Regardless of the particular tender procedure to be selected, the evaluation is organised in two discrete stages:
| ● | A first stage involving the qualitative selection of candidates. |
| ● | A second stage involving the appointment of Contractor and the award of the contract. |
These two stages function in a different way, rely on the use of criteria of a different nature, and are governed by different rules.
The first stage aims to screen candidates and allow participation in the tender procedure only to those potentially capable of executing the contract, while the second stage aims to award the contract to the tenderer who will offer the best and most advantageous solution. Although there is no strict requirement for the two evaluation stages to be separated in terms of time, they should nevertheless be clearly distinct from one another.
The criteria to be used in the two stages should be fully differentiated:
| ● | The criteria of the first stage (qualitative selection stage) should focus on checking the suitability of economic operators. |
| ● | The criteria of the second stage (contract award stage) should be linked solely to the scope of the contract to be awarded. |
The conduct of these two discrete evaluation stages occurs in different phases of the tender procedure, depending on whether the procedure chosen is the open or restricted one.
The criteria used in the qualitative selection stage are not allowed to be used as contract award criteria.
The correspondence of the two evaluation stages to the phases of the tender procedure in the case of negotiated procedures and of the competitive dialogue is presented in Chapter 5 of the Guide.
Open procedure
In the open procedure, the Contracting Authority informs economic operators via the contract notice of the criteria it will use to conduct the two evaluation stages, and requests that they include in their tenders specific data and information documenting their capability to fulfil and meet the criteria chosen (qualitative selection criteria and contract award criteria) in the best possible way.
At the next step, once the interested economic operators have submitted their tenders, the Contracting Authority awards the contract using the award criteria, after checking the fulfilment of the qualitative selection criteria.
The figure below presents the correspondence of the evaluation stages to the tendering phases in the case of the open procedure.
Figure 2-5: Correspondence of the evaluation stages to the steps of the open procedure
Restricted procedure
In the restricted procedure, the Contracting Authority informs economic operators via the contract notice of the criteria it will use to conduct the two evaluation stages, and requests that they include in their requests to participate specific data and information documenting the fulfilment of the qualitative selection criteria.
At the next step, once the interested economic operators have submitted their requests to participate, the Contracting Authority checks the fulfilment of the qualitative selection criteria and invites the submission of tenders containing data and information on their capability to meet the award criteria in the best possible way only from those economic operators who have been found to satisfy the qualitative selection criteria. In the invitation for the submission of a tender, the Contracting Authority must determine precisely the award criteria that it shall use, if these had not been sufficiently specified in the contract notice. As a best practice, it is recommended that the award criteria be specified in the contract notice phase, where feasible.
Finally, after the prequalified (on the basis of the qualitative selection criteria) economic operators have submitted their tenders, the Contracting Authority evaluates the tenders and awards the contract on the basis of the award criteria.
The figure below presents the correspondence of the evaluation stages to the tendering phases in the case of the restricted procedure.
Figure 2-6: Correspondence of the evaluation stages to the steps of the restricted procedure