of equal treatment,
The requests for clarifications can only seek minor no substantial modifications to a tender can be
clarifications of information already submitted by sought or accepted through a request for clarifica-
the tenderer, regarding for example: tion. Besides, a clarification request does not imply
that there will be negotiations.
āā inconsistent or contradictory information within
the tender; In addition, a request for clarification must always
be sent in writing, preferably by the chair of the
āā unclear description of a product or service of- evaluation committee (and not by individual evalua-
fered; tors). The clarification correspondence must be sum-
marised in detail in the evaluation report, clearly
āā minor mistakes or omissions; indicating whether the answers received are satis-
factory to the evaluators. If they are not satisfactory
āā non-compliant aspects with the non-fundamen- then the report must give the reasons for this.
tal and/or formal requirements set out in the pro-
curement documents. Any clarification submitted by a tenderer concern-
ing its tender that is not provided in response to a
It is recommended that contracting authorities al- request from the evaluation committee must not be
ways ask a tenderer to clarify or complete submitted taken into account in the evaluation.

98
 Clarifications cannot change submitted tenders
Clarifications should not have the effect of changing the already submitted tenders in relation to substan-
tial information such as pricing, quality and service aspects.
Therefore, a request for clarification cannot allow, for example:
āā a non-compliant tender to be brought into compliance with the essential specifications that have
been set;
āā a change in the tendered price (except for the correction of arithmetical errors discovered during
the evaluation of the tender, if applicable).

4.5. F
 inalise the evaluation During the meeting, the committee discusses the
and decide scores allocated and comments provided by each
member, in order to establish the ranking of the eval-
The evaluation of tenders usually ends with an eval- uated tenders and to agree on the recommendation
uation meeting where each tender can be jointly of the award to be included in the evaluation report.
analysed and discussed and where the evaluation
committee members can make a common decision. If there are significant differences in the views and
scores within the committee, specific measures to
The committee’s decision is then communicated to deal with this issue should be agreed in advance.
the contracting authority as a recommendation to These measures may involve requesting clarifica-
award the contract to a certain tenderer through tion from tenderers or engaging expert advice. In
a detailed evaluation report. that event, more than one meeting to discuss and
reconcile such differences would have to be held46.
4.5.1. Evaluation meeting When members disagree the chair should ultimately
make a decision and make sure the disagreement is
It is considered good practice to hold an evaluation reflected in the evaluation report.
meeting, gathering together all members of the eval-
uation committee. The meeting should be scheduled The winning tender should be chosen during the
in advance by the chair so that the committee mem- meeting, with this decision being communicated to
bers can have enough time to complete their indi- the contracting authority in the evaluation report.
vidual evaluation, if that approach has been adopted.
4.5.2. Evaluation report
Each member should have completed an evaluation
matrix for each tender (see the example in Table 17. The recommendation for the award of the contract
Matrix for the evaluation of tenders based on the best is contained in the evaluation report, which is nor-
price-quality ratio) in order to share the outcome and mally prepared by the Evaluation Committee’s chair
discuss the different tenders with the other members. or secretary, with the support of the evaluators (see
Another option is to fill in one single evaluation ma- section 4.2. Apply the award criteria).
trix per tender during the evaluation meeting.
The evaluation report should be clear and sufficient-
ly detailed to show how the decision to award the
contract was taken.

99
It should describe how the different criteria have In addition, the work conducted during the evalua-
been applied as well as the outcome from the evalu- tion meeting should be recorded and an attendance
ation activities. The recommendation for the award list should be included in the evaluation report.
of the contract has to be clearly justified and sup-
ported with the scoring mechanism, the clarifica- An indicative structure of the evaluation report con-
tions when applicable and the decision-making pro- tent is provided below.
cess within the evaluation committee.

Table 18. Example of evaluation report structure

Tender ID A, B, …

Evaluation Committee Members’ names: Date of the report:

1. Introduction
a. Name and address of the contracting authority
b. Composition of the evaluation committee
c. Timetable of the procurement procedure
2. Background and context
a. Description of the contract (subject matter and value)
b. Choice of the procedure and justification in the cases of competitive procedures with
negotiation, competitive dialogue and negotiated procedure without prior publication
c. Appointment of the members of the evaluation committee
d. Published criteria
e. List of tenderers
3. Evaluation activities
a. Assessment of exclusion grounds
b. Assessment of selection criteria
c. Evaluation of tenders
d. Clarifications (if applicable)
4. Recommendation for the award of the contract
a. Final scoring and ranking
b. Proposed candidate(s) or tenderer(s) (including subcontractors and their corresponding shares,
if any) and justification
c. Unsuccessful candidate(s) or tenderer(s) and justification
d. Rejection of abnormally low tenders and justification
e. Where applicable, reasons why the contracting authority has decided not to award a contract
f. Where applicable, reasons why other means of communication than electronic means have
been used for submitting tenders
g. Where applicable, conflicts of interests detected and measures taken
5. Annexes
a. Evaluation matrix(ces)
b. List(s) of attendance at evaluation meeting(s)
c. Signed declarations of absence of conflict of interest and confidentiality
d. Other relevant documents (e.g. clarifications, working papers)

100
In the framework of national reporting on public Directive 2014/24/EU. A well-documented and de-
procurement, the European Commission can ask tailed evaluation report should help keep track and
any European contracting authority for an individual record all the necessary information. However, con-
report on the procedures used for the award of a tracting authorities may also choose to comply with
particular contract. In this context, contracting au- the requirements thanks to different sources of in-
thorities should make sure that they comply with formation (i.e. evaluation report, procurement deci-
the minimum requirements set out in Article 84 of sion, etc.) according to their internal processes.

Lack of transparency and equal treatment during evaluation

If the scores given to each tender are unclear, unjustified, lack transparency or have not been fully
recorded, the contracting authority will not be in the position to demonstrate how the evaluation
committee has arrived to the award decision.
Contracting authorities have to carefully draw up an evaluation report and keep enough informa-
tion on each contract to justify decisions taken on the selecting of tenderers and on the awarding of
contracts.
The chair of the evaluation committee should ensure that there is written justification for each score
given when tenders are being evaluated.
In addition, the scores and comments for each tenderer must be presented in a written letter to the
tenderer and included in the evaluation report.

4.6. Award the contract for the decision, and in particular the name of the
successful tenderer and the characteristics and rel-
Based on the evaluation committee’s recommendation, ative advantages of the selected tender. Usually a
contracting authorities should launch the ne-cessary summary table of the scoring and final ranking of
internal procedure to get an official award decision. the different tenders is included.

They will then have to notify the tenderers and make Upon request from any tenderer, contracting author-
the award public. ities must within 15 days from receipt of a written
request, further inform any unsuccessful tenderer of
4.6.1. Notification of tenderers and the reasons for the rejection of its tender.
standstill period
A period of at least 10 days, referred to as ‘standstill
Once the award approval has been given, contract- period’, must pass before the final contract can be con-
ing authorities must, as soon as possible, write to cluded. The exact duration of the standstill period must
the successful tenderer stating that its tender has also be mentioned in the notification to tenderers, so
been accepted for the contract award. that they are aware of the amount of time available to
contest the award decision, if they wish to do so.
The unsuccessful tenderers also need to be informed
about the award decision and its justification. The The contract can be awarded after the expiry of the
notification must include a summary of the reasons standstill period if no complaint has been filed.

101
In addition, the contracting authority may also de- be that all tenders exceed the budget available, the
cide not to award the contract, which may happen circumstances of the contract have substantially
when no tenders or requests to participate were re- changed or some irregularities occurred during the
ceived or all of them were rejected. Other reasons evaluation of tenders46.
leading to the cancellation of the procedure could

Do not negotiate on the contract with the successful tenderer

Once the successful tenderer is appointed and informed and before the signature of the contract,
contracting authorities cannot negotiate any of the essential components of the contract.
These include, but are not limited to, price, nature of the works/supplies/services, completion peri-
od, terms of payment or materials to be used.
This type of negotiation is prohibited as it changes the nature of the advertised contract and means
that the other tenderers have not had the opportunity to make an offer for the amended contract.
If a contracting authority discovers before signing the contract that it has to be re-scoped, then the
entire procurement procedure must be cancelled. The contracting authority will then have to launch
a new procedure so that all economic operators have another opportunity to compete for the amend-
ed contract.
This applies both in the case of a significant increase or a significant reduction in the scope or price
of the contract.

