Selection criteria
Selection criteria determine whether a candidate has the technical capability and financial standing to perform the contract. They must be proportionate, non-discriminatory and objectively verifiable. The Council of State strictly controls whether selection criteria have been correctly applied.
You wrote in your own specifications that a third party must accept joint liability for financial capacity. Arguing on the day of the hearing that your own clause is illegal won't save you
Sibelga selects Illunis for lot 6 on the back of a French company's turnover (Rohl), but Rohl never signed a written acceptance of joint liability — even though Sibelga itself had required that acceptance in its selection dossier.
What the tender documents say is what counts — second thoughts about what you 'meant' come too late
The Council of State suspends the award of a framework contract for temporary staff because CHR Haute Senne disqualified X-CARE Wallonie for an ISO 9001 certificate expiring eight days after bid opening — while the tender documents only required the certificate to be valid 'at the time of bid submission'.
What if the Council of State annuls a Royal Decree six days before your contract award?
The Council of State suspends a re-awarded public contract because the Province of Liège withdrew its first award to Onefield ICT and reassigned it to a competitor after the retroactive annulment of the Royal Decree on accreditation classes, without first inviting the bidder to rely on the capacity of an affiliated group company.
A missing safety plan is not a selection issue, and an unattached analysis report cannot retroactively explain the decision
The Council of State suspends a demolition contract of €210,520 because the contracting authority declared a bidder 'not selected' due to a missing safety plan (PPSS) — which is not a selection criterion — and because the analysis report explaining why the offer was considered irregular was not included with the notification.
Your award was annulled, but that doesn't entitle you to full lost revenue — the Council of State awards 5% of the offer price, not 73%
Following the annulment of the SEN5 award in judgment 260,900, Pluris claimed €69,506 in damages based on lost revenue; the Council of State recognises only a 50% loss of chance and awards €4,742.50 — 5% of the offer price of €94,850.
Bidder's experience as an award criterion: the Flemish Mobility department trips over the selection/award distinction
The Council of State suspends the award of a framework agreement for project preparation along waterways because the second award criterion effectively assessed the bidder's experience — a classic selection criterion — rather than the intrinsic value of the offer.
STIB reserves a 60,000-case debt collection contract for bailiffs — but forgets to prove why collection agencies couldn't do it
The Council of State suspends STIB's decision not to select a debt collection company for a framework agreement on debt recovery, because STIB exclusively reserved the market for bailiff offices without adequately justifying why this restriction of competition was warranted.
A scoring scale from 'weak' to 'excellent' without further explanation — prima facie transparent enough
The Council of State rejects the suspension request of a postal services company challenging the award of a framework agreement, ruling that a qualitative evaluation method with an ordinal scale (weak/moderate/good/very good/excellent) is sufficiently transparent when the specifications contain evaluation elements and technical provisions that define the framework.
Wrong account on e-Procurement? If the entire application makes clear who the candidate is, the authority cannot remain blind
The Council of State suspends the non-selection of a candidate who uploaded its participation request through the e-Procurement account of a sister company, because the entirety of the submitted documents and the provided clarification unambiguously showed who the actual candidate was.
Minister Defensie sloot de Havilland uit van defensieaanbesteding zonder objectieve selectiecriteria
Schorsing omdat de minister de kandidatuur van De Havilland weigerde zonder helder criteria of objectieve gronden, in strijd met gelijkheid.
Commune vierde barrières-offerte af zonder motivering waarom technische afwijkingen essentieel waren
Schorsing: de gemeente verklaarde een offerte substantieel onregelmatig zonder helder te motiveren dat de technische afwijkingen (niet-monobloc, kleiner) inderdaad onoverkomelijk waren voor het marchéobject.
Agence du Numérique evalueerde cybersecurity-services zonder transparante gunningsmethodologie
Schorsing was gerechtvaardigd omdat de methode voor evaluatie van de cyberincident-responders ondoorzichtig was en verschillende inschrijvers niet gelijk werden behandeld.
Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg schreef liftrenovatie uit zonder degelijk onderzoek selectiecriteria
De voorzitter verleende schorsing omdat het ziekenhuis geen gedegen onderzoek had gedaan naar de geschiktheid van deelnemers en de kwaliteit van hun offertes voor dit technisch complexe project.
A subcontracting agreement without a date and without a price — but with a clear commitment to perform the work
The Council of State suspends the City of Kortrijk's decision to exclude a tender as substantially irregular because the subcontracting agreement with the ISO 17025-certified subcontractor was undated and contained no price, while the agreement did contain a clear commitment to perform the relevant part of the contract.
Referring to framework agreements without concrete execution details does not suffice as a reference
A tenderer that merely refers to framework agreements as references without specifying which lots were awarded, what deliveries were actually made, for what value and when, fails to adequately substantiate its offer and is rightly not selected.
Experience travels with the people, not the company registration number
A tenderer can rely on experience gained by its directors and staff at a previously acquired sole proprietorship to meet an experience requirement, provided there is a clear link — such as the acquisition of assets, trade name and know-how.
In a global qualitative assessment, isolated sub-elements don't count separately — and a concise selection report suffices when no issues arise
The Council rejects both grounds: criticizing a few sub-elements is insufficient to undermine a global qualitative assessment, and the contracting authority need not set out the selection examination in extenso when no problems arise.
Suspension of award of framework agreement for housing restoration – contracting authority valued prior references and certificates of the chosen tenderer under quality criterion while specifications only provided for 'means for optimal execution' as award criterion, in violation of Article 81 of the 2016 Act and transparency principle
The Council of State suspended under extreme urgency the award by SRL Sambre & Biesme of a works framework agreement (restoration of occupied and unoccupied dwellings) to SA SOTRELCO, because the contracting authority in assessing the second award criterion (quality, 30%) had valued SOTRELCO's prior references and certificates of satisfactory execution, while this information did not correspond to the 'means to be deployed for optimal execution' as described in the specifications — tenderers could not understand from the specifications that their prior achievements, which typically belong to qualitative selection, would be taken into account under this award criterion.
Requiring certificates of good execution for service references — is that allowed even when the Royal Decree doesn't prescribe it?
The Council of State rejects the suspension request of a soil analysis laboratory challenging its non-selection, ruling that a contracting authority may require certificates of good execution for service references even though article 68, §4 of the Royal Decree does not explicitly prescribe them for services.
The turnover requirement for the July 21st celebrations triples — but the authority forgets to explain why
The Council of State annuls the specifications for organizing the Belgian National Day festivities because the State tripled the financial capacity requirement — from €2M cumulative over three years to €2M per year for each of the last three years — without adequately justifying why this increase was proportionate to the contract.
