Large businesses
Self-employed
Practical information
SMEs
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Public procurement contracts are usually awarded using free market competition and advertised on the portal for public procurement contracts (Le Portail des Marchés Publics).
The preparation of the bid document and the tendering of the bid itself are therefore key steps in the procurement procedure.
The business (tenderer) which has tendered the lowest bid is not automatically awarded the contract. During the procedure, the contracting authority (State, communes, public establishments or syndicates of the communes) takes into account specific selection and awarding criteria.
Any economic operator, a natural or legal person or group of persons who meet the conditions stated in the tender documents of a public procurement contract can prepare and submit a bid for said contract.
A business may choose between various types of public tendering processes:
The submission criteria are detailed in the tender documents accompanying the public contract notice or are sent directly to the business (procedure without publication). The following information is provided:
Once the business has identified a potentially interesting public procurement notice or if it has been invited by a contracting authority to tender a bid, it must verify:
There are several types of public procurement procedures:
A business must meet all requirements detailed in the tender documents. This document defines the works or services to be carried out, the tendering conditions and the documents requested by the contracting authority.
Bid documents which do not meet the conditions laid down in the tender documents are rejected.
However, since the reason for a rejection will be provided, any business that deems to have been treated unfairly may lodge an appeal.
The bid document allows the business to:
The business may, within a reasonable time limit, request clarifications concerning the contract from the contracting authority. Answers are sent to all the participants.
To be eligible, a company must meet the deadlines for submission of the application/tender.
The tender may be submitted personally in exchange for a receipt or sent by mail with acknowledgement of receipt.
NB: only the arrival date of the tender is taken into account, not the sending date. It is important to take into account the time needed for a delivery by mail.
Depending on the procedure, the business must also prove that it has fulfilled its professional obligations by attaching the following documents to its tender:
Where applicable, national and foreign subcontractors must also provide these certificates.