A tender without a price for the insurance policy — irregular, but that argument won't help if you're still second
The Council of State rejects the claim of a road construction company whose tender was declared irregular for omitting a price on one item, since even if declared regular, the company would still rank second and therefore lacks standing.
What happened?
De Lijn tendered a framework agreement for road maintenance in Antwerp's tram zone, with price as sole criterion. Three tenders were submitted. The applicant left one item blank (global insurance price). The tender was declared irregular. The applicant argued the gap should have been filled using the formula in Article 84 §2. The Council found ex officio that even if the tender were declared regular, the applicant would still rank second — no standing. A second ground challenged the authority of the person who signed the notification letter. The Council found that person only signed the notification, not the actual award decision, which was validly taken by the Director of Technology under a specific delegation.
Why does this matter?
This ruling illustrates two classic pitfalls: challenging your tender's irregularity has no chance if you'd still rank second even if declared regular, and the signatory of the notification letter is not necessarily the author of the award decision.
The lesson
For tenderers: before challenging your tender's irregularity, verify you'd actually rank first if declared regular. If not, you lack standing. For authority arguments, verify you're targeting the actual award decision, not just the notification.
Ask yourself
Challenging your tender's irregularity? Check whether you'd rank higher than the winner if declared regular. Building an authority argument on the notification letter signatory? Verify whether that person actually took the award decision.
About this database
The Council of State (Raad van State / Conseil d'État) is Belgium's supreme administrative court. In disputes over public procurement — from contract awards to tenderer exclusions — the Council of State is the final arbiter. The rulings in this database are summarised by TenderWolf in plain language, with practical lessons for tenderers and contracting authorities. View all rulings →