The Concession Contracts Regulations 2016

Award criteria E+W+N.I.

41.—(1) Concession contracts shall be awarded on the basis of objective criteria which comply with the principles set out in regulation 8 and which ensure that tenders are assessed in conditions of effective competition so as to identify an overall economic advantage for the contracting authority or utility (“the award criteria”).

(2) The award criteria—

(a) shall be linked to the subject-matter of the concession contract;

(b) shall not confer an unrestricted freedom of choice on the contracting authority or utility; and

(c) may include criteria such as one or more of the following—

(i) environmental criteria,

(ii) social criteria, or

(iii) criteria related to innovation.

(3) The award criteria shall be accompanied by requirements which allow the information provided by the tenderers to be effectively verified.

(4) The contracting authority or utility shall verify whether tenders properly meet the award criteria.

(5) The contracting authority or utility shall list the award criteria in descending order of importance.

(6) Where the contracting authority or utility receives a tender which proposes an innovative solution with an exceptional level of functional performance which could not have been foreseen by a diligent contracting authority or utility, the contracting authority or utility may, exceptionally, modify the ranking order of the award criteria to take into account that innovative solution.

(7) Where paragraph (6) applies the contracting authority or utility shall—

(a) inform all tenderers about the modification of the order of importance and issue a new invitation to submit tenders, respecting the minimum time limit referred to in regulation 39(4) for the receipt of tenders;

(b) where the award criteria have been published in, or at the same time as, the concession notice, publish a new concession notice, respecting the minimum time limit referred to in regulation 39(3) for the receipt of applications.

(8) The contracting authority or utility shall ensure that a modification of the ranking order referred to in paragraph (6) does not result in discrimination.

(9) In this regulation, “innovation” means the implementation of a new or significantly improved product, service or process, including but not limited to production, building or construction processes, a new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations, including with the purpose of helping to solve societal challenges or to support F1 ... sustainable and inclusive growth.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 41(9) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1319), regs. 1(2), 8(23) (with Sch. paras. 3-5)