4.6.2. Contract award notice It should be recalled that the contract award notice
aims to present the decision that resulted from the
When the contracting authority has decided to whom procurement procedure. This means that contracting
the contract will be awarded, and once the standstill authorities may publish a contract award notice re-
period is over (assuming that no complaint has been gardless of whether the contract is finally awarded
filed), the contract can be signed between the suc- or not. In the case of non-award, it is not mandatory
cessful tenderer and the contracting authority. to publish the contract award notice, but is consid-
ered good practice since it provides the reasons for
In principle, the tenderer should be aware of the the decision.
content of the contract since it is recommended to
include a draft contract in the procurement docu- The content of the contract award notice is present-
ments (see section 2.1.2. Draft contract). ed above in section 2.5.2. Notices to be advertised.

Within 30 days of both parties signing the contract,

the contracting authority must send a contract
award notice to the OJEU for publication so that
all interested stakeholders and the general pub-
lic are informed of the results of the procurement
procedure.

46
 ECD/SIGMA, Public Procurement Training Manual, Update 2015. Module E Conducting the procurement process, 2.6 Evaluation
O
report. Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/public-procurement-training-manual.htm.

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 Make sure to publish the contract award notice
Failure to publish the contract award notice is a relatively common error that can be eliminated
through the use of checklists and key stage controls.
Upon realising that a contract award notice has not been published, even after the 30-day delay, con-
tracting authorities should nonetheless take immediate action to ensure that it is published.

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5. Contract implementation
After the award of the contract, the successful tenderer becomes the contractor in charge of
implementing the contract by delivering the work, supplies or services to the contracting authority.

The goal of this stage of the procurement proce- the implementation of the contract. A regular and
dure is to ensure that the contract is satisfactorily smooth communication will enable knowledge-shar-
implemented and that both the contractor and the ing, common understanding and a greater ability to
contracting authority meet their obligations. anticipate possible problems or risks.

Public contracts usually involve various interested It is in the contracting authority’s own interest to
parties, are carried out over long periods of time and make the relationship work, as the costs of early
require substantial resources. In that context, com- termination, the consequences of poor performance
plex situations, unforeseen circumstances can arise or unplanned changes of economic operator are
and delays can occur. That is why it is crucial that highly damaging47.
contracting authorities invest time and resources to
properly manage and monitor their contracts. To establish and keep a good relationship, con-
tracting authorities should make sure that regular
The contract implementation covers numerous meetings are organised in particular at the begin-
parts that contracting authorities have to carefully ning of the implementation of the contract.
consider:
A kick-off meeting should always take place at the
āā Communication and relationship management start of the contract. It should be a face-to-face
with the contractor; meeting with the main persons involved in the con-
tract both from the contractor and the contracting
āā Contract management (i.e. delivery, timeframe, authority.
risks, record keeping);
The goal of this meeting is twofold:
āā Contract modifications and the option to termi-
nate the contract before its end; āā Get to know each other and define clearly key
roles and responsibilities; and
āā Complaints and remedies mechanisms;
āā Agree on a common understanding of the context
āā Closing of the contract. and objectives of the contract as well as on the
means proposed to achieve them and ultimately
fulfil the needs of the contracting authority.
5.1. Manage the relationship with
the contractor During the course of the implementation, regular
communication, including feedback channels and
It is beneficial for all parties to create and main- review meetings need to take place to develop mu-
tain an open and constructive relationship between tual trust and understanding and ensure a joined up
the contractor and the contracting authority during approach to fulfilling the contract objectives.

47
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 22, Contract Management, September 2011:
O
http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Contract_Managment_Public_Procurement_2011.pdf

104
5.2. Manage the contract These tools do not have to create a disproportion-
ate extra-burden for procurement practitioners and
5.2.1. Contract management tools can be implemented in a simple way. Furthermore,
and techniques the small extra efforts that they will require at the
beginning will certainly help to save time and avoid
A number of project management tools and tech- difficulties in the course of the implementation.
niques can be used to help manage and monitor the
implementation of public contracts. The following table presents common and easy-to-
use contract management tools.

Table 19. Common tools and techniques for contract management

Tool/Technique Description Applicable to

Inaugural kick- Physical meeting between the main interested parties from the All contracts
off meeting contracting authority and the contractor which allows to:

āā Build trust between parties;

āā Agree on a common understanding of the subject and scope

of the contract;

āā Help the contractor understand expectations and underlying

objectives;

āā Define the work plan;

āā Plan the frequency of communication, progress reporting,

review meetings.

Progress Timely reporting at a high and/or summary level on progress All contracts
reports and achievements in relation to the work plan.

Interim Review by the contracting authority of the tasks accomplished All contracts
reviews and/or interim deliverables. Interim reviews allow to:

(e.g. via āā Adapt the timeframe if necessary;

regular review
āā Validate minor adjustments to the implementation;
meetings)
āā Formulate recommendations;

āā Issue interim payments.

Self- Self-assessment of the procedure by the contracting authority All contracts

assessment thanks to a control checklist covering of all stages of
public procurement (see 6.4 Checklist for the control of public
procurement).

Issue logs Mechanism for notifying and managing issues arising during Complex
the contract implementation. It records issues as they arise contracts
along with the actions taken to address them.

105
 Tool/Technique Description Applicable to

Service level Performance of equipment or facilities, where the requirements Complex

agreements may be expressed, for example, in terms of processing contracts
capacity, availability, average time between technical problems,
or consumption of energy.

These requirements are incorporated into the contract (often in

schedules) and must be closely monitored.

Gateway Mechanism for reviewing procurement procedures at key Complex

review milestones in their development, before important decisions contracts
are taken.

It is a control process that contracting authorities can use to

ensure that the activities have been satisfactorily completed
at each stage of the implementation before an approval is
given to move on to the next stage (see Section 5.2.2. Risk
management).

Risk Identification, analysing and monitoring of all kinds of risks All contracts
management throughout the contract implementation.

Regardless of the size of the contract, contracting authorities

should perform a risk assessment at the planning phase of the
procurement procedure to identify potential risks and define
mitigation measures.

In addition, they should request that potential tenderers, or

ultimately the contractor, also identify possible risks based on
their offer and their knowledge of the context.

A follow-up of the risks should be then conducted at key

stages of the contract implementation (see Section 5.2.2. Risk
management).

5.2.2. Risk management No major errors are due to poorly conducted risk
analysis exercises. The most common mistakes
Complex procurement procedures take significant arise when risks analysis exercises are not carried
time and effort and may involve a large number of out at all.
staff within the contracting authority as well as ex-
ternal interested parties. In this context, the com- There is no need for procurement practitioners to
bination of many different factors and influences have specific skills to carry out risk analysis and con-
leads to a number of risks that need to be properly tingency planning. A proper knowledge of the con-
identified, assessed, mitigated and monitored during text of the procurement procedure and a standard
the course of the implementation. methodology should be sufficient.

106
 Anticipate possible risks, even for small and simple contracts
Even though complex contracts are more exposed to risks than simple ones, risk management should
be integrated into all contract management processes.
Contracting authorities should carry out risk assessments as early as possible during the planning of
the procurement procedure.
For small and simple contracts, two easy methods may be used to identify risks and the correspond-
ing mitigation measures:
1. Conduct a critical analysis of the procurement documents, in particular technical specifications,
trying to answer the question ‘What could go wrong?’. This can be done by a person who is not
directly involved in the preparation of the project;
2. Gather feedback and ‘lessons-learned’ from the implementation of previous similar contracts,
eventually contacting other contracting authorities.

