Procurement procedure – Evidence

The contracting entity may require companies participating in a procurement procedure to provide documents proving their suitability. Those are evidence of

• professional authorisation,
• professional reliability,
• financial and economic capacity and
• technical capacity.

If the documents requested by the contracting entity cannot be provided for good reason, the suitability can also be demonstrated by other documents with the same informative value. Evidence of the same informative value must be provided to the contracting entity upon request.

Companies can submit a self-declaration in which they declare that they fulfil the suitability criteria. The contracting authority will then only request evidence from selected companies. In the upper threshold range, a standardised European self-declaration (ESPD) must be submitted. It is also possible to provide evidence via the list of suitable contractors.

Self-declaration

Applicants or tenderers can prove their authorisation, reliability and capacity by submitting a declaration that they meet the eligibility criteria requested by the contracting entity and can immediately provide the specified evidence upon request. Such a declaration must state the trader’s specific authorisations.

It is possible to submit a European Single Procurement Document (ESPD). As an online service, USP offers the "ESPD service".

List of suitable traders

In public procurement, various service facilities such as the Austrian Contractor Registry (ANKÖ) and auftrag.at help undertakings to find relevant calls for tenders more easily, conveniently and quickly in order to present themselves as a suitable trader.

ANKÖ offers the "list of suitable traders". It is a generally accessible directory of companies and their proof of suitability in accordance with the provisions of the Bundesvergabegesetz (Federal Procurement Act). Companies can be entered on this list in order to thereby provide proof of professional authorisation and professional reliability as well as financial, economic and technical capacity.

The entry saves companies time and money, as the data held evident in the list do not have to be reverified in every procurement procedure, but are available online to the authorised users (contracting entities).

However, this form of proof of suitability requires that the documents specified by the contracting entity have the up-to-date relevance requested by the contracting entity and can be called up directly by the contracting entity itself.

Evidence of the existence of the relevant professional authorisation

• In accordance with the regulations of the undertaking’s country of origin
  • Certificate of entry in the relevant professional or commercial register of the country of origin or
  • Submission of the relevant certification or statutory declaration
• In the case of a service contract
  • Submission of the authorisation required in the undertaking’s country of origin for performing the service in question or
  • Certificate regarding the membership of a certain organisation required in the undertaking’s country of origin for performing the service in question
• The contracting entity also has to obtain information from the administrative penalty register of the Austrian health insurance fund as competence centre for combating wage and social dumping (LSDB competence centre) with regard to whether they have received a relevant legally binding penalty. This information may not be more than six months old.

Evidence of the existence of professional reliability

• Non-existence of grounds for exclusion proven by:
  • Extract from a professional or commercial register or
  • Penal record (or register information for associations) or
  • Equivalent certificate from a judicial or administrative authority stating that these grounds for exclusion do not apply
  • Latest account statement from the competent social security institution or
  • Latest arrears certificate from the competent financial authority or
  • Equivalent documents from the competent authorities of the undertaking’s country of origin

In order to assess the professional reliability, the contracting entity must obtain information from the central administrative penalty register of the Federal Ministry of Finance in accordance with the Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz (AuslBG) and information from the administrative penalty register of the LSDB competence centre to determine whether a legally binding penalty has been received. This information may not be more than six months old.

If a penalty has been received, the tenderer must demonstrate that he/she has implemented specific technical, organisational or personnel measures capable of preventing repetition of the behaviour that led to the penalty (self-cleaning).

Evidence of financial and economic capacity

• Corresponding bank declaration (credit report)
• Evidence of corresponding professional liability insurance
• Submission of balance sheets or balance sheet extracts, where their disclosure is required by law in the undertaking’s country of origin
• Declaration of the joint and several liability of subcontractors with regard to the contracting entity if the undertaking relies on the capacities of subcontractors to prove its financial and economic capacity
• Declaration of the total turnover and, where appropriate, of the turnover for the area of activity into which the award in question falls, for no more than the last three financial years or for a shorter period of activity if the undertaking has not yet existed that long

If the documents requested by the contracting entity cannot be provided for good reason, the financial and economic capacity can be demonstrated by other documents considered suitable by the contracting entity. In any case, the following are to be regarded as suitable evidence:

• Information on the number of staff employed
• Information about company participations
• Information on capital resources, fixed assets, real estate

In order to demonstrate capacity, a company can rely on the capacities of other companies in respect of a given contract, regardless of the legal nature of the links between those companies. In this case, the company must provide evidence that the funds that have been demonstrated to the extent required by the other companies are also actually available for the performance of the contract.

