Sign the undertaking in case of award of the contract

Verified 01 January 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The public purchaser shall select the most economically advantageous tender using criteria established in advance in the consultation documents. The contract is then signed by the successful candidate and the buyer. The contract is notified after a standstill period in the formalized procedures.

The public purchaser shall analyse the tenders in two successive stages:

  • Analyzes the applications to assess the ability of candidates to perform the contract.
  • Then analyses the offers to choose the most economically advantageous offer.
Examination of applications

In principle, the public purchaser starts by analyzing the applications dropped off. This phase usually takes place before the tender examination phase.

It checks that the applications have been received in the time limits. Any application submitted after the deadline is eliminated.

It verifies that the candidates meet the conditions for participation indicated in the notice of invitation to tender or in the consultation documents. These are the economic and financial capacities of the candidate, taking into account those of possible co-contractors or subcontractors. Technical and professional capacities are assessed: number of staff, average level of education and professional qualifications, etc.

Finally, the buyer also checks that the candidates do not not subject to a ban to apply.

Examination of tenders

The public purchaser then examines the offers to choose the one that is economically most advantageous.

It shall evaluate the tenders received using the award criteria set out in consultation regulation (CR). These criteria are freely chosen by the purchaser and make it possible to assess the quality of the expected services, the modalities of execution of the contract. While the use of a single criterion (price or cost) is possible in some cases, the use of a plurality of criteria is always recommended to value other elements of the offer.

The buyer has the possibility to rely on a single criterion or on several criteria.

The single criterion is economical. These are:

  • Price : where the sole purpose of the contract is the purchase of standardized services or supplies of a quality which does not change from one supplier or supplier to another
  • Cost : based on the life-cycle cost of a product, service or structure. It covers all or part of the costs of acquisition, energy consumption, maintenance, recycling, etc.

When based on several criteria, the buyer may provide, in addition to this economic criterion (price or cost), qualitative, environmental or social criteria. These include, for example:

  • Quality : technical value, aesthetic or functional characteristics, accessibility, learning, production conditions, guarantee of fair remuneration of producers, innovation or development of direct supplies of agricultural products
  • Lead times : delivery conditions, after-sales service and technical assistance, security of supply
  • Organization, qualifications and experience of staff : the buyer may exclude from the procurement procedure a person who has not established a vigilance plan when she had to

Regular, acceptable and appropriate offers are classified in descending order by applying the selected award criteria.

Once the offers are filed, the buyer applies a scoring method which need not be specified in the consultation documents.

The criteria must be weighted when the contract is awarded according to a formalized procedure.

Please note

Irregular, unacceptable or inappropriate offers are automatically eliminated and cannot be classified.

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Adapted procedure contract (Mapa)

In awarding a public contract, the public purchaser must comply with the following principles:

  • Choosing a relevant offer
  • Good use of public funds
  • Do not always contract with the same company when there are different offers that can meet the need

Beyond the price, the determining criteria for awarding a contract can be technical value, quality, supply conditions, lead times, social and environmental efforts.

Formalized procedure contract

If the contract is made according to a formalized procedure, the criteria must be weighted or, in the event of impossibility, indicated in descending order of importance.

Weighting represents the buyer's emphasis on each criterion and tells candidates which aspects they should focus on.

Thus, when the price criterion is weighted to 80%However, it is the amount of the offer that will weigh mainly for the choice. The lower the price of the offer, the more likely it will be to win. The weighting of the criteria may be expressed as a range with a maximum deviation.

In case of competitive dialog and for one innovation partnership, the most economically advantageous tender must necessarily be chosen on the basis of several criteria.

FYI  

Where the purchaser is a local authority, the examination of tenders shall in principle be carried out by the competent tendering committee.

A negotiation phase may take place after the first analysis of the tenders and before the award of the contract. It allows the buyer to evolve the initial offer of the candidate so that it is as close as possible to his need.

The Consultation Regulation (CR) must specify that the market is open for trading. It specifies the method of negotiation and the elements to which it may relate (time, price, quantity, etc.). Negotiation can also take place on the technical side (for example, for a contract for the acquisition of a machine, the discussion can be about consumables, maintenance, etc.).

As a matter of principle, once the negotiation is foreseen, it applies to all candidates who have submitted a tender. It may cover all the elements of the offer or be limited to one or more elements.

The negotiation can take place by exchanging emails via the buyer profile, or in meetings with the selected candidates.

It is possible under certain procedures formalized and in adapted procedures contracts (Mapa).

Formalized procedure contract

Trading is possible in the following markets:

  • Competitive dialog which must enable the public body to determine with the candidates the technical, legal and/or financial solution best suited to meet its needs
  • Market without prior advertising or competitive tendering
  • Procedure with negotiation whose principle is to improve the content of successive offers by negotiation

The procedure with negotiation can be implemented only in one of the following 6 cases:

  • A need that cannot be met without adapting immediately available solutions
  • Need for an innovative solution
  • Contract involving design services
  • Existence of special circumstances (linked to the nature of the market, its complexity, the financial arrangement)
  • Unable to define technical specifications
  • In the context of a call for tenders, only irregular or unacceptable tenders were submitted

Adapted procedure contract (Mapa)

Where the public contract is awarded in the context of a Mapa, it is possible for the purchaser to arrange for a negotiation phase with the applicant companies before awarding the public contract. This negotiation phase should be mentioned in the consultation documents and/or in the notice of advertisement of the public contract. It must also indicate the criteria on which candidates will be selected to participate in the negotiations.

This is a possibility for the buyer and not an obligation. Even where the buyer has opened the possibility of negotiation, it retains the possibility of awarding the contract without having the obligation to launch the negotiation.

