Compliance requirements
The bidder must confirm that neither the company nor its management, supervisory body members or representatives are subject to grounds for exclusion. These include final convictions within the past five years for participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorism, money laundering, terrorist financing, illegal child labour or human trafficking, as well as any exclusion period imposed by a judgment that remains in force. Other grounds include failure to pay taxes or social security contributions; breaches of environmental, social or labour law; bankruptcy, liquidation, insolvency proceedings or suspension of business; serious professional misconduct; agreements intended to distort competition; an unresolved conflict of interest; involvement in preparing the procurement in a way that gives an unfair advantage; serious breach of a previous contract resulting in termination, compensation or a contractual penalty; and providing false information, withholding material information or required documents, or improperly obtaining confidential information.
A separate ground applies where the bidder or a relevant representative has been convicted of enabling a foreign national to work while staying in the country unlawfully, or of breaching the conditions for a foreign national’s employment in Estonia. Exclusion also applies if awarding the contract would breach an international or Estonian sanction, or if the bidder is not entitled to tender under a restriction stated in the tender documents. The notice states a tax-debt threshold of EUR 0; its additional information says that Estonia does not issue a tax-debt certificate for a debt below EUR 100 or where payment has been deferred. For foreign bidders, the rules of their country of establishment apply. Where an exclusion ground applies, the bidder may provide information about measures taken to restore its reliability, where that option is applicable.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder must submit a service description covering its understanding of the work’s objectives, problem and practical value; its methodology; its approach to engagement, co-creation and communication; and the risks involved and mitigation measures. The description must be detailed enough to assess compliance and will be used in evaluating the tender. A delivery schedule aligned with the technical description must show the stages, sequence and duration, interim outputs, responsible persons, and cooperation and decision points. The actual evaluation method and scoring are not specified in the available text and should be checked in the tender documents.
The tender must name the people filling four core roles: project manager, spatial planning expert, urban studies expert and green infrastructure expert. For each, submit a CV, documents proving the required qualifications, and the person’s confirmation that they agree to serve and participate in the contract. Provide the distribution of tasks, responsibilities and roles across the whole team. The project manager must submit proof of education; the spatial planning expert must submit proof of professional qualification or education; the urban studies expert must submit proof of education; and the green infrastructure expert must submit proof of qualifications and education. The required experience and qualification criteria for these roles are set out in the separately referenced document “Team Requirements”; their precise details are not included in the available text and must be checked in the tender documents.
After contract award, the contractor must name the GIS and spatial analysis expert, mobility and accessibility expert, public services and infrastructure economic analysis expert, planning law and administrative procedure expert, and housing and social impacts expert no later than two weeks before each expert begins their part of the work. For each, provide a completed CV, evidence of compliance with the requirements, and confirmation of participation; the contracting authority must approve them before they begin.
Each role must be filled by one person. One person may cover up to two roles if they meet the requirements for both; explain how combining roles will preserve quality and timely delivery. Team members must have English proficiency equivalent to at least B2 to work with international studies, or the contractor must provide the necessary translations. No specific financial turnover or general bidder experience threshold is stated in the available text.
The bidder must confirm that it will prioritise environmentally friendly solutions, including online meetings where practicable, appropriately sized digital materials and deletion of unnecessary digital files after completion. The offer must accept all tender-document conditions; conditional offers are not permitted. Joint bidders must appoint an authorised representative and include the relevant power of attorney with the offer. The bidder must identify any trade secrets in the offer and explain why the information qualifies; prices and other specified evaluation-related figures may not be designated as trade secrets. The bidder must also confirm that prohibited Russian-linked subcontractors or suppliers will not be engaged for more than 10% of the contract value.