Contracting authorities carrying out complex pro- To do so, contracting authorities can use the ‘risk reg-
curement procedures should ensure that a risk reg- ister’ tool (or risk matrix) which helps list the risks, as-
ister and associated contingency plan are prepared sess their probability, severity and define appropriate
during the early stages of the procurement lifecycle mitigation measures and responsible persons.
and that they are regularly updated at key stages
throughout the contract implementation. Good risk The example below gives an overview of what con-
management helps achieve the expected goals, re- tracting authorities can prepare and provides a few ex-
duces the likelihood of aborted processes, the need amples of potential risks for a procurement procedure.
for contract modifications during implementation
and the risk of financial corrections in the context of
EU-funded projects.

When conducting an initial risk assessment during

the preparation and planning phase of the procure-
ment, contracting authorities should:

āā Identify and quantify the main risks related to

the procurement process;

āā Identify where risk comes from;

āā Allocate responsibilities for the risk assessment

and its regular review and monitoring.

107
Table 20. Example of a risk register for a procurement procedure

Risks Source Potential Impact Likelihood Mitigation Person in

consequences measures charge

(…)  Internal (…)  Low  Low (…) (…)

 External  Medium  Medium
 High  High

(…)  Internal (…)  Low  Low (…) (…)

 External  Medium  Medium
 High  High

In order to fill in and use the risk register tool, con- external. External risks can arise from the con-
tracting authorities should follow the steps below: tractor but also from other factors beyond the
control of the parties (e.g. brutal socio-economic
āā Identify potential risks by spotting problems and changes, natural disasters);
obstacles to the correct implementation of the
contract. For instance from changes in staff (ei- āā Assess the consequences and impacts on the con-
ther within the contracting authority or the con- tracting authority if the identified risks were to
tractor) to low quality output or unexpected con- materialise and qualify them (high/medium/low);
flict of interests.
āā Assess the probability of the risks occurring and
āā Many risks involve the contractor being unable qualify them (high/medium/low);
to deliver, or not delivering the expected quality.
These could include: āā Define mitigation measures to reduce the risk
taking into account the cost/benefit;
āā Lack of capacity;
āā Identify who is best placed to reduce, control and
āā Key staff being redeployed elsewhere; manage the risk.

āā The contractor’s business focus moving to During the life of the contract, the contract manager
other areas after contract award, reducing the must monitor the risks regularly, and highlight
added value for the contracting authority in any emerging problems speedily.
the arrangement;
A solution that can also help identify and moni-
āā The contractor’s financial standing deteriorat- tor risks is to set up of ‘gateways’ throughout the
ing after contract award, eventually endan- procurement process. Gateways are a mechanism
gering their ability to maintain agreed levels to review procurement procedures at several
of service; or key points in their development, before impor-
tant decisions are taken. The use of public procure-
āā Problems within the contractor’s own supply ment gateways came as a result of various lessons-
chain. learned exercises (prompted by the question: ‘how
did this happen?’) on public contracts that had gone
āā Identify the source of the risk which can either wrong for various reasons, resulting in major cost or
internal (linked to the contracting authority) or time overruns or failure to deliver expected results.

108
Gateways aim to ensure that the procurement is A simplified ‘gateway’ format is proposed below to
soundly-based, well-planned, that all relevant inter- support contracting authorities in carrying out regu-
ested parties are involved, so that the objectives are lar ‘go/no-go’ breakpoints in conducting the procure-
achieved. They should only be applied to complex, ment procedure.
strategically important or high-risk contracts.

Table 21. Possible procurement ‘gateways’

Gateways Indicative content

Gateway 0 — Completion of This review should take place at the very early stages to check
the planning the set-up of realistic, coherent and achievable milestones for the
procurement procedure and contract implementation.

Gateway 1 — Contract scope This review should take place on the basis of the draft procurement
documents before any advertising or publication of information.

Gateway 2 — Shortlisting This review takes place following the evaluation of the selection
criteria (ESPD).

Gateway 3 — Tender This review takes place when the preferred tenderer has been
evaluation selected, but before the contract award; or before proceeding to
final tendering in the case of a two-stage procedure.

Gateway 4 — Contract This review takes place before the signature of the contract.

Gateway 5 — Interim and These reviews take place regularly during the contract
final deliveries implementation at each stage of delivery.

5.2.3. Documentation and record keeping āā selection and evaluation;

Documenting the entire procurement procedure and āā award;

justifying all key decisions is a crucial requirement to
ensure that the whole process can be subsequently āā implementation; and
checked or audited.
āā closure.
The systems for recording information can be man-
ual or electronic or both, but the trend is towards If applicable, this also includes all communications
fully electronic processing and storage. with economic operators such as market consulta-
tions, requests for clarification to tenderers and dia-
Contracting authorities must store and file the docu- logue or negotiation.
ments covering all stages of the procedure:
The documentation must be kept for a period of at
āā planning; least three years from the date of the con-
tract award.
āā preparation of procurement documents;
In the context of European Structural and Invest-
āā advertising; ment (ESI) Funds, it is essential to keep a complete

109
audit trail to demonstrate the eligibility of expendi- The list below indicates what documents controllers
ture and to store it according to the time-limits or auditors may check in the context of procurement
stated in the fund-specific rules. procedures co-funded by the ESI Funds48.

Table 22. Key documents to be checked during ESI Funds controls or audits

Evidence of a competitive process

Contract notice and prior information notice, if relevant (OJEU);

Procurement documents including technical specifications;

Record of tenders received;

Evidence of the opening of tenderers;

Evidence of the selection of tenders including scoring against the set criteria;

Evidence of the evaluation of tenders including scoring against the set criteria;

Evaluation report;

Notifications to successful and unsuccessful tenderers;

Formal contract;

Contract award notice (OJEU).

Evidence of an adequate implementation

Proof/acceptance of deliveries;

Evidence that deliveries are at the tendered cost;

Evidence that deliveries correspond to the technical specifications;

Invoices;

Justification of contract modifications in specific circumstances, if relevant.

The checklist on the control of public procurement tation to prepare in case of audits (see section 6.4.
can also provide useful information on the documen- Checklist for the control of public procurement).

48
 uropean Commission, DG REGIO Training on Management Verifications in Structural Funds 2014-2020 — Public Procurement,
E
September 2014: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/informat/expert_training/management_verifications.pdf

110
5.3. Deal with contract However, in some very specific cases, the modifica-
modifications tion of contracts during their term are allowed as a
derogation from the general rule because of spe-
With good planning, a comprehensive, robust speci- cific circumstances or because they represent only
fication, and a well-designed contract prepared by a small part of the overall contract value (see Table
a diligent contracting authority, the need for any 23. Modifications of contracts without a new pro-
contract modifications or contracts for additional curement procedure).
works, supplies or services during the implementa-
tion stage should be minimised. As a result, this derogation should only be used in
exceptional circumstances and needs to be justified.
As a general rule, if a contracting authority wants to The burden of proof for the circumstances allowing
purchase additional works, supplies or services dur- for reliance on this derogation rests with the con-
ing the implementation of a contract, these supple- tracting authority.
mentary tasks should be tendered under the EU and
national procurement legislation.

Audits focus very closely on contract modifications

Many contracting authorities wrongly assume that changes required during the implementation stage
can simply be accommodated by either modifying the existing contract or concluding a contract for
additional works, supplies or services with the contractor performing the contract, provided such
changes do not increase the value of the contract by more than 50 %.
Modifications of contracts and/or the use of a negotiated procedure for additional tasks with an
existing contractor without any tendering of these additional works, supplies or services is one of the
most common and serious errors in public procurement procedure.
In most cases, if significant additional works, supplies or services are needed then a new contract
should be tendered.