The consultation may be open or restricted: the buyer may decide either to proceed to a preliminary phase of selection of applications and then send the consultation file to the candidates he has chosen (restricted procedure), or to request candidates in a single phase all the documents relating to the application and the offer.

The highest-ranked bid is selected as provisional like most economically advantageous offer.

The public purchaser must verify the fiscal and social situation of the recipient. It shall then ask the candidate to whom the contract is to be awarded to produce, within a fixed period, the certificates and certificates. When the reply is submitted via the online Dume, the candidate for the public contract does not therefore need to submit these certificates when the information is already known to the administrations.

The successful candidate and the buyer must then sign an act of commitment.

FYI  

Buyers may request successful applicants to conduct a focus components of the public procurement before signing. This is a simple adjustment of the offer to make slight changes. For example, the development may make it possible to adapt the schedule for the performance of the services or to substitute certain materials.

What is the act of commitment?

The Deed of Commitment is the essential part of the public procurement. It makes it possible to know precisely the reciprocal commitments of the successful candidate and the buyer.

This document shall be provided by the public purchaser at the time of the award of the public contract and then transmitted to the applicant company and/or the momentary company grouping (GME) retained.

Unlike the documents in the application file (DC1, DC2 or Dume) and the tender, the undertaking must be signed by both parties: the candidate and the public purchaser.

By signing it, the selected candidate commits to his price offer and formally accepts the provisions of the contract.

Once the company and/or the consortium has signed the undertaking, it shall return it to the public purchaser.

The latter must comply with a standstill period before signing the contract in certain procedures.

FYI  

A model of the commitment act is offered to public buyers through the website of the Ministry of Economy. This is the ATTRI form 1

This model is optional. The public purchaser may choose to draw up his own undertaking as soon as all the mandatory and regulatory particulars appear on it.

In which cases does the buyer have to meet the “standstill” deadline?

A "standstill" deadline must be respected by the buyer before the public contract is signed.

This period shall apply only where the contract has been awarded in accordance with formalized procedure. In this case, the buyer must wait at least 11 days between the date of dispatch of the notification and the date of signature of the contract by the buyer. This period is 16 days if the information was sent by paper mail.

The standstill period does not apply in the following cases:

  • When the contract is entered into procedure Mapa
  • Where the contract is awarded to the only operator who participated in the consultation
  • For specific markets based on a dynamic acquisition system (SAD)

How to sign the deed of engagement?

The deed of undertaking shall be signed in writing or electronically. The electronic signature is the equivalent of the handwritten signature for a dematerialized document. Both parties (the buyer and the contract holder) must use the same average of signature.

The signatory(s) must each have the power to hire the person they represent (individual candidate or member of the company grouping). In the case of a group of companies, it is the representative designated by the group who must sign. In the absence of a representative, all members of the group must sign.

The electronic signature is not imposed by regulation. The buyer may however decide to impose it in the consultation documents.

To use the electronic signature, the company must satisfy several prerequisites :

  • It must have acquired a signature certificate that is nominative and the corresponding software application that is often offered by the buyer profile. It guarantees the identity of the signatory and the integrity of the electronic document, i.e. it can no longer be modified once signed. The certificate is issued for a period of 1 to 3 years to a natural person and not to a company. It is generally in the form of a USB key.
  • It must have specified its internal organization and designated the persons authorized to sign on its behalf: its holder must have the capacity to engage the business or have a delegation of power.

The electronic signature certificate is paying. It is marketed by qualified private providers specialized in electronic certification. Since it may take several days to obtain, the request must be anticipated in relation to the response time indicated in the contract notice.

FYI  

To obtain an electronic signature certificate, you can refer to the list of qualified providers.

Where the candidate is unable to perform the contract as a result of a fortuitous caseor a case of force majeure (example: earthquake, flood), the buyer can call on the bidder whose offer is closed immediately afterwards.

The buyer cannot make this decision after notification from the contract to the successful candidate.

For contracts awarded according to a formalized procedure, the public purchaser must publish a notice of award, within a maximum period of 30 days from the signature of the contract.

The publication of an award notice is optional in an adapted procedure.

This notice makes it possible to make public the choice of the offer chosen by the buyer. It is published in BOAMP: titleContent or in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) depending on the market.

FYI  

Failure to publish an award notice shall not result in the unlawfulness of the public contract.

The public purchaser notified the contract to the holder after signing of the contract. In practice, this involves sending a copy of the signed contract to the holder.

The texts do not impose no delay for this notification of the contract.

For markets equal to or greater than €40,000 Excluding VAT, the notification to the successful candidate is made electronically either by messaging the buyer profile or by a tool that designates the sender, guarantees the identity of the recipient and establishes the date of delivery of the document.

The contract shall in principle enter into force on the date of receipt of the notification to the successful candidate unless the public contract provides for other arrangements.

Please note

Since 1er January 2024, for public procurement above €40,000 HT, the buyer must publish in the 2 months of contract notification to the holder, the ‘ essential data of the public procurement contract.

These data relate to the public procurement procedure, the content of the public procurement contract and the performance of the contract and its amendment.

They consist of 24 mandatory data and 21 conditional data (in specific cases). These include, for example, the Siret number of the buyer, the nature of the contract, the subject matter of the public contract, the procedure, the place of performance, the duration, etc.

One order of 22 december 2022 (amended by a decree of 22 December 2023) determines the modalities for implementing the essential data of public procurement.

This publication can be made either on the buyer profile or directly on the national open data portal (data.gouv.fr).

Where the amount of the contract is equal to or greater than €25,000 and less than €40,000 Excluding VAT, the buyer may choose to publish, in the first quarter of each year, on the medium of his choice, the list of contracts concluded in the previous year (amount, date of conclusion of the contract, name of the successful tenderer and his postal code).