Handtekeningen op verbintenisverklaringen van derden die niet overeenstemmen met de identiteitskaart mogen als onbewijskrachtig worden geweigerd — en de aanbestedende overheid hoeft de inschrijver geen tweede kans te geven
De Raad van State verwerpt de vordering tot schorsing bij uiterst dringende noodzakelijkheid van de niet-selectie van een inschrijver bij een raamovereenkomst voor loodgieterswerken, omdat (1) de aanbestedende overheid de verbintenisverklaringen van twee onderaannemers als onbewijskrachtig mocht weigeren wegens niet-overeenstemmende handtekeningen met hun identiteitskaart — wat geen schending is van de bewijskracht van een onderhandse akte maar een vaststelling dat de verklaringen de beweerde verbintenissen niet aantonen, (2) de formele motivering afdoende was nu zij de concrete reden van de weigering vermeldde, en (3) de zorgvuldigheidsplicht de aanbestedende overheid niet verplichtte om de inschrijver nogmaals te bevragen nadat zij reeds gebruik had gemaakt van de mogelijkheid om aanvullende informatie op te vragen na de opening van de offertes.
Event expert culture EventFlanders: references as assessment element within quality award criterion and score reduction after interview
The Council of State rejects a challenge against the award of a consultancy contract for a culture event expert at EventFlanders, because the specifications treat references not as an independent sub-criterion but as an assessment element for evaluating the proposed individual's experience, and because the authority was not required to further assess the applicant's references after the interview revealed the proposed expert could not clarify his specific role in those references.
Catering services for crematoria: eighteen-month-old insurance certificate does not qualify as 'valid current certificate' — tenderer bears responsibility
The Council of State rejects a catering company's challenge against its non-selection for a framework agreement for crematorium catering services, because an insurance certificate dating from eighteen months before the submission deadline is not a valid current certificate — the contracting authority is not obliged to request clarification on deficiencies resulting from the tenderer's own negligence, and submitting recent certificates in judicial proceedings is incompatible with equal treatment.
Selection criterion in specifications sharpening the contract notice: non-selection based on unannounced minimum requirement suspended
The Council of State suspends the non-selection of a signage and exhibition material supplier by VDAB, because the requirement that references relate to exhibitions with at least 70 stands was only included in the specifications and not in the mandatory contract notice — specifications may repeat but not tighten selection criteria beyond the contract notice.
Wanneer de aanbestedende overheid de plaatsingsprocedure stopzet en de bestreden beslissingen daardoor impliciet intrekt, verliest het beroep zijn voorwerp — en draagt de overheid de kosten als de partij die in het ongelijk is gesteld
De Raad van State stelt vast dat het beroep tegen de aankondiging en de selectiecriteria van een raamovereenkomst voor hoogwerkers met onderhoud zijn voorwerp heeft verloren, omdat de aanbestedende overheid de niet-selectiebeslissing heeft ingetrokken en de plaatsingsprocedure heeft stopgezet — wat de bestreden besluiten impliciet intrekt — en verwijst de overheid in de kosten omdat de verdwijning van de bestreden beslissingen een surrogaat van vernietiging vormt.
Wie de samenstelling van een consortium wijzigt zonder voorafgaand schriftelijk akkoord van de aanbestedende overheid, is geen 'geselecteerde deelnemer' meer — en heeft geen belang om de stopzetting van de procedure aan te vechten
De Raad van State verwerpt het vernietigingsberoep tegen de stopzetting van een concurrentiegerichte dialoog voor de valorisatie van het energiepotentieel van het Waalse wegen- en waterwegendomein, omdat de drie verzoekers — die zonder voorafgaand schriftelijk akkoord een vierde consortiumlid hadden gedegradeerd tot bevoorrechte onderaannemer — niet langer een 'geselecteerde deelnemer' waren in de zin van artikel 39 van de wet van 17 juni 2016, en dus geen belang hadden bij de vernietiging van de stopzettingsbeslissing.
Winning a suspension ruling doesn't guarantee you'll get the contract — the authority can terminate the entire procedure
The Council of State rejects an appeal against the termination of a procurement procedure for a Medical First Responder study, because a prior suspension ruling that found the selection criterion at least ambiguous is in itself a sufficient ground to terminate and redraft the tender specifications.
Een referentie voor een privaat revalidatiezwembad is geen referentie voor een publiek toegankelijk zwembad — en wie een referentie niet toewijst aan het juiste selectiecriterium, draagt zelf het risico
De Raad van State verwerpt de vordering tegen de niet-selectie van een design-buildteam voor de bouw van een openbaar zwembad te Leopoldsburg, omdat hun referentie 'Bosuil' — een privaat revalidatiecentrum voor profvoetballers — geen publiek toegankelijk zwembad was in de gewone betekenis van dat begrip, en omdat zij hun enige relevante zwembadreferentie in de informatiefiche bij hun aanvraag tot deelneming zelf niet hadden toegewezen aan het selectiecriterium 'Ontwerp – deel technieken'.
Technische vereisten in het bestek zijn geen verborgen selectiecriteria — het onderscheid tussen kwalitatieve selectie en regelmatigheid van de offerte
De Raad van State verwerpt de vordering tot schorsing van de gunning van een opdracht voor verhuisdiensten in de speciale sectoren, omdat de verzoekende partij ten onrechte aanvoerde dat de aanbestedende entiteit verborgen selectiecriteria hanteerde: de loutere vermelding van onderaanneming in het offerteformulier impliceert geen beoordeling van technische bekwaamheid, een standaardclausule over onderaannemers die verwijst naar 'kwalitatieve selectie' is een zinledige clausule wanneer het bestek uitdrukkelijk geen selectiecriteria vaststelt, en vereisten inzake personeel en materieel 'op straffe van uitsluiting' zijn technische specificaties die de regelmatigheid betreffen — niet de selectie.
Cumulatief selectiecriterium bij meerdere percelen is niet onevenredig als elk perceel gelijktijdig en afzonderlijk moet worden uitgevoerd — de aanbestedende overheid is niet verplicht een inschrijver uit te nodigen om ontbrekende attesten aan te vullen
De Raad van State verwerpt de vordering tegen de niet-toekenning van het tweede perceel van een raamovereenkomst voor groenonderhoud voor Infrabel, omdat het cumulatief selectiecriterium — zes referenties in plaats van drie bij toekenning van twee percelen — op een uitdrukkelijke wettelijke basis berust, niet onevenredig is gezien de gelijktijdige uitvoering in verschillende regio's, en de inschrijver zelf nalatig was door slechts drie referenties met formele attesten in te dienen terwijl zij erkende dat zij er meer had kunnen voorleggen.
Blanco UEA van draagkrachtentiteit is substantieel onregelmatig als een technisch probleem niet aannemelijk wordt gemaakt
De Raad van State verwerpt de vordering tegen de onregelmatigverklaring van een offerte voor een raamovereenkomst pechverhelping, omdat de inschrijver niet aannemelijk maakte dat een technisch probleem van het e-Procurement-platform de oorzaak was van het blanco UEA voor haar draagkrachtentiteit — de helpdesk bevestigde dat het naderhand overgemaakte document niet hetzelfde was als wat op het platform was opgeladen, de hash codes garandeerden dat documenten ongewijzigd aankomen, en de vier andere UEA's in hetzelfde gecompileerde bestand waren wel correct.
