VariantsS
46.—(1) A contracting authority may authorise or require tenderers to submit variants.
(2) A contracting authority must indicate in the contract notice or, where a prior information notice is used as a means of calling for competition, in the invitation to confirm interest, whether or not it authorises or requires variants.
(3) A contracting authority authorising or requiring variants must state in the procurement documents the minimum requirements to be met by the variants and any specific requirements for their presentation, in particular whether variants may be submitted only where the economic operator also submits a tender which is not a variant.
(4) A contracting authority must not take into consideration a variant which—
(a)has not been authorised or required;
(b)is not linked to the subject matter of the contract; or
(c)does not meet the minimum requirements laid down by the contracting authority.
(5) A contracting authority must ensure that the award criteria can be applied to variants meeting those minimum requirements as well as to tenders which are not variants.
(6) In a procedure for awarding a public supply contract or public service contract, a contracting authority that has authorised or required variants must not reject a variant on the sole ground that it would, where successful, lead to either a public service contract rather than a public supply contract or a public supply contract rather than a public service contract.