Overview
The guidance documents are intended to provide technical guidance and help with interpretation and understanding of the Procurement Act 2023.
The guidance documents should be read in conjunction with the Procurement Act 2023 and its associated regulations and are aimed at procurement practitioners and commercial policy leads in contracting authorities. They are intended to provide technical guidance and help with interpretation and understanding of the Procurement Act 2023.
The Procurement Act 2023 (Act) allows contracting authorities to set conditions of participation which a supplier must satisfy in order to be awarded a public contract following a competitive tendering procedure. The conditions must only relate to the supplier’s:
- legal and financial capacity
- technical ability to perform the contract
They must be a proportionate means of ensuring the supplier’s relevant capacity or ability, having regard to the nature, complexity and cost of the public contract.
When compared with award criteria (section 23) which are used to assess the tender, conditions of participation are used to assess the supplier. Contracting authorities must make these conditions clear in the tender notice, supplemented (where necessary) by the tender documents.
Legal framework
- Section 22
Other guidance relevant to this area
- Covered procurement objectives
- Assessing competitive tenders
- Competitive tendering procedures
- Central digital platform and the publication of information
- Technical specifications
- Exclusions
- Debarment