Referentieprojecten 'van vergelijkbare omvang' zijn een kwantitatieve vereiste die je niet kunt weginterpreteren via de minimumvereisten
De Raad van State schorst de gunning van de interieurrestauratie van een beschermd monument omdat de aanbestedende overheid een inschrijver selecteerde op basis van referentieprojecten waarvan slechts één een vergelijkbare financiële omvang had als de opdracht — terwijl het bestek uitdrukkelijk drie referentieprojecten 'van vergelijkbare omvang' vereiste en vier van de vijf voorgelegde referenties ver onder de waarde van de opdracht lagen.
Een referentie voor de levering van één fiets is niet vergelijkbaar met een opdracht voor 900 fietsen
De Raad van State verwerpt de vordering tegen de niet-selectie van een inschrijver voor een raamovereenkomst voor elektrische fietsen, omdat twee van de drie voorgelegde referenties slechts de levering van telkens één fiets betroffen — wat geen vergelijkbare opdracht is in het licht van een opdracht voor vermoedelijk 900 fietsen.
Afstand van geding na verwerping van de schorsingvordering tegen niet-selectie voor militaire vliegopleiding
De Raad van State verleent akte van de afstand van geding in een vernietigingsberoep tegen de niet-selectie van een kandidaat voor een onderhandelingsprocedure met bekendmaking voor een dienstencontract inzake basisvliegopleidingscapaciteit voor Defensie.
Een selectiecriterium zonder minimumdrempel is geen selectiecriterium — ook niet als de drempel 'nul' is
De Raad van State vernietigt de gunning van een takeldienst omdat geen enkel selectiecriterium in het bestek een minimaal vereist niveau bevatte — en een drempel van 'nul' niet geldt als een 'gepast eisenniveau' in de zin van artikel 65 van het plaatsingsbesluit.
Een vraag stellen op het forum verlengt de beroepstermijn niet als het antwoord de opdrachtdocumenten niet wijzigt
De Raad van State verwerpt een vordering tegen selectiecriteria als niet-ontvankelijk omdat het forumantwoord van de aanbestedende overheid het selectiecriterium alleen bevestigde en niet wijzigde — waardoor de beroepstermijn liep vanaf de bekendmaking, niet vanaf het forumantwoord.
Als de vereiste erkenning niet in het bestek staat, kun je een inschrijver niet weren omdat hij ze niet heeft
De Raad van State schorst een gunningsbeslissing omdat de opdrachtgever een inschrijver uitsloot wegens het ontbreken van een erkenning in categorie D, terwijl die vereiste niet was opgenomen in de opdrachtdocumenten die de inschrijvers konden raadplegen op e-Procurement.
Technische fiches aanleveren na het indienen? Teken dan ook het nieuwe depotrapport
De Raad van State verwerpt een schorsingsberoep omdat de inschrijver die op verzoek van de opdrachtgever aanvullende technische fiches indiende via e-Procurement, het bijhorende depotrapport niet had ondertekend met een gekwalificeerde elektronische handtekening — en dat is een substantiële onregelmatigheid.
Selectiecriteria controleren is geen formaliteit die je mag overslaan
De Raad van State schorst de gunning van een architectuuropdracht omdat de opdrachtgever nergens in het dossier aantoonde dat hij had geverifieerd of het winnende team daadwerkelijk over een 'ingenieur in speciale technieken' beschikte, terwijl het bestek dat uitdrukkelijk eiste.
Je moederbedrijf is groot genoeg? Bewijs dan dat het zich ook engageert
Een scheepsbouwer die de financiële draagkracht van zijn moederbedrijf inriep zonder een formeel engagement voor te leggen dat die capaciteit ook daadwerkelijk ter beschikking zou staan, werd terecht niet geselecteerd — ook al behoort de dochter tot dezelfde groep.
Second round, different outcome: how a contracting authority can solidly award the same contract after a first suspension
The Council of State dismisses A2's urgent-suspension claim against the re-award to KRINKELS of a SOFICO motorway maintenance contract, because this time SOFICO produced a concrete price verification and a justified inventory reorganisation — a textbook example of a contracting authority learning from a first suspension.
A start-up of five ex-employees may invoke their former employer's references — but the contracting authority must actually verify those references
The Council of State annuls the award of an urban planning study contract to SEN5 — a company set up by five ex-colleagues of the applicant — not because they used each other's references, but because the City of Jodoigne accepted a reference list that did not meet the specifications' requirement that the amount per assignment be stated.
Relying on sub-contractors? Deliver their tax and social security records too – or fail qualification
The Council of State rejects mask producer L.I. DECOR's appeal against exclusion by the French Community: a bidder relying on third-party capacity in a COVID mask procurement also had to prove those third parties had no social or tax debts.
A blanket delegation for all public contracts up to 80 million euros does not fit within "daily management": the Council of State suspends ORES Assets' selection
The Council of State suspends the selection decision of ORES Assets in a 56 million euro framework agreement for aerial work platforms, because a delegation covering all public contracts up to 80 million euros to a director of subsidiary ORES SC exceeds the limits of "daily management", and the energy decrees do not authorise a network operator to delegate powers directly to an organ of its subsidiary.
A temporary association with 'two class-5 accreditations' doesn't automatically reach class 6: main category D and subcategory D1 don't add up
The Council of State suspends an ILVO award of €3.78M for the construction of poultry research barns because one of the two joint venture partners was only accredited in subcategory D1 — not in main category D — which breaks the 'add-up' rule of article 11 §2 of the Act of 20 March 1991.
Two independent grounds for rejection: challenging only one means no standing — even if your other argument is strong
The Council of State rejects the extreme urgency suspension against the non-selection of SM Constructel for the RESA/ORES smart meter contract because the applicants did not challenge one of the two independent grounds for rejection — the absence of a VCA certificate for Modal — so the contested decision can stand on that uncontested ground alone.
Works 'near a river' are not similar to riverside wall construction — not even if the stakeholders and water management are identical
The Council of State rejects the suspension: SPI was entitled to consider that sinking shafts beneath the Ourthe are not 'similar works' to the construction of a quayside wall along a watercourse, even though both sites involved the same type of river environment.
A consortium cannot 'borrow' a missing statutory authorisation from its licensed partner
The Council of State rejects the suspension: when a contract covers regulated activities such as private security, each member of a consortium must hold the required authorisation personally — reliance on a third party's capacity is excluded for such 'specific authorisations'.
