1. Tender Evaluation and Award Process

2. Tender evaluation principles
A Tender Committee should only have the mandate to issue a recommendation as to the award of a contract
The authorised officer of the Contracting Authority should make the formal decision and be held accountable for it

3. Tender Evaluation
Submission of Tenders
Tenders must be submitted in accordance with the Instructions to Tenderers
The deadline for submissions must fall on a working day
Tenders to be submitted by letter or by hand, unless the contracting authority has the facilities to accept communications by electronic means in accordance with the provisions of the EC Directive 97/52
In case of institutions located in buildings with restricted access, make sure you establish an easy access of Tenderers for submitting their bids
Ensure proper handling of received packages

4. Where a tender is submitted by post or delivered by hand, the following rules should apply:
The Tenderer should seal the original and each copy of the tender in separate envelopes, duly marking them as ORIGINAL and COPY. The envelopes should then be sealed in an outer envelope
The inner and outer envelopes should be addressed to the purchaser and bear the procurement references indicated in the tender document and with a statement “Not to be opened before the tender-opening”, in both English and local language
An incorrectly sealed and marked tender may run the risk of misplacement or premature opening, for which the Contracting Authority cannot be held responsible
The inner envelope should also indicate the name and address of the Tenderer to enable the tender to be returned unopened in case it is declared “late”
The tender must be signed by an authorised person according to the instructions stated in the tender dossier

5. Receipt and Opening of Tenders
On receiving tenders, the Contracting Authority must register them and provide a signed receipt for those delivered by hand
The outer envelopes of tenders should be numbered in order of receipt
Tender Opening Procedure checks that tenders are complete, signed and that tender security has been provided
Public opening of tenders is recommended by the Commission for all works contracts
Non-public opening of tenders at a formal meeting is acceptable, particularly for low value contracts
The minutes of the tender opening should be sent to the participants, upon written request
At a public tender-opening session: the names of the Tenderers, the unevaluated tender prices, provision of requisite tender security and fulfilment of any other stipulated formality or condition

6. A technical evaluation of tenders is to determine the offers compliance with Tender Documents requirements
Technical evaluation is only carried out for administratively compliant offers, satisfying the qualifications criteria
The Technical submission must meet at least the minimum requirements of the Tender Documents for the tender to be deemed substantially responsive
An offer can only be judged against criteria set in Tender Documents
To this end, it is recommended to spend sufficient time when preparing the evaluation grids and to make sure all important aspects were taken into consideration
Evaluation period and report approval should not exceed the tenders validity period

7. A financial evaluation of tenders is to determine the lowest price
If the offer is technically compliant with the Tender Documents requirements
If the award criteria is the lowest price the process is simplified
If the award is to be the most economically advantageous tender, the technical evaluation is measured against the award criteria in the Tender Dossier
Need to consider costs of operation, maintenance, and consumables
Technical evaluations are combined with financial evaluation to determine the most economical advantageous tender

8. Notification of an Award:
the Contracting Authority must notify Tenderers promptly about their award decision
this may include a decision to abandon an award procedure after invitations to tender
deal with challenges to award decisions, if allowed under national law
Debriefing:
inform eliminated Tenderer within 15 days of the reason for rejection of its tender
- inform admissible Tenderers of the name of the successful Tenderer and Accepted Contract Price

9. Conclusions:
If you find yourself in a tender committee, then here are a few points:
Conduct preliminary meeting of committee before tender opening to discuss tactics, programme and if appropriate, marking and weighting
All voting committee members must read and score all tenders
If a majority vote is recorded for any particular aspect the dissenting voter must briefly record their reasons
Differentiate between must do / have items such as bank guarantees. Minor issues, for example an unacceptable CV for the proposed QA person
Be logical, but keep your approach and method simple
Make your own clear notes of your views and decisions so that you can recall issues should there be an audit
Be prepared to answer an economic operator’s appeal against the award (if allowed)
….. and above all: DON’T PANIC!!!