Article 139

Technical specifications must afford equal access for candidates and tenderers and not have the effect of creating unjustified obstacles to competitive tendering. They shall define the characteristics required of a product, service or material or work with regard to the purpose for which they are intended by the contracting authority. The characteristics referred to in paragraph 1 shall include: the quality levels; environmental performance; wherever possible, the accessibility criteria for people with disabilities or the design for all users; the levels and procedures of conformity assessment; fitness for use; safety or dimensions, including, for supplies, the sales name and user instructions, and, for all contracts, terminology, symbols, testing and test methods, packaging, marking and labelling, production procedures and methods; for works contracts, the procedures relating to quality assurance and the rules relating to design and costing, the test, inspection and acceptance conditions for works and methods or techniques of construction and all the other technical conditions which the contracting authority may impose under general or specific regulations in relation to the finished works and to the materials or parts which they involve. The technical specifications shall be formulated in any of the following ways: by reference to European standards, or to European technical approvals or common technical specifications, where such exist, to international standards, to other technical reference systems established by European standardisation bodies or, failing this, their national equivalents; every reference shall be followed by the expression ‘or equivalent’; in terms of performance or of functional requirements, which may include environmental characteristics and shall be sufficiently detailed to enable tenderers to determine the purpose of the contract and the contracting authorities to award the contract; by a mixture of those two formulation methods. Where the contracting authorities make use of the possibility of referring to the specifications referred to in point (a) of paragraph 3, they may not reject a tender on the grounds that it does not comply with those specifications if the tenderer or candidate proves, to the satisfaction of the contracting authority, by any appropriate means, that the tender meets in equivalent manner the requirements set. An appropriate means may take the form of a technical dossier of the manufacturer or a test report from a recognised body. Where the contracting authorities make use of the possibility provided for in point (b) of paragraph 3, of prescribing specifications in terms of performance or of functional requirements, they may not reject a tender which complies with a national standard transposing a European standard, a European technical approval or common technical specifications, an international standard or technical reference systems established by European standardisation bodies, if those specifications relate to the necessary performance or functional requirements. The tenderer must prove to the satisfaction of the contracting authority and by any appropriate means that the tender meets the performance or functional requirements set by the contracting authority. An appropriate means may take the form of a technical dossier of the manufacturer or a test report from a recognised body. Where contracting authorities lay down environmental characteristics in terms of performance or of functional requirements, they may use the detailed specifications, or, if necessary, parts thereof, as defined by European, multinational or national eco-labels, or by any other eco-label, provided that the following conditions are satisfied: the specifications used are appropriate to define the characteristics of the supplies or services that are the object of the contract; the requirements for the label are drawn up on the basis of scientific information; the eco-labels are adopted using a procedure in which all the parties concerned, such as government bodies, consumers, manufacturers, distributors and environmental organisations, can participate; the eco-labels are accessible to all interested parties. Contracting authorities may indicate that the products or services bearing the eco-label are presumed to comply with the technical specifications laid down in the contract documents. They shall accept any other appropriate means of proof, such as a technical dossier of the manufacturer or a test report from a recognised body. A recognised body for the purposes of paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 is a test and calibration laboratory or a certification and inspection body which complies with applicable European standards. Save in exceptional cases, duly warranted by the subject of the contract, those specifications may not refer to a specific make or source, or a particular process, or to trade marks, patents, types or a specific origin or production which would have the effect of favouring or eliminating certain products or economic operators. Where it is not possible to provide a sufficiently detailed and intelligible description of the subject of the contract, the reference shall be followed by the expression ‘or equivalent’.

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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.