Council of State rejects annulment appeal against non-selection of combination for artificial turf renovation – each member must individually hold required ISO and VCA certificates for the part it executes
The Council of State rejected the annulment appeal by the Scheerlinck Sport – Canalco combination against their non-selection for the renovation of an artificial football pitch in Sint-Niklaas, because ISO 9001 and VCA certificates relate to the entire operation of a company and each member of a combination executing part of the contract must hold them — the first applicant, which would execute half the works but lacked the certificates, could not rely on its partner's certificates.
Your tender specifications were suspended for lack of reasoning? You don't have to lower the bar — you just have to explain better why it's set so high
After the Council of State suspended the first tender specifications for Belgium's national day festivities on grounds of inadequate reasoning for the turnover threshold, the Chancellery was allowed four days later to launch a new tender with exactly the same heightened requirements — because the res judicata of a suspension ruling does not prevent the contracting authority from taking the same decision if it fixes the illegality (the reasoning).
A contracting authority that has sat on your bid for 18 months can still walk away from the contract — even when the delay was their own fault
The Belgian Council of State dismisses Krinkels' extreme-urgency challenge against SOFICO's decision not to award three road-verge maintenance contracts: 18 months after bids opened, the tenderers' binding period had expired, and Article 85 of the Public Procurement Law of 17 June 2016 gives the contracting authority broad discretionary power to walk away and relaunch — even when the delay lies entirely with the authority itself.
Council of State suspends award of school window replacement contract in Brussels due to reference outside five-year period and inadequate price examination
The Council of State suspended on an emergency basis the award by the City of Brussels of a contract for the replacement of wooden window frames in the Queen Astrid school, because the selected tenderer had submitted a reference falling outside the five-year period required by the specifications and the general price examination was not supported by sound and careful reasoning.
Asbestos removal authorisation? You can't 'borrow' it from a subcontractor
The Council of State suspends the award of a demolition contract because the winning bidder lacked the required asbestos removal authorisation, which — classified in the tender documents as a 'suitability to pursue the professional activity' requirement — cannot prima facie be satisfied through reliance on a subcontractor's capacity.
Indexing your own references to clear the threshold: the Council of State doesn't fall for it
The Council of State rejects Dherte's emergency claim against the award of a €23 million school construction contract to Artes because Dherte did two things it shouldn't: applying its own price-revision formula to inflate old references above the tender thresholds, and challenging only the €20 million threshold while its non-selection also independently rested on an unchallenged €10 million reference requirement for a school building.
Turnover threshold doubled without explanation? That's prima facie an unjustified restriction on competition
The Council of State suspends the approval of the tender specifications for the 21 July national holiday festivities because the Belgian State raised the minimum turnover requirement from a cumulative €2 million over three years to €2 million per year — without any concrete, consistent justification in the administrative file.
Demanding a 'team member for acoustics' without any selection criterion for acoustics: Getevallei police zone must redo the selection
The Council of State suspends the non-selection of LAVA Architects for the conversion of the police building in Tienen because the police zone excluded it for 'missing team member for acoustics and safety coordination' — while the selection guide imposed no selection criterion for those disciplines and LAVA bid as a single legal entity, not as a consortium.
A 'senior' on your CV without dates: De Watergroep may award 'good' instead of 'very good'
The Council of State rejects D-Studio's appeal against the award of a BIM framework agreement to BIM Plan: for the 'project team experience' quality criterion (30 points), an authority may rate an offer 'good' (10/30) when concrete dates are missing from CVs — the 'senior' label on its own is not proof.
'Personal data' is no excuse for keeping internal advice from an unsuccessful bidder
The Council of State lifts confidentiality on the email exchange between the Chancellery and the Inspectorate of Finance in a procurement dispute over the 21 July national-day celebrations, because the contracting authority fails to identify any actual business secret — only personal data may be redacted.
Mentioning 'our trusted partner' in your method statement = implicitly relying on third-party capacity — UEA or no UEA
T&D Security loses the City of Ghent parking surveillance tender because their method statement names a licensed alarm centre (nv P.G.) as a partner without filing a UEA and capacity-commitment letter for that partner — result: substantial irregularity and mandatory annulment of the offer.
When a non-selection rests on multiple independent grounds, you must attack each — or your appeal is doomed
Flying Group Holding only challenged the optional exclusion ground about Chinese ties, but Defence had two other — unchallenged — grounds for non-selection, and those alone were enough to keep the decision standing.
A Flemish licence for non-urgent reclining patient transport doesn't grant mutual recognition for seated transport in Brussels — if Flanders doesn't regulate that activity, it has nothing to transfer
An ambulance company with a Flemish licence for reclining patient transport loses a Brussels framework contract for seated patient transport in light medical vehicles, because its provisional GGC accreditation expired during the procurement procedure and its definitive accreditation was only notified after the award decision — bad timing, says the Council of State, but no illegality.
Compensating an expired VCA certificate with an ISO certificate you'll only receive two months later? RESA lost the award
The Council of State suspends the Liège grid operator RESA's selection and award of a tree-pruning contract to Bois & Travaux because, on the application deadline (4 August 2021), Bois & Travaux had neither a valid VCA certificate — it had expired seven days earlier — nor the 'equivalent' ISO 45001:2018 certificate, which it would only obtain on 4 October 2021.
Even when your contract falls outside the procurement law: awarding 64 out of 100 points on publicly available financial ratios is discriminatory
The Council of State rejects RESA's appeal against the Walloon Minister's annulment of its award of a judicial debt-collection contract to bailiff firm Tintin: even for 'excluded' legal services (article 28 §1 4° of the 2016 Procurement Act), the equality principle applies, and using 64 of 100 points on publicly available balance-sheet ratios while you yourself select which firms to consult means you can predict the winner before any bid arrives.
Selection criterion '3 references on non-navigable waterways' for an earthworks contract: not disproportionate, even if <1% of the work touches the waterway itself
The Council of State rejects TRBA's challenge against its exclusion from a Walloon contract for the construction of a retention zone on the Senne, and confirms that a selection criterion requiring 'references on non-navigable waterways' is not disproportionate when the contract is executed in such a geographical context — and that bidders must explicitly demonstrate in their offer that their references meet the criterion.
Challenging a scoring error is pointless if you can't catch up with the winner anyway
The Council of State rejects an extreme-urgency suspension against the award of seven electric service vehicles because even a possible error in the distance calculation would not bridge the 16.59-point gap with the winning bidder.
A reference threshold that excludes 6 out of 8 candidates is not automatically disproportionate
The Council of State rejects the action of cleaning incumbent Misanet against its exclusion at the selection stage, because requiring three cleaning references for buildings with intermodal transport hubs of at least 30,000 persons per day is properly linked and proportionate to the subject-matter of the contract — and because a non-selected bidder has no standing to challenge the award itself.
A reference 'since 1969' built from one-off jobs can still qualify as a 'long-running contract/framework agreement'
The Council of State rejects the extreme-urgency suspension against the City of Ghent, accepting that 'Ghent University — since 1969, mainly student housing, always one-off jobs' qualifies as a long-running contract under the tender's selection criterion.
