Most bids that fail do not lose on price or quality – they are excluded before the evaluation. The reasons are of two kinds: the bidder's personal circumstances and the non-compliance of the bid itself.
Mandatory grounds
The law lists circumstances in which the buyer must exclude the bidder: convictions for certain offences (fraud, corruption, participation in a criminal organisation, terrorism, money laundering, child labour), unpaid public liabilities for taxes and social security above a set amount, a conflict of interest that cannot be removed, and some breaches of labour law. These circumstances are declared in the ESPD and checked before the contract.
Discretionary grounds
The buyer may apply them if it has stated so in the notice: insolvency or liquidation, breaches of environmental, social or labour law, an earlier public contract terminated early, false information in the procedure, an attempt to influence the decision. Check which of them the buyer has chosen – only those stated apply.
Measures to prove reliability
If a ground for exclusion applies to you, the law lets you prove that you have taken measures: you have paid the liabilities or agreed a payment plan, compensated the damage, cooperated with the authorities, introduced internal control rules. The measures are described in the ESPD and proved with documents. The buyer decides whether they are sufficient.
Exclusion because of the bid itself
This is the most common case and the easiest to prevent:
- a missing document or signature;
- not meeting the selection criteria – not enough experience, turnover, staff;
- a technical proposal that does not match the specification or the form;
- terms in the bid that differ from the buyer's terms (deadline, guarantee, payment method);
- a price proposal with an arithmetic error, or above the estimated value when that is the maximum;
- a bid for part of a lot, or for variants when they are not allowed;
- a bid validity period shorter than required.
How to reduce the risk
- Make a checklist from the notice and the documents: every requirement a line in the list, and against it the document that covers it.
- Use the buyer's forms without changing them.
- Check every figure twice: price tables, deadlines, quantities.
- Ask a question at the slightest doubt; the answer is public and binds the buyer.
- Have a second person review the bid before submitting.
The article is general information, not legal advice.
Updated on 1 Oct 2026. The article is general information, not legal advice.