It is up to each contracting authority to carefully study For unforeseen (or more practically, unforeseeable)
the clauses of their contract and the relevant circum- situations, there are other rules.
stances that bring about the need for a modification.
Yet, in practice, it is rather challenging for contracting Contracting authorities should primarily check the
authorities to determine if they can make use of the value of the modification compared to the initial
provisions for contract modifications during its term. contract value. This is because a modification is
possible below 10 % for services and supplies, 15 %
The best option is to envisage all of the possible for works, and below EU thresholds (see Table 2. EU
changes and clearly include them in the procurement thresholds for public contracts from 1 January 2016
documents. This is not always possible for every to 31 December 2017). Nevertheless, special care
modification but care should be taken in the prepara- needs to be taken that such ‘low-value’ modifica-
tion phase to try and identify all of the cases. tions do not alter the overall nature of the contract.

111
 Do not substantially change the scope or value of the contract during
implementation
During contract implementation, a contracting authority and its contractor cannot agree to reduce
significantly the scope of the works, supplies or services with a corresponding decrease in the con-
tract price.
As this would involve a significant change in the contract, it is likely that other smaller companies
would have been interested in tendering for the reduced size contract.
If a contracting authority wants to substantially reduce the scope and value of a contract, it must can-
cel the initial procurement procedure and re-tender the reduced size contract so that the market has
another opportunity to tender for the revised contract.
This should be avoided at the planning stage by involving all interested parties to review the scope
and risks, including the availability of sufficient funds.

The options and the relevant questions contracting authorities need to ask themselves before deciding a
contract modification are outlined in Table 23.

112
 Table 23. Modifications of contracts without a new procurement procedure
GENERAL RULE A new contract for additional tasks should be tendered in line with the EU Directive and national rules during its term.
However, as an exception to that general rule, in specific exceptional circumstances the contract may be modified without a new public procurement proce-
dure.
Below are outlined the criteria which need to be met in order to determine whether the specific circumstances exist. If there is a need to modify the contract, the circum-
stances of any specific contract are to be checked against the criteria outlined below. However, the assessment of these criteria must be performed carefully and thor-
oughly by the contracting authority. They must be well documented and justified. The burden of proof for the circumstances rests with the contracting authority.
MODIFICATION None of the specific condi- a) the modifica- AND (meaning, a and b b) the modification Are you certain that even such a
IS NOT tions set out by the Direc- tion is below the have to be fulfilled at is below 10 % of low-value modification does not
SUBSTANTIAL tive need to be checked, EU thresholds the same time) the initial contract alter the overall nature of the
(based on the and the contract may be value for service and contract or framework agree-
value) modified without a new supply contracts and ment?
If all are If ‘no’, check
procurement procedure if: below 15 % of the
‘yes’, proceed other pos-
initial contract value
with modifi- sibilities, ten-
for works contracts.
cation. der out new
See note 1 below. contract.

113
MODIFICATION Modifications are allowed Regardless of a) modification intro- b) the modifica- c) the modifi- d) where a
IS NOT when they are not substan- the situation duces conditions which, tion changes the cation extends new contractor
SUBSTANTIAL tial. A modification of a con- described above had they been part economic balance of the scope of replaces the
(irrespective of tract or a framework agree- (non-substantial of the initial procure- the contract or the the contract one to which
the monetary ment during its term is modification ment procedure, would framework agree- or framework the contracting
If all are If any of
value) considered to be substan- based on the have allowed for the ment in favour of agreement authority had
‘no’, check these is ‘yes’,
tial when it renders the value), modifica- admission of other the contractor in a considerably. initially award-
for other DO NOT
contract or the framework tions are always candidates than those manner which was In other ed the contract
possible cir- proceed with
agreement materially considered sub- initially selected or for not provided for in words, such in other cases
cumstances the modifica-
different in character from stantial if one or the acceptance of a the initial contract or a changed than the ones
which render tion.
the one initially concluded. more of the fol- tender other than that framework agree- scope could presented
the modifica- Check other
Whether the modifica- lowing conditions originally accepted or ment. have at- below (re-
tion substan- possibilities,
tion is substantial is for are met: would have attracted In other words, tracted other placement of
tial, before tender out
the contracting authority additional participants if the economic economic contractor).
proceeding new con-
to decide, document and in the procurement operator is more operators. with modifi- tract.
justify on a case-by-case procedure. highly remuner- cation.
basis. In other words, if ated, which could
HOWEVER: other economic have attracted
operators could have other economic
participated under operators.
those new conditions.
 FORESEEN Were the modi- Are Are these clauses Are these clauses un- Do the clauses state Do the clauses Can you
CHANGES fications envis- these precise? equivocal? the scope and nature state the con- justify that
(irrespective of aged by special clauses of possible modifica- ditions under the clauses
their monetary review clauses clear? tions or options? which they do not provide
value) (which may may be used? for modifica-
If all are If ‘no’, check
include price tions or options
‘yes’, proceed other pos-
revision clauses, which would
with modifi- sibilities, ten-
or options) alter the over-
cation. der out new
in the initial all nature of
contract.
procurement the contract or
documents? the framework
agreement?
NECESSARY Are there ad- Are you a) cannot be AND (meaning, a and b b) would cause Are you sure Are you sure
ADDITIONS ditional works, sure that made because have to be fulfilled at significant inconven- that increase in that such
services or sup- change of economic or the same time) ience or substantial price does not consecutive
plies (additional of con- technical rea- duplication of costs exceed 50 % modifications
meaning, not tractor: sons such as for the contracting of the value are not aimed
If all are If ‘no’, check
included in the requirements of authority of the original at circumvent-
‘yes’, proceed other pos-
initial procure- interchangeability contract? ing the applica-
with modifi- sibilities, ten-
ment) by the or interoperabi- See note 2 tion of public
cation. der out new
original contrac- lity with existing below. procurement

114
contract.
tor, which have equipment, ser- rules?
become neces- vices or instal-
sary? lations procured
under the initial
procurement.
UNFORESEEN Has the need Are you sure that Are you sure that Are you sure that such consecutive modifications are not
CIRCUMSTANCES for modification the modification increase in price is not aimed at circumventing the application of public procure-
been brought does not alter the higher than 50 % of the ment rules?
about by overall nature of value of the original
circumstances the contract? contract or framework
If all are If ‘no’, check
which a diligent agreement?
‘yes’, proceed other pos-
contracting See note 2 below. with modifi- sibilities, ten-
authority could
cation. der out new
not have fore-
contract.
seen?
 REPLACEMENT Is there now a a) an b) OR a universal ***Extra conditions for ‘b’: c) OR the These condi-
OF CONTRACTOR new contractor une- or partial succes- - Does the other economic operator fulfil the contracting tions are NOT
which replaces quivocal sion into the posi- criteria for qualitative selection initially esta- authority itself cumulative.
the one to review tion of the initial blished? assumes the One of them
which the con- clause or contractor of main contrac- is enough, so
- Are you sure that this does not entail other If there is If ‘no’, check
tracting autho- option in another economic tor’s obliga- either a, or b
substantial modifications to the contract? a ‘yes’ on other pos-
rity had initially con- operator, follow- tions towards or c.
- Are you sure that this is not aimed at circum- either a, or b sibilities, ten-
awarded the formity ing corporate its subcontrac- All of the
venting the application of public procurement with all sub- der out new
contract as a with the restructuring tors where this sub-conditions
rules? questions, contract.
consequence of provi- (takeover, merger, possibility is under ‘b’ are or c, proceed
either: sions on acquisition or provided for cumulative, all with modifi-
foreseen insolvency etc.)? under national of them have cation.
changes ***! legislation in to be fulfilled.
line with Direc-
tive rules on
subcontracting

Note 1: Take care that where several successive modifications are made, the value must be assessed on the basis of the net cumulative value of the successive modifications. That means that all of
the modifications count toward the maximum. Example (supplies): Modification 1 is 3 %. This is ok. Modification 2 is 5 %. Total= 8 %. Still ok. Modification 3 is 3 %. Total would be=11 %. Not ok.
Modification 3 cannot take place.