Three references that together cover all disciplines — not enough when the selection guide says 'both … and …'
The Council of State suspends the selection of KRAS Architecten because the municipality of De Pinte 'added up' disciplines from three different reference projects, while the selection guide explicitly required each reference to cover all disciplines on its own.
A young company may bid — but if you select it, you have to explain explicitly why you see no continuity risk
The Council of State suspends the award of Sport Vlaanderen's framework agreement for pop-up skateparks because the contracting authority justified its choice for a company able to submit only one truncated financial year — while the tender required three years — with the perfunctory line 'there is no reason to assume that the continuity of the contract cannot be guaranteed'.
A volume threshold of 70,000 cases a year is fine — but 'for one and the same client' is a separate decision that needs its own justification
The Council of State suspends the non-selection of bailiff Bordet for the joint debt-collection contract of SWDE and CILE because the selection criterion requiring 70,000 cases per year handled 'for one and the same client' lacks an independent justification and unduly restricts competition — while the previous tender allowed cumulation across multiple clients.
12 Nuctech customs scanners have been running for years — but for the 5 new ones, Chinese ownership was suddenly a security risk, and the Council sided with customs
The Council refuses the suspension of the award to Rapiscan Systems for mobile X-ray scanners for the Belgian customs (port of Antwerp and the entire Belgian territory) — Nuctech Warsaw, Polish-law subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Nuctech group, was not even invited under article 33 §2 of the Procurement Act 2016 ('essential security interests of the realm'), supported by a confidential profile analysis from the State Security Service on the Chinese national intelligence law of 2017 and ties to Tsinghua University.
€262 million or €120 million in 'real-estate development turnover'? Adding holding income to clear the threshold — and losing under extreme urgency
The CIT BLATON – GHELAMCO consortium was not selected for the redevelopment of the former town hall of Etterbeek (a competitive dialogue requiring €120 million in 'real-estate development turnover' over three years), and the Council refuses suspension under extreme urgency because Ghelamco's attempt to add holding income (classes 74 and 76A of the annual accounts) to its actual sales turnover (class 70) does not match the accounting definition of turnover and because 'managing shares is not in itself a real-estate development activity'.
Submit a class-1 accreditation where class 2 is required, then ask whether the authority should have flagged it — that doesn't work
The Council of State rejects NV COS's extreme-urgency suspension against its non-selection for the renovation of the GC De Zandloper grandstand: the contract is indeed a works contract, and a bidder who supplies the wrong accreditation class without invoking article 3, first paragraph, 2° of the Accreditation Act cannot blame the authority for not asking.
What 'equivalent dimensions' means is in the specifications — not in your head: three projects with two Ku/Ka 6m Cassegrain antennas isn't an example, it's the definition
The Council of State rejects the extreme-urgency action of Spanish company Indra Sistemas against its non-selection for the Defense satellite antenna procurement (Singa IV): when the specifications precisely define what 'projects of equivalent dimension' means, the bidder cannot afterwards rely on a broader reading based on its general sector experience.
Asking for a specification change does not extend the 15-day deadline: challenge the selection criteria within two weeks of publication
The Council of State declares bailiff Alain Bordet's extreme-urgency action against the selection criteria and GDPR clause in tender specification 3380-CSC Recouvrements créances 2024-2031 of SWDE and CILE inadmissible as out of time: the 15-day deadline of Article 23, § 3 of the 17 June 2013 Act also applies to specification conditions and cannot be extended by first sending a correction letter.
Challenging non-selection pays off: Lebbeke withdraws its award and pays 924 euros in costs, even though Verhoeve Marc gets no contract
A week before the Council of State hearing the Municipality of Lebbeke withdraws its award for the Waaitjesstraat slow-road redevelopment; the Council formally dismisses BV Verhoeve Marc's extreme-urgency action for loss of object but orders the municipality to pay 924 euros in costs, including the requested procedural indemnity of 700 euros.
Being invited to bid is not the same as being selected: Jacobs learns the hard way that qualifying for one job won't shield you on the next
The Council of State confirms that ORES rightly excluded Établissements Jacobs from lot 17 of the WQBLAAWA framework — being qualified in the system and invited to tender does not mean you have been selected for the specific contract.
A legally required authorisation does not have to be present at the time of the offer — even for emptying septic tanks — if the specifications do not impose it as a selection criterion
The Council of State refuses to suspend the award to TPRecup of lot 3 (waste collection and septic tanks) at Spa-Francorchamps, holding that the absence of the Walloon authorisation as 'vidangeur agréé' at the time of the offer does not constitute irregularity when neither regulation nor specifications impose it as a selection criterion.
A selection criterion may require you to have personnel — not to set aside a specific number of people for this contract
The Council of State suspends the award of BEP Environnement's textile collection contract to Oxfam because the selection criterion '4 drivers and 2 supervisors for the management of the contract' is not a general capacity criterion but a requirement on the specific deployment of personnel — which selection criteria are not allowed to be.
When lots are involved, the contracting authority may require references to fit the lot — even if the specifications do not say so explicitly
The Council of State refuses to suspend Spa-Francorchamps' decision not to select TPRecup for lots 1 (track maintenance) and 2 (cleaning of internal roads), holding that it is reasonable to require references relevant to the specific lot — even where the specifications do not differentiate between lots.
A 'pool of staff' is not a valid use of the personnel-experience award criterion — references about the bidder belong in selection, not in award
The Council of State suspends OCMW Tervuren's award to Compass Group for the meal-catering contract at WZC Zoniën because the sub-award criterion 'References' (10/100) measures the bidder's existing contracts — a selection element — and not the experience of the staff that will execute the present contract; Compass's 'pool of staff' argument hollows out the statutory exception.
An 'analogous contract' is not automatically a 'public contract', and calling a bid 'irregular' without examining the substantial nature of the irregularity is not a reasoning — Vivalia sees its award suspended
The Council of State suspends Vivalia's decision to exclude C-Consult Advice from its RHM software contract because Vivalia added two conditions that were not in the tender — references had to come from public (not private) contracts and could not concern a software update — and, on the irregularity ground, did not examine whether the irregularity was substantial, with reasoning resting on undocumented phone calls absent from the administrative file.
If you allow Art. 66 §3 supplementation of references, your motivation must show that the supplement actually meets the threshold
The Council of State annuls the award of the Charleroi maintenance contract for high-voltage cabins because the city let two competitors complete their qualitative selection file but failed to show in its motivation that the supplemented references actually reach the required threshold of 50,000 € HT per year.
A bank statement that the bidder 'has sufficient means' is not a selection criterion — without a threshold, the entire award falls
The Council of State suspends the award to SA Billy of the 'Smart mobility BW' bike-sharing service because the financial-capacity selection criterion is limited to a bank statement without a fixed threshold and there is no second financial criterion — a double breach of article 65 of the Royal Decree on Procurement.
