Compliance requirements
The bidder, its management or supervisory body members, and persons authorised to represent it must not be subject to exclusion due to a final conviction for participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorism or related offences, money laundering or terrorist financing, illegal use of child labour or human trafficking. For criminal convictions, the relevant period is the last five years or any exclusion period that remains in force under the judgment. A mandatory exclusion ground also applies to enabling a foreign national who is unlawfully present in the country to work, or to breaching the conditions for a foreign national’s work in Estonia, including paying less than the statutory wage rate.
The bidder must have no outstanding taxes or social security contributions. In Estonia, a tax arrears certificate is not issued where the debt is below EUR 100 or payment has been deferred; for foreign bidders, the rules of their country of establishment apply. Exclusion also applies if awarding the contract would breach an international or Estonian sanction, or if the bidder, a joint participant or an entity whose capacity is relied upon is established or resident in the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus.
The bidder must confirm that neither it nor persons acting on its behalf have engaged in corrupt conduct in connection with the competition. Under the sanctions restriction applicable to contracts above the international threshold, more than 10% of the contract value must not be performed by subcontractors or suppliers who are Russian citizens, residents or entities established in Russia, entities more than 50% directly or indirectly owned by such persons, or entities acting on their instructions. If an exclusion ground applies, the bidder may submit evidence of measures taken to restore its reliability where the procurement exceeds the international threshold or the tender documents allow this.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
At least one author of the design concept must hold a valid authorised architect qualification or an equivalent professional qualification obtained in an European Economic Area member state or Switzerland. An author resident in Estonia must hold an authorised architect qualification at level 7 or 8 (EQF/EKR). The bidder must provide the author’s name and qualification details in the ESPD; upon request, it must provide a qualification certificate or a copy of registration in the relevant register. If the certificate is not publicly available to the contracting authority, submission of it with the design concept is recommended.
The design concept must comply with the tender documents, including the scope and format specified in points 4.1 and 4.2 of the design brief, and must be submitted via the e-procurement system by the deadline in a commonly used file format. Files must not be encrypted. Participation requires the application in Annex 4, the identification card in Annex 5 and a compliant design concept. The concept must remain anonymous and bear a verbal motto; files must not contain information identifying the author or their representatives. Joint participants must appoint an authorised representative and submit the power of attorney and joint-liability confirmation using Annex 6.
The design work must be carried out by personnel with the qualifications specified in point 3 of the design services contract. The concept must reflect the environmental objectives: buildings must meet nearly zero-energy building requirements; sustainable and environmentally friendly materials should be selected; the use of hazardous chemicals and the carbon footprint should be reduced; and circularity and a long service life should be supported. Rooftop technical equipment must be screened through architectural design, and the buildings must be designed to minimise cooling demand. Cooling must be provided in the kitchen, server room and computer classrooms; other work and teaching rooms must allow cooling of supply air. Trees and architectural features must be used for passive cooling.