115
Note 2: Take care that where several successive modifications are made, that limitation must apply to the value of each modification. That means that every modification can go up to 50 %. Exam-
ple1: Modification 1 is 20 %, modification 2 is 67 %. First is ok, second is not. Example 2: Modification 1 is 40 %, modification 2 is 45 %. Both are fine. For the purpose of this calculation of the
price in these cases, the updated price is the reference value when the contract includes an indexation clause. It should be stressed that the introduction of modifications without a new award
procedure constitutes an exception; the possibility of introducing consecutive modifications should be used with extreme caution and should not be aimed at circumventing the public procure-
ment directives and the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency that underlie them.

Source: Article 72 of Directive 2014/24/EU.

5.4. Deal with complaints and 5.5. Terminate a contract
remedies during its term
Economic operators can launch legal actions to re- Contracting authorities may have to terminate a con-
quest the enforcement of their rights under Euro- tract during its term when they become aware that
pean or national public procurement rules in cases the contract is in breach of EU or national legislation.
where contracting authorities, either intentionally or
unintentionally, fail to comply with the legal frame- On the European procurement legal framework,
work for public procurement49. contracting authorities are allowed to terminate a
contract during its implementation on one of the fol-
Remedies are regulated by several EU Directives50 lowing grounds:
and allow for the suspension of any decision taken
by a contracting authority, setting aside unlawful āā The contract has been substantially modified
decisions, including the contract itself and awarding whereas a new procurement procedure should
damages to contractors. have been launched;

In addition, failure to comply with the Remedies Di- āā The contractor should have been excluded from
rectives could prejudice future EU grants to the con- the procurement procedure because it is not
tracting authority, or could lead to the reclaiming of compliant with the exclusion grounds set out in
grants already awarded. the procurement documents and/or in the nation-
al legislation;
Furthermore, failure to respect the rules on public
procurement can lead to financial consequences for āā The contract should not have been awarded to
the contracting authority, but also for its staff who the contractor in view of a serious infringement
may be personally liable in some jurisdictions. of the obligations under the Treaties and Direc-
tive 2014/24/EU that has been declared by the
If necessary, contracting authorities can seek legal Court of Justice of the European Union in a pro-
advice on handling a complaint via their respective cedure under Article 258 of the Treaty on the
national public procurement authorities. Functioning of the European Union.

In addition, as in any contractual relationship, con-

tracts may also be terminated because of evidenced
failure of the contractor to fulfil its obligations.

In all cases, the provisions ruling the termination of

the contract must be determined in advance in the
public contract through dedicated provisions.

49
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 12, Remedies, September 2016, September 2016:
O
http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Public-Procurement-Policy-Brief-12-200117.pdf.
50
 irective 89/665/EEC on the coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of
D
review procedures to the award of public supply and public works contracts, 21 December 1989, as amended.
Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1989/665/oj.
 irective 92/13/EEC coordinating the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of Community
D
rules on the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors,
25 February 1992, as amended. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/13/oj.
 irective 2007/66/EC amending Council Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC with regard to improving the effectiveness of
D
review procedures concerning the award of public contracts, 11 December 2007, as amended.
Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2007/66/oj.

116
5.6. Close the contract āā Are there any lessons-learned (positive or nega-
tive) for future contracts/projects?
Once the contracting authority has formally ac-
cepted the final deliveries and has paid the related For bigger contracts, the contract manager may or-
invoices, the public contract can be closed. ganise a closure meeting with the main interested
parties involved to assess how the contract has per-
On completion of the contract, some economic op- formed against its original expectations. This meet-
erators may ask the contracting authority to issue ing should be an opportunity to:
a certificate of satisfactory execution and to fill in a
satisfaction survey or a questionnaire to gather feed- āā Communicate the results of the implementation
back and recommendations on their performance. to all interested parties involved;

Similarly, it is important that the contracting au- āā Acknowledge the performance of those who con-
thority draws some conclusions and identifies key tributed to the success of the project. Expressing
take-aways from the work achieved which can gratitude and recognition to useful contributors
be recorded in the contract file. For example, the will also help mobilise them in the future;
contract manager may briefly answer the following
questions: āā Learn from errors, external issues or risks real-
ised and analyse how these problems could have
āā Did we get what we requested? been overcome or minimised;

āā Did we get what we actually needed? āā Draw key take-aways and recommendations for
future contracts.
āā Can we see a difference between the two? If yes,
can we explain the difference between the two?

117
6. Toolkit

āā review procedures triggered by appeals of eco-

6.1. Most common errors nomic operators against decisions of contracting
in public procurement authorities; or

Errors in public procurement are understood as āā audits and checks performed by external bodies51.
breach of public procurement rules, regardless of
what stage they occur in the procedure and their The table below presents the most common errors
impact on the final results of the public contract. detected in previous years by the Commission, in
particular during audits of ESI funds. For each type
Errors are usually detected during: of error, guidance and advice are provided in one of
the sections of this document.
āā internal financial controls and audits;

Most common errors Most relevant section of the

guidance

Choice of the procedure Chapter 1

Absence of tendering or inappropriate procedure 1.5. Choose the procedure

Cases not justifying the use of the negotiated procedure

without prior publication of a contract notice

Unlawful splitting of contracts 1.4.2. Single contract or lots

1.4.4. Contract value

Underestimated contract value 1.4.4. Contract value

Publication Chapter 2

Non-compliance with publication requirements 2.1. Draft procurement documents

2.5. Advertise the contract

Non-compliance with time limits and/or extended time 2.4. Set the time limits
limits for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

Insufficient time for potential tenderers/candidates to

obtain tender documentation

Failure to publish the selection and/or award criteria in the 2.3. Define the criteria
contract notice or in the specifications

51
 ECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 29, Detecting and Correcting Common Errors in Public Procurement, July 2013.
O
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/bytopic/publicprocurement/Common_Errors_Public_Procurement_2013.pdf.

118
Most common errors Most relevant section of the
guidance

Technical specifications and criteria Chapter 2

Insufficient definition of the subject matter of the contract 2.2. Define specifications and standards

Restrictive technical specifications breaching equal

treatment, non-discrimination and transparency
requirements

Unlawful, disproportionate and/or discriminatory selection 2.3. Define the criteria

and/or award criteria

Mixing-up of selection and award criteria

Selection, evaluation, award Chapters 3 and 4

Lack of transparency and/or equal treatment during 3.3. Assess and select tenders
evaluation
4. Evaluation of tenders and award

Changing of selection/award criteria after opening of 3.3. Assess and select tenders
tenders, resulting in incorrect acceptance of tenderers
4.2. Apply the award criteria
Changing a tender during evaluation

Negotiation during the award procedure

Arithmetic errors when adding up scores and ranking

tenders

Use of average pricing

Insufficient rejection of abnormally low tenders 4.3. Deal with abnormally low tenders

Conflict of interest 1.2.3. Integrity and conflict of interest

4.1. Set up the evaluation committee

Inappropriate contract terms 2.1.2. Draft contract

Contract implementation Chapter 5

Award of additional works/services/supplies contracts 5. Contract implementation

without competition when none of the exceptional
circumstances stated in Directive 2014/24/EU have been
demonstrated

Change in the scope and/or value of the contract 5.3. Deal with contract modifications

119
6.2. Resources and references European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repeal-
ing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. Available
6.2.1. Legal framework at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1303/oj

European Commission, DG GROW, Public procure- Directive 89/665/EEC on the coordination of the
ment — Legal rules and implementation. Avail- laws, regulations and administrative provisions re-
able at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/ lating to the application of review procedures to the
public-procurement/rules-implementation/ award of public supply and public works contracts,
21 December 1989, as amended. Available at: http://
Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Function- eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1989/665/oj
ing of the European Union 2012/C 326/01. Avail-
able at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ Directive 92/13/EEC coordinating the laws, regula-
TXT/?uri=celex:12012E/TXT tions and administrative provisions relating to the
application of Community rules on the procurement
Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and procedures of entities operating in the water, en-
of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procure- ergy, transport and telecommunications sectors, 25
ment and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC. Available February 1992. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.
at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/24/oj eu/eli/dir/1992/13/oj

Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament Directive 2007/66/EC amending Council Directives
and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on pro- 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC with regard to improving
curement by entities operating in the water, energy, the effectiveness of review procedures concerning the
transport and postal services sectors and repealing award of public contracts, 11 December 2007. Avail-
Directive 2004/17/EC. Available at: http://data.eu- able at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2007/66/oj
ropa.eu/eli/dir/2014/25/2016-01-01
World Trade Organisation, Agreement on Government
Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parlia- Procurement — Revised version, 2012. Available
ment and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on at: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/
the award of concession contracts. Available at: gpa_1994_e.htm
http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/23/2016-01-01
6.2.2. General guidance and tools
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7
of 5 January 2016 establishing the standard form European Commission, DG GROW, Public procure-
for the European Single Procurement Document. ment website. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/
Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ growth/single-market/public-procurement_en
EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2016_003_R_0004
European Commission, DG GROW, Updated val-
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Par- ues of the EU procurement thresholds. Avail-
liament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 able at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-mar-
laying down common provisions on the European Re- ket/public-procurement/rules-implementation/
gional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, thresholds_en
the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund
for Rural Development and the European Maritime European Commission, DG GROW, European Single
and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provi- Procurement Document — Service to fill out and
sions on the European Regional Development Fund, reuse the ESPD. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/
the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the tools/espd

120
European Commission, DG GROW, e-Certis, on- European Commission, DG GROW, Explana-
line database on administrative documentary evi- tory note on framework agreements. Available
dence. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/ at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/
tools-databases/ecertis/ public-procurement/rules-implementation_en

European Commission, SIMAP, eNotices. Available European Commission, DG REGIO, Stock-taking

at: http://simap.europa.eu/enotices/ of administrative capacity, systems and practices
across the EU to ensure the compliance and quality
European Commission, SIMAP, Common Procure- of public procurement involving European Structural
ment Vocabulary (CPV). Available at: http://simap. and Investment (ESI) Funds, January 2016. Available
ted.europa.eu/web/simap/cpv at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/how/
improving-investment/public-procurement/study/
European Commission, SIMAP, Standard forms for public
procurement. Available at: http://simap.ted.europa.eu/en/
web/simap/standard-forms-for-public-procurement

SIGMA, Support for Improvement in Governance and Management

SIGMA is a joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union. Its key objective is to strengthen
the foundations for improved public governance through building the capacities of the public sector,
improving collaboration between all the different strands of governance and improving the design
and implementation of public administration reforms.
SIGMA has developed extensive materials on public procurement that can be useful to all kinds
of contracting authorities. This includes multi-country comparative studies, procurement training
manuals, targeted papers and policy briefs.
In particular, the SIGMA Public Procurement Training Manual and the SIGMA public pro-
curement briefs provide guidance, advice, practical examples and recommendations to contracting
authorities on how to comply with EU public procurement legislation and make the most out of effec-
tive procurement procedures. The training manual and procurement briefs contribute to improving
the professional skills of procurement officers and managers both in the public sector (contracting
authorities) and the private sector (economic operators).
Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/key-public-procurement-publications.htm

121
 OECD Public procurement toolbox
This online resource provides a collection of policy instruments and specific country examples and
proposes practical tools, reports and indicators on numerous aspects of public procurement.
Available at: http://www.oecd.org/governance/procurement/toolbox/

SIMAP, Information on European public procurement

SIMAP is the information system for public procurement developed by the European Commission.
The SIMAP portal provides access to the most important information about public procurement in
Europe:
āā TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal
of the EU, dedicated to European public procurement. It is the single official source of public
contracts in Europe.
āā e-Notices is a web-based tool that simplifies and speeds up the preparation and publication of
notices to the OJEU.
āā e-Senders service allows qualified organisations to submit notices directly as XML files.
āā e-Tendering is an e-procurement platform dedicated to EU institutions.
In addition, SIMAP contains many useful resources, including codes and nomenclatures, templates
for publications and key procurement documents.
Available at: http://simap.ted.europa.eu

6.2.3. Public procurement errors European Court of Auditors, Non-compliance with

the rules on public procurement — Types of irregu-
European Court of Auditors, Special report No larities and basis for quantification, 2015. Available
17/2016: The EU institutions can do more to facili- at: http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/
tate access to their public procurement, 2016. Avail- Guideline_procurement/Quantification_of_public_
able at: http://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/DocItem. procurement_errors.pdf
aspx?did=37137
OECD/SIGMA, Public procurement Brief 29, Detect-
European Court of Auditors, Special report No ing and Correcting Common Errors in Public Procure-
10/2015: Efforts to address problems with public ment, July 2013. Available at: http://www.sigmaweb.
procurement in EU cohesion expenditure should be org/bytopic/publicprocurement/Common_Errors_
intensified, 2015. Available at: http://www.eca.eu- Public_Procurement_2013.pdf
ropa.eu/en/Pages/DocItem.aspx?did=32488

122
European Commission, DG REGIO, Commission De- 6.2.6. Strategic use of public procurement
cision C(2013) 9527, Guidelines for determining
financial corrections to be made to expenditure fi- European Commission, DG GROW, Study on Strate-
nanced by the Union under shared management, for gic use of public procurement in promoting green,
non-compliance with the rules on public procure- social and innovation policies — Final Report,
ment, 2013. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trans- 2016. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/
parency/regdoc/rep/3/2013/EN/3-2013-9527-EN- documents/17261
F1-1-ANNEX-1.Pdf
Green public procurement (GPP)
6.2.4. Integrity and conflict of interest European Commission, DG ENV, EU Green Pub-
lic Procurement criteria (all EU languages). Avail-
OECD, Preventing Corruption in Public Procurement, able at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/
2016. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/ eu_gpp_criteria_en.htm
Corruption-in-Public-Procurement-Brochure.pdf
European Commission, DG ENV, GPP good practices.
European Commission, OLAF, Identifying conflicts Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/
of interests in public procurement procedures for case_group_en.htm
structural actions, November 2013. Available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/sfc/sites/sfc2014/files/sfc- European Commission, DG ENV, List of existing EU
files/2013_11_12-Final-guide-on-conflict-of-inter- and international eco-labels. Available at: http://
ests-EN.pdf ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/ecolabels.pdf

OECD, Principles for Integrity in Public Procurement, European Commission, DG ENV, Buying green! A
2009. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/gov/eth- handbook on green public procurement, 2016.
ics/48994520.pdf Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/
buying_handbook_en.htm
6.2.5. Management and control of
ESI funds European Commission, DG ENV, The uptake of green
public procurement in the EU27, 2012. Available at:
DG REGIO, Guidance on European Structural and http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/CEPS-CoE-
Investment Funds 2014-2020. Available at: http:// GPP%20MAIN%20REPORT.pdf
ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/
legislation/guidance/ European Commission, Communication (COM(2008)
400) Public procurement for a better environment.
DG REGIO, Action Plan on Public procurement. Avail- Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/
able at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/ EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52008DC0400
how/improving-investment/public-procurement
Socially responsible public procurement
DG REGIO, Training on Cohesion Policy 2014- (SRPP)
2020 for EU Member State Experts. Available at: The LANDMARK Project, Good practice in Socially
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/ Responsible Public Procurement — Approaches to
legislation/guidance/training/ verification from across Europe, 2012. Available at:
http://www.landmark-project.eu/fileadmin/files/en/
European Structural and Investment Funds Regu- latest-achievements/LANDMARK-good_practices_
lations 2014-2020. Available at: http://ec.europa. FINAL.pdf
eu/regional_policy/en/information/legislation/
regulations/

123
European Commission, DG EMPL, Buying social: European Commission, DG GROW, Public procure-
a guide to taking account of social considerations ment as a driver of innovation in SMEs and pub-
in public procurement, 2011. Available at: http:// lic services, 2015. Available at: https://publica-
ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89& tions.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/
newsId=978 f5fd4d90-a7ac-11e5-b528-01aa75ed71a1