A 'NOK' that becomes 'OK' after follow-up questions is not automatically an unlawful regularisation — if it concerns selection, not the offer itself
The Council of State dismisses Coeman Repatriëring's suspension against the award to Depannage Lybaert of the South-East towing lot, because the additional information the contracting authority requested on staff, premises and intervention vehicles did not fall under the strict regularisation rules for offers, but under the more lenient rules for requesting evidence of technical capacity.
Hide your previous terminated contract and you lose the next one too — even if you're contesting that termination in court
The Council of State refuses to suspend the exclusion of an architectural firm by social housing company Toit & Moi based on an earlier contract terminated by another contracting authority (La Sambrienne), holding that the firm should have spontaneously disclosed the termination in its bid and submitted self-cleaning measures — even though it is contesting the termination itself before the ordinary courts.
A reference 'does not belong to the candidate' — that line alone is not enough to exclude a firm relying on its founder's past role
The Council of State suspends the City of Tournai's non-selection of architecture firm SEA for the passerelle de l'Arche tender because the motivation — two references (La Belle Liégeoise, l'Enjambée in Namur) are in Greisch's name and therefore do not belong to SEA — does not allow verification whether the City held that founder V.S. cannot rely on those references, or that SEA cannot rely on the professional experience acquired by one of its founders at another firm.
May the contracting authority allow a flawed subcontractor to be replaced — or must it? The Belgian Council of State refers the question to the CJEU
The Council of State reopens the debate in the annulment action against the award of a Ghent restoration contract and refers two preliminary questions to the Court of Justice on whether a contracting authority is obliged, or merely allowed, to require a tenderer to replace a subcontractor that does not meet the selection criteria.
An €800,000 framework agreement can be awarded to a class 2 contractor — as long as each call-off stays below the threshold
The Council of State rejects TECNOFLEX's urgent suspension request against the award to HOME PERSPECTIVE of a framework agreement for window replacement at the Port of Brussels (€324,387 ex. VAT, total €800,000 over 4 years): for a framework agreement, the certification class is assessed per call-off, not on the overall budget — even when the contracting authority decides to free up €400,000 for the first year.
A 'reservation' about air freight and customs in your masks bid wasn't a useful clarification — it was a deviation from the delivery schedule that cost you the award
The Council of State rejects I'll Be Bag's challenge against the Covid mask procurement of 50 million Community masks (awarded to Avrox and Tweeds & Cottons): tendering with 'reservations' about transport and customs on a strict delivery schedule is legally a deviation — and challenging that deviation only later, in a supplementary note, comes too late and forfeits the right to attack the remaining grounds.
A commitment letter from your parent company is NOT a formality — leave it out of your application and you lose the contract, even after four years of proceedings
The Council of State rejects Chantiers Allais's urgent suspension request against its non-selection for the river patrol boats: any candidate relying on the financial capacity of its parent company must include a formal commitment letter from that parent in its application — group affiliation does not suffice, and post-deadline supplements are worthless, even when the contracting authority initially missed the flaw.
No supporting documents, no defence: a contracting authority that cannot justify its accreditation requirement sees the award suspended
The Council of State suspends — under extreme urgency — the award of lot 2 because EV-ILVO submits no document explaining why the electrical and data works fall under accreditation sub-category P1 rather than P2, while RDR Infra demonstrates with a meticulous four-page table that the bulk of the works actually sits under P2.
The 15% threshold of article 37 applies per lot — not per project. And theatre seats are not 'extra work' to a structural-build contract
The Council of State suspends AGB Deinze's decision to award sub-lot 8 (theatre seats, €219,359.80) — after a failed procurement procedure — 'as extra work' to the structural-build main contractor Strabag, because the 15% margin of article 37 of the Royal Decree on the General Rules of Execution 2013 must be calculated on the originally awarded lot, and supplying theatre seats is moreover a substantial extension of a contract for 'architecture and stability'.
Two questionable subcontractors in your file? The contracting authority does not owe you a second chance
The Council of State dismisses Monument Vandekerckhove's appeal against the award of the Ghent gas-holder restoration: article 73, §1, second paragraph of the Royal Decree on Award gives a bidder no unconditional right to replace a non-compliant subcontractor — the contracting authority retains discretion, and the equality principle may oppose replacement.
Between 'incorrect statement' and 'gravely false statement' there is a motivation gap the contracting authority must fill
The Council of State annuls the exclusion of a cleaning company on the ground of 'gravely false statements' (article 61, §2, 7° of the 2011 Royal Decree) because the Walloon Region had only established that the bidder's environmental management evidence did not meet the requirements — never explaining where the 'gravity' lay.
If you ask before the deadline whether your certificate is good enough, a 'no' on paper is hard to challenge later
The Council of State dismisses an extreme-urgency suspension by a window installer who was excluded because his ATG and ISO 9001 did not match a specific quality-label requirement in the specification — precisely because he had asked the question himself six weeks earlier and received a written 'no', he could no longer invoke a defective statement of reasons.
'Yes' on the bid form and 'no' on the ESPD: not a calculation error, but a ground for exclusion
Dockx Movers lost its extreme-urgency challenge against Artesis Plantijn Hogeschool because it ticked 'yes' to subcontracting on the bid form but twice answered 'no' in the attached ESPD — a contradiction the Council qualifies as a substantial irregularity that can no longer be cured under article 34 of the Royal Decree of 18 April 2017.
Writing 'we think 13 to 16 FTE would be good' to a bidder who has 5 is not clarification — it's coaching
The Brussels Region awarded the Collecto night-taxi concession to newcomer Victor Cab, which had only 5 FTEs at offer opening, after the Region wrote that 13 to 16 FTEs 'would be a good approach' and even suggested how (article 60, interns, students) — the Council of State suspends because this falls far outside what article 48, §3 of the concession law allows.
Bidding stricter than the special specifications require gives no advantage – not even when the Standard Specifications 250 are stricter
ADEDE loses the contract for clearing WW explosives on the Flemish coast by a single point to a construction company that bid with only one CTE expert, and hears from the Council of State that the special specifications may deviate from the Standard Specifications 250 which normally require two CTE experts.
A reference of 3.2 million euros for a commercial park does not count as a 'watercourse project' when only 299,000 euros were actually performed on the stream
T.R.B.A. submits references of 3.2 million euros (Estaimpuis) and 817,000 euros (Braine-le-Comte) for a selection criterion requiring '2 projects of 600,000 euros on non-navigable watercourses', but the Council of State reads the criterion as 'projects whose main object concerns works on watercourses' – and the Estaimpuis file (a commercial park where only 299,318 euros were actually performed on the Esperlion) does not meet that bar.
