Selection of offer

If the procurement entity uses only the lowest price as a basis for overall economic advantage in purchases other than goods, it must present the relevant justifications in the procurement documents, in the procurement decision or in a separate report on the procurement procedure. However, this obligation does not exist in national procurements.

With the justification, the procurement unit should make transparent how qualitative aspects have been taken into account in the acquired entity. For example, the procuring unit can describe how it has taken quality into account in the bidder's suitability requirements, the minimum procurement requirements, the special conditions of the procurement contract, or otherwise in the description of the procurement object.

The cheapest solution also means something other than the actual purchase price, for example life cycle costs.

The procurement unit can set benchmarks for the price-quality ratio related to qualitative, societal, environmental or social aspects or innovative features. Quality-related criteria can include, for example, technical merits, aesthetic and functional properties, accessibility, design that meets the requirements of all users, operating costs, cost-effectiveness, after-sales service and technical support, maintenance and delivery date or delivery or implementation time, and other delivery conditions.

The procurement unit can also take into account the qualifications and experience of the personnel assigned to the implementation of the procurement contract, as well as the organization of the personnel, if the quality of the assigned personnel can have a significant impact on the implementation of the procurement contract.

The procurement unit can present the cost factors of the price-quality ratio also in the form of a fixed price or costs, in which case the bidders compete only on the basis of quality. This refers to the so-called reverse bidding or French contract, where the procurement entity defines the price or costs it is willing to pay to the selected supplier. In this case, the competition between tenderers is conducted exclusively on the basis of quality.

The procuring entity must state the basis of overall economic advantage that it uses or the comparison criteria according to the price-quality ratio in the procurement notice, request for tenders or invitation to negotiations.

The procurement unit must specify the relative weighting of the comparison criteria in the procurement notice, invitation to negotiations or request for tenders. Weighting can also be expressed by stating a reasonable range. If the relative weighting of the comparison criteria cannot be defined for objective reasons, the comparison criteria must be stated in descending order of importance.

The procurement unit can present the sub-criteria of the qualitative comparison criteria it uses with their weights, but if they are a description or definition of the actual comparison criteria rather than independent sub-criteria, the weight values ​​of the description or definitions would not need to be reported. In national procurements, the weight values ​​of the sub-criteria of the comparison criteria do not need to be specified.

The comparison criteria must be related to the object of the procurement, they must not give the procurement unit unlimited freedom of choice and they must be non-discriminatory and ensure the possibility of real competition. Thus, it would not be permitted, for example, to use comparison criteria that favor certain bidders, require a previous contractual relationship with the procurement unit, or favor a local supplier. However, if the object of the acquisition requires it, for example, local knowledge may be required. However, such an argument must not be given such weight that it would prevent new entrepreneurs from entering the industry.

The procurement unit must demand from the bidder an explanation of the bid's prices or costs if the bid seems exceptionally low. The procurement unit is therefore obliged to request an explanation of exceptionally low offers, even if the offer is not about to be rejected.

In contrast to the exclusion criteria and suitability requirements, where clarifications are required only from the winner of the tender, background checks for exceptionally low price offers must be done for all bidders whose offers are exceptionally low in price.

The request and clarification may particularly concern the manufacturing method, financial and technical solutions for the performance of the service or the construction method, exceptionally favorable terms of procurement, the uniqueness of construction contracts, goods or services, compliance with environmental, social and labor law obligations, subcontracting and government support received by the provider.

The procurement unit may reject an offer with an exceptionally low price or cost in relation to the quality and scope of the procurement, if the explanation provided by the bidder and other evidence provided does not satisfactorily explain the low level of the offered prices or costs.

As a general rule, the procurement unit has the discretion to reject an exceptionally low bid if it assesses that accepting the bid would mean a risk of non-delivery or incomplete delivery

However, the procurement unit is obliged to reject the offer if the exceptionally low price or costs of the offer are due to the neglect of environmental, social and labor law obligations.