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Procurement evaluation criteria explained
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Peter Ware of Browne Jacobson has blogged a basic guide to procurement evaluation criteria under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Some condensed highlights and key points:
- Don’t confuse your evaluation criteria with your specification: “Your specification sets out what you require the contractor to provide during the term of the contract […] it is something that can be attached to the contract and that is on the contracting authority’s terms. The evaluation criteria are how the contracting authority will assess which bidder provides the best response to the requirements. In a very basic procurement it may be enough to ask bidders to confirm that they are able to deliver the specification. However, mostly, the contracting authority will wish to understand the methodologies and technologies that the bidders will utilise.”
- Don’t expect bidders to be mind readers: “Particularly in higher value or more complex procurements a one line evaluation criterion is usually not enough and when probed the contracting authority can usually give various examples of what they would expect to see in the responses to that question.”
- It’s never too late to turn the clock back – well, almost never: “If it gets to a point where the scores have been shared with the bidders and an error comes to light then there are three options: continue on the basis that the error is minor or the bidder is unlikely to challenge; abandon the process and start again; or, go back and rescore all the tender responses either entirely or a particular question. The third option is often overlooked or seen as too complicated.”
- Check, check and check again: “… in the heat of the moment it’s easy to misread figures or put in the wrong version of some feedback.”