Award procedure

• Award period and binding offer
• Exclusion of tenderers and elimination of tenders
• Negotiations
• Examination of tenders
• The award decision and standstill period
• Award of the contract or revocation

In the procurement procedure, the contracting entity opens the tenders received in good time at the specified place and at the specified time, immediately after the tender period has expired. Afterwards,  people who meet the specialist requirements examine and assess the tenders.

Award period and binding offer

The award period begins when the tender period expires. The contract is to be awarded during this period, which is to be kept short. The award period is communicated in the call for tenders and may not exceed five months (by way of exception up to seven months). If no award period is indicated in the call for tenders, it is one month. Other requirements apply in the sector area (e.g. water, energy and transport supply) and in the awarding of concessions.

During the award period, tenderers are bound to their offer. The award period can be extended in some cases.

• At the request of the contracting entity, a tenderer can extend the binding effect of his/her tender.
• At the request of a tenderer, the contracting authority can release him/her from the commitment to his/her tender – the condition is that their tender is not eligible for a contract award.

Elimination of tenders and exclusion of tenderers

The contracting authority rejects unsatisfactory tenders and excludes tenderers from the procedure if certain facts are present. More information on this can be found on the page "Exclusion of tenderers and elimination of tenders".

Negotiations

In the scope of a negotiated procedure, the contracting entity can conduct negotiations with the tenderers about the tenders submitted. These negotiations serve the objective of being able to optimally coordinate the tender with the contracting entity’s requirements. It should be noted that pure price negotiations, that is to say negotiations in which the service content is not changed, are in breach of the principles of procurement law. Negotiations regarding the tenders are prohibited for open and restricted procedures!

Examination of tenders

Of those tenders that are not eliminated, an examination will be carried out to determine which tender, in accordance with the information in the call for tenders

• most technically and economically advantageous tender or
• the tender with the lowest price

The examination differs for contracting authorities and sectoral contracting entities and depends on the procurement procedure used. In particular, it must be checked whether the prices are appropriate.

In-depth tender examination

During the in-depth tender review, it must be checked whether the prices are economically explainable and comprehensible. Any clarifications provided by the bidder must be taken into account.

The contracting entities must request clarification of the items in the tender from the tenderer and examine them in depth if

• tenders have an unusually low total price in relation to performance,
• tenders have excessively high or excessively low unit prices for key items, or
• after examination there are reasonable doubts about the appropriateness of prices.

The sectoral contracting entities must request clarification of the items in the tender from the tenderer and examine them in depth if

• tenders have an unusually low total price in relation to performance or
• there are reasonable doubts about the appropriateness of prices.

During the examination, the contracting entity must in particular take into account explanations regarding the following aspects:

• economic efficiency of the chosen manufacturing or construction procedure or the provision of the service
• chosen technical solutions
• exceptionally favourable conditions available to the tenderer for the provision of the service
• authenticity of the service proposed by the tenderer
• labour and social law provisions applicable at the place of performance
• any granting of State aid to the tenderer

The information provided by the tenderer must be attached to the record of the examination of the tenders. This formalised approach can be dispensed with in the lower threshold range.

Unsatisfactory tenders

If the examination of the tenders reveals any ambiguities

• about the tender, including any variant, alternative or modification tenders,
• about the planned type of implementation or
• if deficiencies are found,

the tenderer must be asked for a binding written clarification, if the ambiguities are of importance for the assessment of the tenders.

The written information provided by the tenderer and any evidence submitted by the tenderer must be attached to the record of the examination of the tenders. This formalised approach can be dispensed with in the lower threshold range.

The award decision and standstill period

The award decision is the non-binding declaration by the contracting entity of which tenderer is to be awarded the contract. The award decision itself does not (yet) result in an order being placed.

The award decision is made after the tender examination and must be demonstrably communicated to all tenderers who are still in the procurement procedure, along with justification. This justification must in any case contain the information specified by law (in particular why a tenderer was not successful with his tender).

The award decision must also communicate the end of the standstill period: The standstill period is the time in which losing tenderers can contest the award decision before the contract is concluded. If the award decision is communicated electronically, the standstill period is 10 days, otherwise it is 15 days.

Award of the contract or revocation

A procurement procedure ends with the conclusion of a service contract (contract conclusion) or with the revocation of the call for tenders. The conclusion of the contract is called "Award of the contract".

The contract has to be awarded after the end of the standstill period. If it is awarded earlier, the contract is null and void.

Legal Basis

Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 (BVergG 2018)