Your bid for a public contract is evaluated based on several criteria, which depend on the chosen award method. There are three possible award methods:
- The lowest price: in this case, your quote is compared with the other bids based only on the price you propose. The offer with the lowest price wins the contract. You still have to meet the grounds for exclusion, the selection criteria and the technical specifications.
- Cost: in this case, your bid is evaluated based on the total cost of the contract, taking into account cost-effectiveness, such as life-cycle costs. This means that not only the purchase price, but also maintenance, consumption and disposal costs are included in the calculation. The bid with the lowest cost wins the contract. You still have to meet the grounds for exclusion, the selection criteria and the technical specifications.
- Best value for money: in this case, your bid will be evaluated based on a combination of price and quality. The contracting authority will indicate in the tender documents which quality criteria it will use to compare the bids, for example, sustainability, innovation, service or warranty. The tender that achieves the highest score based on the weighting of price and quality criteria wins the contract. You still have to meet the grounds for exclusion, the selection criteria and the technical specifications.
Your bid will therefore be evaluated based on the award method chosen by the contracting authority for the contract. It is important that you prepare your tender as clearly, completely and correctly as possible, and that you follow the instructions in the contract documents carefully. This will increase your chances of winning the contract.