Evidence of technical capacity

Evidence of services provided (references):

• Name and registered office of the service recipient as well as name of the information person
• Value of the service
• Time and place of the service provision
• Indication of whether the service was carried out professionally and properly

Evidence of technical capacity in the case of supply contracts:

• List of key deliveries made in the last 3 years.
• Description of the technical equipment, the undertaking’s quality assurance measures and the undertaking’s study and research facilities.
• Information about the technical specialists or the technical bodies, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated to the undertaking, and in particular about those who are responsible for quality control.
• Samples, descriptions and photographs of the products to be delivered, the authenticity of which must be demonstrable at the request of the contracting entity.
• Certificates issued by competent institutes or official bodies for quality control, confirming that the goods precisely identified by corresponding references meet specific specifications or standards.
• In the case of goods to be delivered which are complex in nature or goods to be delivered which, by way of exception, are intended to serve a particular purpose, a check which is carried out by the contracting entity or, on behalf thereof, by a competent official body in the undertaking’s country of origin. This check concerns the production capacities and, if necessary, the study and research facilities of the undertaking as well as the precautions it takes for quality control.
• In the case of supply contracts for which laying or installation work is required, certification that the trader has the professional competence, expertise and experience required for laying or installation work.

Evidence of technical capacity in the case of construction contracts:

• List of construction work performed in the last 5 years.
• Information about the technical specialists or the technical bodies, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated to the undertaking, and in particular about those who are responsible for quality control or those which the company will have available for the performance of the construction project.
• Evidence of training and certificates concerning the professional competence of the trader and the managers of the undertaking, in particular the persons responsible for carrying out the work.
• In the case of construction work of a nature justifying a corresponding request by the contracting entity, the details of the environmental management measures that the undertaking may wish to apply when performing the contract.
• Declaration stating which general equipment, construction equipment and technical equipment the undertaking will have available for the performance of the contract.
• Declaration stating the annual average number of people employed by the trader in the last 3 years and the number of managers in the last 3 years.
• Certification that the trader has the professional competence, expertise and experience required to perform the construction work.

Evidence of technical capacity in the case of service contracts:

• List of key services provided in the last three years.
• Description of the technical equipment, the undertaking’s quality assurance measures and the undertaking’s study and research facilities.
• Information about the technical specialists or the technical bodies, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated to the undertaking, and in particular about those who are responsible for quality control.
• In the case of services which are complex in nature or services which, by way of exception, are intended to serve a particular purpose, a check which is carried out by the contracting entity or, on behalf thereof, by a competent official body in the undertaking’s country of origin. This check concerns the technical capacity and, if necessary, the study and research facilities of the undertaking as well as the precautions it takes for quality control.
• Evidence of training and certificates concerning the professional competence of the trader and the managers of the undertaking, in particular the persons responsible for providing the services.
• In the case of services of a nature justifying a corresponding request by the contracting entity, the details of the environmental management measures that the undertaking may wish to apply when performing the contract.
• Declaration stating which general equipment, devices and technical equipment the undertaking will have available for the performance of the contract.
• Declaration stating the annual average number of people employed by the trader in the last three years and the number of managers in the last three years.
• Indication of which parts of the contract the trader may intend to subcontract.
• Certification that the trader has the professional competence, expertise and experience required to provide the service.

Further links

• Austrian Contractor Registry (→ ANKÖ)
• auftrag.at (→ WZDP)

Legal bases

• Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 (BVergG 2018)
• Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz (AuslBG)
• Arbeitsvertragsrechts-Anpassungsgesetz (AVRAG)
• Lohn- und Sozialdumping-Bekämpfungsgesetz (LSD-BG)