Public procurement of innovative Procurement of innovation platform, Networking

solutions (PPI) and experience sharing platform for public procure-
European Commission, Innovation procurement in ment practitioners in the field of Public Procurement
the digital economy website: https://ec.europa.eu/ of Innovation — 1st edition, 2014. Available at:
digital-single-market/en/innovation-procurement http://www.innovation-procurement.org/about-ppi/
guidance/
European Assistance for Innovation Procurement,
Innovation Procurement toolkit, Edition 2017. Avail- European Commission, Communication (COM(2007)
able at: http://eafip.eu/toolkit/ 799 final) and associated staff working docu-
ment SEC(2007) 1668: Pre-Commercial Procure-
OECD, Public Procurement for Innovation — Good ment: Driving innovation to ensure sustainable
practices and strategies, 2017. Available at: http:// high-quality public services in Europe. Available at:
www.oecd.org/gov/public-procurement-for-innova- https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/
tion-9789264265820-en.htm eu-policy-initiatives-pcp-and-ppi

124
6.3. Checklist for Unclear, inconsistent and misleading specifications
specifications drafting will negatively impact the whole procedure and will
certainly prevent the contract from achieving its pri-
The ‘specifications’ are the key procurement docu- mary goal.
ment setting out the needs to be satisfied by the con-
tract. They form the basis for choosing the successful To avoid errors and to build the best specifications
tenderer and will be incorporated into the contract possible, it is very useful if contracting authorities
setting out what the contractor has to deliver. carefully review and self-assess their own work, for
example by using the checklist below.
The purpose of the specifications is to provide econom-
ic operators with a clear, accurate and full description If the specifications are clear, comprehensive and
of the contracting authority’s needs, and thus to enable compliant, all answers should be ‘Yes’ or ‘N/A’ if ir-
them to propose a solution to meet those needs. relevant. If any of the answers is ‘No’, a comment
and/or a justification must be provided and the spec-
Their final review and validation is therefore a key ifications should be improved.
decision point in the procurement procedure, and it
is important that those undertaking it have the nec-
essary knowledge, authority and experience. 6.4. Checklist for the control of

Questions Yes, No, Comments

N/A
Before drafting the specifications
1. Has the contracting authority researched the market and/or consulted
internal or external stakeholders?
2. Has the contracting authority considered alternative delivery mechanisms,
including cooperating with other procurers?
3. Has the contracting authority identified useful sources of information
and gathered relevant documentation, including examples of previous
specifications for similar purchases?
4. Has the contracting authority carried out a risk assessment and allocated
risks appropriately?
5. Has the contracting authority considered dividing the contract into lots?
6. Has the contracting authority ensured that funding is available?
Context and subject matter
7. Do the specifications contain background material to help the tenderers
understand the requirements in context?
8. If there is a significant volume of background material, are the supporting
documents easily available for all interested tenderers? (e.g. Do tenderers
have access to a data room? Are documents sent electronically upon
request?)
9. Do the specifications accurately identify the contracting authority’s needs
and requirements?

125
Questions Yes, No, Comments
N/A
10. Is the subject matter of the contract reflecting the contracting authority’s
priorities?
11. Are the specifications consistent with the business case?
12. Do the specifications avoid including items that could be covered better
elsewhere through another contract?
13. If applicable, do the specifications fit with standard specifications
template in use in the contracting authority?
Delivery
14. Has the contracting authority determined precisely the scope and the
range of goods/services/works required?
15. Do the specification accurately define the required outputs and/or
outcomes?
16. Do the specifications present a realistic timetable for the procurement
procedure and the implementation of the contract?
17. Do the specifications state clearly the contract period and any possible
extensions?
Criteria (either included in the specifications or in other procurement documents)
18. Do the specifications detail exclusion grounds, selection criteria and
award criteria as well as their respective weighting, scoring and
evaluation method?
19. Are the award criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract?
20. Are the award criteria based on the most economically advantageous
tender (i.e. either price-only criteria, cost-effectiveness or best price-
quality ratio)?
21. Has the contracting authority ensured that selection and award criteria
are clear to all?
22. Has the contracting authority carried out trial runs to test the selection
and award criteria?
Review
23. Are the specifications clear, complete and reliable and have they been
proofread?
24. Are the specifications incorporated into a contract?
25. Do the specifications avoid asking for irrelevant information?
26. Do the specifications have a version numbering control mechanism (e.g.
version 1, version 2, final version)?
27. Are the specifications validated and signed off by a person/body with the
necessary authority within the organisation?

126
 public procurement if they are on the right track and that they are not
overlooking an important aspect of the process.
Procurement procedures are often checked ex post,
particularly in the context of checks and audits of ESI To avoid errors, it is very useful if contracting au-
funds. However, numerous errors could be avoided if thorities review this checklist as part of a self-as-
contracting authorities (CA) were to carry out self-as- sessment while planning a procurement procedure,
sessment of their ongoing work during the prepara- as well as at each stage of that procedure.
tion and implementation of procurement procedures.
If the procurement procedure has been conducted
The checklist should not be used only by controllers correctly, all answers should be ‘Yes’ or ‘N/A’ if ir-
and auditors, but also by practitioners while per- relevant. If any of the answers are ‘No’, a comment
forming their tasks. This will enable them to verify and/or a justification must be provided and the pro-
cess should be improved.

Questions Yes, No, Comments

N/A
Definition of the need
1. Were the needs the procurement procedure aimed to satisfy clearly
identified by the CA?
2. Did the CA consider all reasonable alternatives?
3. Was the number/scope necessary or would fewer/less not be sufficient?
4. Were the technical requirements indispensable or would a lower level
have sufficed?
Procurement team
5. Was a procurement team formed at the planning stage of the
procurement procedure?
6. Did the procurement team authorise the key steps in the procurement or
was this done by the senior management of the CA?
7. Where the CA engaged external stakeholders to contribute to the
procurement procedure, were they free from influence of the particular
interests of economic operators?
8. Did all those involved in the procurement procedure, and in particular
external stakeholders, sign a declaration of absence of conflict of interest
and confidentiality?
Choice of procedure

9. Was the choice of the procurement procedure explained and documented

in accordance with the principles of competition, transparency, non-
discrimination/equal treatment and economic proportionality?
10. Was the procurement procedure chosen appropriate for the specific
circumstances and was it admissible?

127
Questions Yes, No, Comments
N/A
11. If exceptional negotiated procedures were used, did the CA give
sufficient and reasonable reasons for choosing its option (did it provide a
detailed explanation as to why an open or restricted procedure was not
possible)?
12. For below-threshold procurements, can it be confirmed that there is
no evidence that national public procurement legislation has been
breached?
13. If the CA opted for an accelerated procedure, was this duly justified?
Contract value

14. Did the CA identify the full contract value and include options and
provisions for renewals?
15. Was the estimated contract value based on realistic and up-to-date
prices?
16. Was the estimated contract value in line with the final cost of the
contract awarded?
17. Can it be confirmed that the contract has not been artificially split in
order to avoid the requirement to publish the contract notice in the
OJEU?
Advertising
18. Was the contract advertised in the OJEU, and in relevant national
publications if needed?
19. Were the minimum time limits (depending on whether a prior
information notice was published) complied with?
20. As of 18 October 2018, did the CA check the availability of e-submission
and make sure it worked?
21. Were all procurement documents accessible to all tenderers in the same
way (i.e. specific documents were not easier to obtain for domestic
tenderers)?
22. Did the CA make sure that the use of the European Single Procurement
Document was available above EU thresholds?
23. Was the use of EU grant funding indicated in the contract notice? (This is
not compulsory, but it is good practice for EU grant-supported projects.)
24. Did the contract notice or related documents clearly state the criteria
to be used for selecting capable tenderers and evaluating the most
economically advantageous tender?
25. Were weightings for the award criteria listed in the contract notice or in
a related procurement document?