Four years of competitive dialogue stopped — and the Council says: one solid reason is enough, here there were two
After four years of competitive dialogue over a GFT processing plant Verko stops the procedure on four grounds — the Council of State holds that the lack of competition (one regular offer left) and the major budget overrun (€31m against an estimate of €13.6m) on their own already support the cancellation, regardless of whether the other two grounds are correct.
If your specifications ask for 'recent certificates from the manufacturer', you cannot later accept a supplier's own technical sheet
OTW required 'recent certifications' from the constructor for ZF gearbox oil, but awarded to WOLF OIL which only attached its own technical data sheet — the Council of State suspends with immediate execution: a contracting authority cannot loosen its own specifications after the fact.
One disabled worker out of two is exactly half — and half is not a majority
Groenservice Marissen was the cheapest bidder on a contract reserved for sheltered workshops in Schoten, but was excluded because it could not show that a majority of its workers — or even of the two workers it would actually deploy on site — were disabled; the Council of State dismisses the appeal.
'Proof of professional risks insurance' without amount or ceiling is no selection criterion — the Council suspends the award to Misanet and Atalian
The Belgian State had set 'proof of a professional risks insurance' as a financial selection criterion for the cleaning contract for the Immigration Service's closed centres and FITT housings, without any requirement on insured amount, ceiling or excess — the Council of State suspends the award because article 65 of the 2017 Award Royal Decree requires an appropriate level of requirement.
One signature short — and no second chance, even when a competitor got one
BUUR lost a contract worth nearly EUR 200,000 because its tender was signed by only one delegated director where the company's articles required two — and the Council ruled the awarding authority was under no obligation to allow regularisation, even though it had granted regularisation to another bidder at an earlier stage.
Demanding insurance of 3× your tender price is allowed — the '2× rule' from the directive only applies to turnover
The Belgian Council of State dismisses FALCO's appeal and confirms that a contracting authority may require bidders' professional liability insurance to cover at least 3× the tender amount — the proportionality rule that applies to minimum-turnover requirements (max 2× the estimated contract value) is not transposable to insurance guarantees.
Giving everyone a perfect score is not an evaluation — and a tennis court contract falls under sub-category G4, not G
The Council of State suspends the award of a contract for two clay tennis courts in Herzele to Sportsbuild, because the municipality de facto neutralised two of its three award criteria by giving every bidder the maximum score, and because the contract fell under sub-category G4 — meaning that classification of the contractor was required, which the winner did not have.
Submitting no ISO certificate? You don't need to prove why you couldn't get one
The Council of State rejects Sodexo's appeal: a tenderer who does not submit a quality certificate and instead provides 'equivalent measures' implicitly proves that the certificate could not be obtained in time — no separate 'negative' burden of proof is required.
'A sound financial basis' is not a level of requirement — not even in a negotiated procedure
The Council of State suspends the award to Köse Cleaning of the cleaning of SNCB management buildings in Brussels because the contract notice fails to specify a level of requirement for several selection criteria — an obligation that applies fully to the negotiated procedure with publication too.
H is not H2 — anyone challenging a railway contract's accreditation category must not compare apples with pears
The Council rejects Strukton Rail's extreme-urgency appeal (€12,486,148.88) against the award of a railway contract to Putman Frères (€9,955,008.05) for finishing works at Klein-Eiland station: Strukton accuses Putman of having only category H accreditation instead of H2, but confuses 'overhead lines' (general H accreditation) with 'placing contact wires' (specific subcategory H2) and therefore fails to provide a usable calculation showing H2 was required for the whole contract.
Two bidders, both lacking the required certificates — yet the rejected bidder still has standing to seek suspension
The Council suspends the award to AGS Coussaert of lot 6 (packaging of diplomatic cargo) of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs: both the absence of an explicitly required bank statement and of two explicitly required certificates (ISPM15 and SEI/HPE) in the winning bid were left unmotivated in the award decision — and the contracting authority cannot hide behind the fact that BKSI's own bid was also incomplete, because with two bidders BKSI gets a new award opportunity if both are rejected.
When your own specifications say 'data collection is not an end in itself', your €2.5 million works contract turns into a services contract
The Council of State upholds the Walloon Region's tutelage decision annulling the City of Namur's award of a €2.57 million Intelligent Transport System — the 'works contract' classification fails even though works represent 83% of the budget, because the specifications themselves describe data collection as a mere means serving a mobility-management end.
Failing to compare yourself with the winners loses your case
The Council of State rejects an extreme-urgency application by an architect joint venture against Ghent University's selection of five other study teams for a €29.6 million student housing project — not because the reasoning was flawless, but because the petitioners nowhere concretely show why the five selected were not better than they.
Two grounds for exclusion? One weak link can break the whole decision
The Council of State suspends the award of shower-renovation works to RECO+ because the Communauté française excluded VAEL on a combination of a tax debt that the tax administration itself had repeatedly denied existed, and a Social Security debt that did stand up — but without saying that either ground sufficed on its own, the weakest link drags the whole decision down.
If you ask one bidder to clarify an 'abnormal' offer, you must ask every bidder with the same ambiguity — selective questioning is unequal treatment
The Council of State suspends a Brussels Environment Institute award because only Oneliner was questioned about its 'abnormally high' translation volumes, while another selected bidder had explicitly not committed in its own offer either — selective questioning over an ambiguous tender clause is unequal treatment of bidders.
A turnover requirement of fifty times the contract value is striking — but if one valid exclusion ground holds, the appeal does not fly
The Council of State rejects VR Conteneur's extreme-urgency action against Intradel: even if the requirement of €10 million annual turnover for a contract worth €200,000 is debatable, the non-selection also rests on the absence of a welding robot — a requirement Intradel was entitled to set — and the awardee ANG could rely on its Polish subsidiary's consolidated turnover under article 74 RD 15/07/2011.
Want one project to count as a reference for every discipline? Say so in your application — not at the Council of State
The Council of State rejects the extreme-urgency action of an architectural firm that only afterwards claimed that its single restoration reference 't Schaliken was actually meant as a reference for architecture, technical studies and stability as well — while the city of Oudenburg had asked for four separate references in the call for applications and the firm's own application maintained that distinction.
If you know the auditor finds your winner's permit unlawful, you cannot rush the award — even under the presumption of legality
The Council of State suspends the Port of Antwerp's award of 8 million euro of dredging works in the 4th dock to Martens & Van Oord, because the Port — despite known auditor reports finding the crucial OVAM permit unlawful — did not wait for the Council's ruling before proceeding.
Eight references from your Swiss supplier? Without a written commitment, none of them count
The Council of State refuses to select Medtradex because the bidder could not produce three of its own references for a detergent dispensing system, and the references of its Swiss supplier Borer Chemie were unusable without a written commitment under article 74 of the 2011 procurement-placement royal decree.
Certificates of good execution are not in principle confidential — appellants can request access when challenging the selection
In an annulment procedure against a €27 million award, the Council of State holds that certificates of good execution are not secret documents and reopens the debates so the parties can examine those documents — under strict conditions.
