Article 138

The tender documents shall include at least: the invitation to tender or to negotiate or to take part in the dialogue under the procedure referred to in Article 132; the attached specification or, in the case of a competitive dialogue as referred to in Article 132, a document describing the needs and requirements of the contracting authority, or the reference for the internet address at which such specification or document can be consulted; the draft contract based on the model contract. Point (c) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to cases where, due to exceptional and duly justified circumstances, the model contract cannot be used. The tender documents shall contain a reference to the advertising measures taken under Articles 123 to 126. The invitation to tender or to negotiate or to take part in the dialogue shall at least: specify the rules governing the lodging and presentation of tenders, including in particular the closing date and time for submission, any requirement as to the use of a standard reply form, the documents to be attached, including those in evidence of financial, economic, technical and professional capacity referred to in Article 146 if they are not specified in the contract notice, and the address to which they must be sent; state that submission of a tender implies acceptance of the specification referred to in paragraph 1 to which the tender relates and that this submission binds the contractor to whom the contract is awarded during performance of the contract; specify the period during which a tender will remain valid and may not be varied in any respect; forbid any contact between the contracting authority and the tenderer during the procedure, save, exceptionally, under the conditions laid down in Article 160, and, where provision is made for an on-the-spot visit, specify the arrangements for such a visit; specify, in the case of a competitive dialogue, the date set and the address for the start of the consultation phase. The specifications shall at least: specify the exclusion and selection criteria applying to the contract, save in a competitive dialogue, in the restricted procedure and in the negotiated procedure following publication of a notice as referred to in Article 135; in such cases those criteria shall appear solely in the contract notice or the call for expressions of interest; specify the award criteria and their relative weighting or, where appropriate, the decreasing order of importance, if this is not specified in the contract notice; set out the technical specifications referred to in Article 139; state the minimum requirements which variants must meet in the procedures referred to in Article 149(2) under which the contract is awarded to the tender offering best value for money, where the contracting authority has stated in the contract notice that such variants are permitted; state that the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union or, where appropriate, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations or Vienna Convention on Consular Relations applies; specify the evidence of access to contracts, as set out in Article 172; specify, in the dynamic purchasing systems referred to in Article 131, the nature of the purchases envisaged, as well as all the necessary information concerning the purchasing system, the electronic equipment used and the technical connection arrangements and specifications. The model contract shall in particular: specify the liquidated damages for failure to comply with its clauses; specify the details which must be contained in invoices or in the relevant supporting documents in accordance with Article 102; state that, when the institutions are contracting authorities, Union law is the law which applies to the contract, complemented, where necessary, by a national law as specified in the contract. specify the competent court for hearing disputes. For the purposes of point (c) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, in case of contracts referred to in Article 121(1), the draft contract may refer exclusively to national law. The contracting authorities may demand information from the tenderer on any part of the contract that the tenderer may intend to subcontract to third parties and on the identity of any subcontractors. In addition to the information referred to in Article 143, the contracting authority may also require the candidate or tenderer to submit information on the financial, economic, technical and professional capacities, as referred to in Articles 146, 147 and 148, of the envisaged subcontractor, in particular when subcontracting represents a significant part of the contract.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.