Compliance requirements
The bidder, or all members of a joint tender where applicable, will be excluded if the company is bankrupt or in liquidation, subject to bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings, has suspended business activities, or is in a similar situation under the law of its country of establishment. Exclusion also applies where the bidder has outstanding state tax, payment or environmental-charge debts, or tax and social security payment debts, unless the debt has been paid or rescheduled, or is paid or rescheduled within 10 calendar days after receiving notice of the ground for exclusion. The bidder must confirm that none of the grounds referred to in Section 95(1), points 1–3 and 5, of the Estonian Public Procurement Act apply. The bidder must also demonstrate that the average remuneration of its employees during the six-month reference period was not less than 70% of the average remuneration in the relevant field during the same period; this requirement does not apply to entities without employees. A foreign bidder must provide evidence from an equivalent competent authority in its country of establishment. The bidder must not be a related person to the technical consultant advising the beneficiary on the apartment-building renovation. If the absence of exclusion grounds cannot be verified through public registers and evidence was not submitted with the tender, the contracting entity may allow 10 calendar days for submission. Failure to submit the required evidence by the deadline results in exclusion.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder must be registered in the Estonian Register of Economic Activities for construction activities covering general construction, indoor climate systems, and water-supply and sewerage systems inside or connected to buildings. If electrical works are performed, the registration must cover the construction and installation of electrical installations. A foreign bidder may provide equivalent evidence of competence. The net turnover in the financial year preceding submission of the tender must be at least twice the estimated VAT-exclusive contract value; the input does not state the estimated contract value, so the exact euro threshold cannot be calculated. By the contract-signing date at the latest, the bidder must be able to provide an on-demand guarantee issued by a credit or financial institution or an insurer, equal to 5% of the VAT-exclusive construction contract value. The security must remain valid throughout the construction period and may be replaced by depositing the required amount into the beneficiary’s or a notary’s account. Failure to provide the security within 10 calendar days after contract signature may result in the contract not being concluded or in legal remedies being pursued. During the 60 months preceding commencement of the procurement procedure, the bidder must have completed at least one comparable construction project as the main contractor, with a value of at least half the estimated VAT-exclusive contract value. The project must have included construction or reconstruction of the building’s load-bearing structures and external envelope, heat-recovery mechanical ventilation, and a new heating system. The bidder must provide project details, timing and value, together with the building-register notice of use or occupancy permit number, or a copy of an acceptance certificate signed by the client and contractor. The team must include a project manager holding at least a required Level 6 building engineer or construction manager qualification, a site manager holding at least a Level 5 construction foreman qualification, a ventilation and heating systems specialist holding at least a relevant Level 6 engineering or construction manager qualification, a water-supply and sewerage systems specialist holding at least a relevant Level 6 engineering or construction manager qualification, and, where electrical works are performed, a person holding at least a Class B competence certificate or a Level 6 electrical engineer qualification. The names and professional certificate numbers must be provided. If the bidder relies on the qualifications of other persons, signed commitments from those persons to participate in contract performance must be included. The team must also include an authorised architect with at least Level 7 qualification, or equivalent foreign competence, responsible for ensuring compliance of the building design with the principles of the New European Bauhaus. The bidder must have a quality-management system for construction activities meeting ISO 9001 and an environmental-management system meeting ISO 14001, or provide equivalent evidence. The tender price must be submitted in the required structure, and the amounts and unit prices in the tender form must add up to the published tender price. A joint tender must include a power of attorney from the joint bidders. The tender must identify and justify any trade secrets; the tender price and prohibited evaluation-related figures may not be classified as trade secrets. The tender must comply with all tender documents, and conditional tenders are not permitted.