Excluded for tax debt? A VAT credit relating to the closed quarter can save you — even if the document is dated after the opening
The City of Brussels excluded MW-Cars from a school transport contract because it had over €3,000 in tax debts on 7 January 2016 and its VAT declaration only reached the City on 18 January, but the Council of State suspends the exclusion: the €21,517.30 VAT credit related to a quarter closed before opening and therefore existed on the opening date.
Maintenance during the warranty period is not a 'service contract' — Skoda eliminated for 175 MIVB trams
The Council of State rejects Skoda's extreme-urgency suspension against its non-selection for the MIVB framework agreement for 175 trams: Skoda's satisfaction certificates concerned the supply and warranty-period service, while the third selection criterion required a reference to a separate service contract on life-cycle management — two different things that Skoda had bundled into one.
A 'maintenance contract' for cycle paths sounds like services — but the CPV code decides, and CPV 45233141 is works
The Council of State rejects the extreme-urgency action by a cleaning company without contractor accreditation against the award to Sotraplant of the maintenance contract for the cycle paths of Namur province, because a contract under CPV 45233141 'road maintenance works' is works — not services — and a bidder without personal accreditation cannot be awarded the contract, even if its subcontractor presents a (partly fitting) accreditation.
Press coverage of fraud at your competitor isn't enough to have them excluded — the contracting authority needs concrete proof
The Council of State rejects Alfa-Zet Systems' extreme-urgency suspension request against the award of the Fedorest cash-register contract to Euro-Tap-Control-Verkoop, because a fraud investigation reported in the press without concrete criminal-law evidence does not establish a 'serious professional misconduct' under article 61, §2, 4° of the Royal Decree on Procurement.
The lowest bidder loses a €105,982 school renovation because seven mandatory documents were missing — and the specifications offered no second chance
The Council of State dismisses the suspension request against the award of the renovation of the KA Berchem classrooms to Creative Resin Solutions for €105,982.08: the fact that the contracting authority allowed the winner to add a missing reference list but not Verboven-Reynders does not breach the principle of equal treatment — a bidder who omitted seven mandatory selection documents is not in a 'comparable situation' to one who only missed a single formality.
What was first 'insufficient' cannot suddenly become 'satisfactory' without explanation — in the absence of both a minimum threshold and a reasoned assessment, the selection collapses
The Council of State suspends the award of the design/build of a municipal school in Godarville to MIGNONE, because the municipality first found MIGNONE's reference lists insufficient, then without any visible assessment declared after additional information that they were 'satisfactory and sufficient', and in its written observations to the Council brought up — for the first time — five references, three of which had already been in the first list deemed insufficient.
Class 4 is in the specifications, class 3 is not — but you cannot pull such a minimum threshold out of a hat
The Council of State suspends the award to Groenservice of the installation of an artificial-turf football pitch for the municipality of Anderlecht, because the municipality had excluded the lowest bidder BVBA MAB on the basis of an unpublished minimum threshold — references had to exceed €500,000 — that appeared nowhere in the specifications or the notice.
Accepting a 7-year-old town hall reference? Yes, as long as the final acceptance still falls within the three-year window
The Council of State rejects the extreme-urgency action by architectural firms Alinea Ter and Atelier de l'Arbre d'Or against the award by IDELUX of the project author contract for the Mardasson polyvalent hall in Bastogne, because the reference of the winning team — the Durbuy town hall from 2009 — remains acceptable as long as final acceptance (9 December 2012) falls within the three-year window of article 72, 7° of the Royal Decree of 15 July 2011.
Strict reference requirement in the call? Then 'OK' and 'who can do more can do less' aren't motivation
The Council of State suspends the award to KONE of the lift lot for the new Jules Bordet Institute, because KONE submitted as its technical-capacity reference the renovation of existing lifts at ZNA Middelheim hospital — while the call for tenders explicitly required a 'rigorously comparable' reference in the context of building a new hospital institution, and the administrative file contained no reasoned trace of why that deviation was acceptable.
A social security debt is a discretionary exclusion ground — automatic exclusion without a weighing is insufficient reasoning
The Council of State annuls an award because the French-speaking Brussels Parliamentary Assembly excluded cleaning company ACTIVA over social security debts without considering its ongoing repayment plan and a contested rectification debt — and without explaining why it exercised its discretionary exclusion power that way.
A 'service provider's declaration' is not a logo on your reference sheet — it must be clear, signed and attributable
The Council of State upholds the disqualification of an architects' consortium from Uccle's renovation contract because their reference for a private client was not accompanied by a real 'service provider's declaration' — an undated 'preamble' and a fact sheet bearing only the Archi 2000 logo are insufficient.
Negotiated procedure 'lighter' than an open one? Not for qualitative selection — that step is mandatory
The Council of State annuls an award by the Ixelles municipality for distributing its town magazine because the tender contained no qualitative selection criteria — an obligation that also applies to the negotiated procedure with publicity.
A reference for 2,200 parking meters in Seattle does not prove experience with licence plate entry — if the functionality only goes live in 2016
The Council of State rejects IPS Group Benelux' challenge against its exclusion at selection stage for a Gent parking-meter tender and rules that a reference where the required functionality (licence plate entry) is not yet operational does not prove technical experience — even if the bid documents show the equipment supports it.
You can't count the same 8 staff for two different personnel profiles — or you lose your selection
The Council of State dismisses K. Verstraete & Zoon's annulment appeal against the €6.5 million road-lighting contract awarded to nv VSE because Verstraete used the same 8 staff for both 'defects/breakdowns' and 'new construction', while the specifications required 29 separate profiles for lot 5.
A clarification sheet the contracting authority asked for itself — then ignored: without explanation, the award cannot stand
The Council of State suspends in extreme urgency the award of the design team for the Grand Théâtre in Verviers because the city set aside a clarifying table it had itself requested from a candidate team, without explaining why, and additionally failed to motivate the rejection on scenography.
Cover letters count: "valid for 1 month" alongside your bid = materially irregular, bid binned
Dolmans Landscaping wrote in the cover letter accompanying its bid for weed management across seven Limburg municipalities that "this offer is valid until 1 month after the offer date" — Infrax declared the bid materially irregular for deviating from the bid validity period of 90 days set out in the specifications, and the Council of State agreed: the cover letter could be read as part of the offer, even though it was not a completed tender form.
An authority that did not know the winner needed a licence cannot say 'the rival should have warned us'
The Council of State annuls the award of parking-meter emptying to Apcoa Belgium because Apcoa, since a 2012 amendment, did not hold the required private security licence — a public order law the authority itself should have checked at selection.
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This page shows all rulings of the Council of State (Belgium's supreme administrative court) on selection criteria in public procurement. Each ruling is summarized by TenderWolf in plain language, with a legal lesson and a practical question to ask yourself. View all rulings →