128
Questions Yes, No, Comments
N/A
26. Did the technical specifications allow equal access to compete to all
tenderers and without creating unjustified obstacles to competition,
e.g. did they avoid setting national standards without recognising the
possibility for equivalent standards?
27. Were requests for information from tenderers answered ensuring equal
treatment for all tenderers and within the time limits?
Procurement documents
28. Could tenderers access all relevant information straight from the
procurement documents?
29. Did the CA make sources of information beyond the procurement
documents equally available for all economic operators?
30. Did tenderers fully understand, without any ambiguity, which documents
and declarations had to be presented with the tender?
31. Were the technical specifications clear, unambiguous and comprehensive,
giving a precise definition of the characteristics of the works/supplies/
services to be provided and thereby making it possible for all economic
operators to understand it in the same way?
32. Was there a specific request for economic operators to comply with
social and labour law obligations including international conventions?
33. When the CA set social or environmental conditions for the performance
of the contract, were these compatible with EU law and was appropriate
information given to the tenderers?
34. Were any unjustified references to a specific make or source, a particular
process, trademark, patent, type, or specific origin or production excluded
from the technical specifications, thereby preventing the CA from
favouring or eliminating specific undertakings or products?
35. Were there no inconsistencies between the several procurement
documents?
Criteria
36. Did the procurement documents fix requirements for the selection
of tenderers in terms of their personal situation, minimum capacity
levels concerning economic and financial standing, and technical and/or
professional ability?
37. W
 here the CA weighted selection criteria, did it publish the weightings in
the procurement documents, i.e. in advance of the receipt of the tenders?
38. Did the CA clearly define the award criteria?
39. Where the award criteria target the best price-quality ratio, were they
different from those for the selection of tenderers?
40. Where the award criteria target the best price-quality ratio, were they
linked to the subject matter of the contract?

129
Questions Yes, No, Comments
N/A
41. Were the weighting/scoring systems coherent, convincing and concise,
leaving little scope for arbitrary evaluation?
42. Were the award criteria suitable for selecting the tender that offers the
best value for money?
Variants
43. If variants were allowed, was the award criteria that of the most
economically advantageous tender?
44. Was the admissibility of variants displayed in the contract notice?
45. Did the CA state the minimum requirements to be met by the variants in
the procurement documents?
Selection
46. Did the CA only assess tenders submitted within the time limit and that
met formal requirements?
47. Was the selection of tenderers independently conducted?
48. Were the reasons for the selection and rejection of tenderers in line with
the published criteria and properly documented?
Evaluation and award
49. Did the members of the evaluation committee have the appropriate
knowledge given the subject matter of the contract?
50. Did all members of the evaluation committee sign a declaration of
absence of conflict of interest and confidentiality?
51. Were the award criteria used to evaluate the tenders and the related
weightings those and only those set out in the procurement documents?
52. In the case of a restricted, negotiated or competitive dialogue procedure,
did the CA make sure not to re-use criteria used at the pre-selection
phase for the evaluation?
53. Did the evaluation committee carry out a non-discriminatory evaluation
procedure following the methodology described in the procurement
documents in order to award the contract?
54. If any tender seemed ‘abnormally low’, did the CA request in writing the
reasons for the abnormally low tender price?
55. Is there a complete evaluation report signed by all members of the
evaluation committee?
56. Was the contract actually awarded to the tenderer chosen by the
evaluation committee?
57. Were all unsuccessful tenderers notified with the correct information,
within the relevant timescale, and was a ‘standstill period’ applied before
the contract was signed?

130
Questions Yes, No, Comments
N/A
58. Was the contract award notice published in the OJEU within 30 days of
the contract signature date?
59. If a tenderer submitted a complaint or appeal to the CA or other
relevant body, did the CA treat the complaint fairly in a transparent and
documented way?
Changes to contracts
60. If any additional works/services/supplies were awarded without
competition, did all of the relevant exceptional conditions apply?
61. Provided that a change to the contract value did not alter the overall
nature of the contract, was the change below EU thresholds?
62. Provided that a change in the contract value did not alter the overall
nature of the contract, was the change below 10 % of the initial contract
value for services and supplies, and below 15 % for works?
63. If the contract value was changed, was this done without altering the
economic balance in the favour of the contractor?
Record keeping
64. Did the CA keep a physical or electronic record of the following key
documents of the procurement procedure?
āā contract notice (OJEU)
āā procurement documents including technical specifications
āā record of tenders received
āā evidence of the opening of tenders
āā e vidence of the selection of tenders including scoring against the set
criteria
āā e vidence of the evaluation of tenders including scoring against the set
criteria
āā evaluation report
āā notifications to successful and unsuccessful tenderers
āā formal contract
āā contract award notice (OJEU)
āā proof or acceptance of deliveries
āā evidence that deliveries are at the tendered cost
āā evidence that deliveries correspond to the technical specifications
āā invoices
āā justification of changes to the contract in specific circumstances,
if relevant

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6.5. Template declaration of absence of conflict of interest
and confidentiality
Declaration of absence of conflict of interest and confidentiality

Contracting authority [Full name]

Title of contract [Title and number if applicable]

Type of contract [Works/Supplies/Services]

Procedure [Open/Restricted/Negotiated/Direct award/Competitive dialogue/

Competitive procedure with negotiation/Innovation partnership/Other]

Contract value [Amount and applicable currency]

Date of dispatch of [If applicable]

contract notice

I, the undersigned, __________________________ āā I am encouraged to report a situation or risk of

_____, having being appointed to take part to the conflict of interest as well as any type of wrong-
[project team/evaluation committee] for the above- doing or fraud (i.e. whistleblowing), and if I do so,
mentioned public contract, hereby declare that: I should not be treated unfairly or be sanctioned;
āā I understand that the contracting authority re-
āā I am aware of Article 24 of Directive 2014/24/EU serves the right to verify this information.
on public procurement, which states that:
‘The concept of conflicts of interest shall at least Finally, I also confirm that I will keep all matters en-
cover any situation where staff members of the trusted to me confidential. I will not communicate
contracting authority or of a procurement ser- outside the [project team/evaluation committee]
vice provider acting on behalf of the contract- any confidential information that is revealed to me
ing authority who are involved in the conduct of or that I have discovered. I will not make any ad-
the procurement procedure or may influence the verse use of information given to me.
outcome of that procedure have, directly or in-
directly, a financial, economic or other personal Date and place:
interest which might be perceived to compromise
their impartiality and independence in the con- __________________________________________
text of the procurement procedure.’
Full name:
āā to the best of my knowledge and belief I have no
conflict of interest with the operators who have __________________________________________
submitted a tender for this procurement, includ-
ing persons or members of a consortium, or with Signature:
the subcontractors proposed;
āā there are no facts or circumstances, past or pre-
sent, or that could arise in the foreseeable future,
which might call into question my independence in
the eyes of any party;
āā if I discover during the course of the [project/evalu-
ation] that such a conflict exists or could arise, I will
inform the contracting authority without delay;

132
Getting in touch with the EU

IN PERSON
All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct Information Centres.
You can find the address of the centre nearest you at: http://europa.eu/contact

ON THE PHONE OR BY E-MAIL

Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union.
You can contact this service
– by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls),
– at the following standard number: +32 22999696 or
– by electronic mail via: http://europa.eu/contact

Finding information about the EU

ONLINE
Information about the European Union in all the official languages of the EU is available
on the Europa website at: http://europa.eu

EU PUBLICATIONS
You can download or order free and priced EU publications from EU Bookshop at:
http://bookshop.europa.eu. Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained
by contacting Europe Direct or your local information centre (see http://europa.eu/contact)

EU LAW AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

For access to legal information from the EU, including all EU law since 1951 in all the official
language versions, go to EUR-Lex at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu

OPEN DATA FROM THE EU

The EU Open Data Portal (http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data) provides access
to datasets from the EU. Data can be downloaded and reused for free, both for commercial
and non-commercial purposes.
 KN-02-17-003-EN-N
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ISBN: 978-92-79-77536-9
doi:10.2776/886010