Compliance requirements
Exclusion grounds apply, among other cases, where the bidder or members of its management, administrative or supervisory bodies have been convicted of participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorism-related offences, money laundering or terrorist financing, unlawful use of child labour, or human trafficking. The assessment also covers tax or social security contribution arrears and breaches of environmental, social or labour-law obligations.
Other potential grounds include bankruptcy, insolvency or liquidation proceedings, an arrangement with creditors, assets being administered by a liquidator or a court, suspended business activities, serious professional misconduct, agreements distorting competition, an unavoidable conflict of interest, involvement in preparing the procurement that creates an undue competitive advantage, or a material or repeated breach of a previous contract. Grounds may also include providing false information, failing to provide required information or documents, or improperly obtaining confidential information.
National exclusion grounds are also checked. These include enabling a foreign national to work without a legal basis, international sanctions, local tax arrears in the contracting authority’s location, conviction for a tax offence, and lack of the right to submit a bid. The bidder must confirm that the offered goods are not subject to international sanctions and do not originate from sanctioned regions, and that Russian persons or entities covered by sanctions are not involved for more than 10% of the contract value.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder’s net turnover for the last three financial years completed by the start of the procurement must total at least EUR 450,000. An extract from the annual accounts for the last three completed financial years must be provided, unless the information for a bidder registered in Estonia is publicly available to the contracting authority through a data register.
Within the 36 months preceding the start of the procurement, the bidder must have completed at least two contracts similar to the subject of this procurement. The bidder must provide a list of street-lighting network operation and maintenance services, including their values, service periods and client contact details. For public procurements, the reference number must also be provided.
The bidder must have at least one responsible employee with post-secondary vocational education in electrical engineering, at least three years’ experience managing street-lighting networks, and Class A competence for managing electrical work. The bidder must also have at least three persons responsible for managing electrical work who hold Class B competence. A list of the responsible employees and copies of their competence certificates must be submitted.
The bidder must have had an average of at least 15 employees in each of the last three years and must provide the average headcount for each year. By the start of contract performance, the bidder must have the necessary equipment and vehicles, including at least two bucket lifts with a lifting height of at least 12 m, vehicles for maintenance teams, excavation equipment, a pole-hole drilling rig and a universal vehicle suitable for transporting poles. A written confirmation that the necessary equipment is available or can be rented must be provided.
By submitting a bid, the bidder accepts the tender-document conditions; conditional bids are not permitted. The price must follow the required structure, and the work-volume and repair-cost forms in Annex 3 (Tables 1–11) must be completed. For a joint bid, a power of attorney for the joint bidders must be provided. Any claimed trade secret must be identified and justified; the bid price and numerical figures used to assess bids may not be designated as trade secrets. The bidder must confirm that the offered goods are not subject to international sanctions and do not originate from sanctioned regions. The bidder must also confirm that entities who are Russian nationals, residents or established in Russia, entities more than 50% owned by them, and entities acting on their behalf or under their direction will not be involved in contract performance for more than 10% of the contract value.