Compliance requirements
The contracting authority must exclude a bidder if the bidder, or a person authorised to represent, manage or control it, has been convicted of participation in a criminal organisation, breach of integrity obligations or corruption, fraud, terrorism-related offences, money laundering or terrorist financing; offences involving the unlawful employment of foreign nationals or violations of their employment conditions, including underpayment; child labour or human trafficking; or if the bidder has unpaid taxes, charges or environmental fees, or is subject to an applicable international sanction.
The contracting authority may also exclude a bidder for breaches of environmental, social or labour-law obligations; bankruptcy, liquidation, suspended business activity or a similar situation; serious professional misconduct; collusion or other conduct distorting competition; an unmanageable conflict of interest; an unfair competitive advantage arising from involvement in preparing the procurement; serious or persistent failures under previous public contracts; false or withheld information about qualification or requested evidence; attempts to improperly influence the contracting authority or obtain confidential information; tax offences; or lack of the legal right to submit a bid.
Businesses established in Russia or Belarus are not permitted to participate in the procurement.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder must meet these qualification and compliance requirements:
- Financial capacity: in each of the last three completed financial years, net turnover must have been at least EUR 200,000. The bidder must provide extracts from its annual reports showing turnover, unless the information for an Estonian-registered legal entity is publicly available to the contracting authority. If the financial year does not coincide with the calendar year, the requirement applies to the last three completed financial years. At least six months must have elapsed between the end of the last completed financial year and the bid submission date.
- Experience: during the 60 months preceding the start of the procurement, the bidder must have properly completed at least three contracts for electrical construction works similar to the contract. At least one must have a value of EUR 200,000 or more, excluding VAT. The bidder must list the contracts, including their performance periods, details and contact information for the client’s representative, and procurement reference numbers where applicable. Evidence of proper completion must be provided on request, unless the contracting authority can obtain it without significant cost from public or private databases.
- Switching authorisations: the team must include a person authorised to carry out the switching operations required for the works on 0.22–20 kV networks, excluding regional and distribution substations. The person must be registered in Elektrilevi’s partner portal before bids are opened. For works limited to 0.22–1 kV, low-voltage switching authorisation is sufficient; otherwise both low- and medium-voltage authorisations are required, including where low-voltage works require switching on the medium-voltage side. The training and authorisation process must follow instruction J387.
- The bidder must have a designated person responsible for the work operation, registered in Elektrilevi’s partner portal before the bid submission deadline. The application of this authorisation must follow instructions J31 and J3284.
- The team must include a person leading electrical works who holds a valid A-class competence and/or a qualification of at least level 6 under the Professions Act. The person must hold the relevant evidence at the time of bid submission and be registered in Elektrilevi’s partner portal before the submission deadline.
- The bidder must submit a price table using the form in the procurement documents and complete every unit-price field. Conditional bids or bids proposing additional conditions are not permitted; submitting a bid confirms acceptance of all procurement-document requirements.
- The bidder must provide the name, title and contact details of the contract signatory or signatories and a contact person for contract-performance matters. If signing authority does not arise from the articles of association, a power of attorney must be included.
- The bidder must identify any information claimed as a trade secret and explain why. Bid prices and other figures or indicators used for evaluation may not be designated as trade secrets.
- A joint bidding group must appoint an authorised representative from among its members and include the group’s power of attorney with the bid.
- During the works, materials, equipment and goods, including components, originating from or produced in Russia or Belarus may not be installed or used. The contracting authority may request certificates of origin.
- Standard invoice payment periods are 14 calendar days for contracts up to EUR 59,999; 35 calendar days for contracts from EUR 60,000 to EUR 249,999; and 45 calendar days for contracts of EUR 250,000 or more. Participation in the contracting authority’s factoring programme results in a 95-calendar-day payment period.