{"id":23399,"date":"2025-01-08T15:36:51","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T14:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abante.de\/when-are-bidder-questions-to-be-answered-publicly\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:33:51","slug":"when-are-bidder-questions-to-be-answered-publicly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/when-are-bidder-questions-to-be-answered-publicly\/","title":{"rendered":"When are bid\u00adder ques\u00adtions to be answered pub\u00adlicly?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In pub\u00adlic pro\u00adcure\u00adment pro\u00adce\u00addures, there are many spe\u00adcial fea\u00adtures and chal\u00adlenges that both con\u00adtract\u00ading author\u00adi\u00adties and bid\u00adders must take into account. A recent deci\u00adsion by the North Bavar\u00adi\u00adan Pub\u00adlic Pro\u00adcure\u00adment Cham\u00adber dat\u00aded Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 11, 2024 (Ref.: RMF-SG21-3194\u20139\u201118) dealt with when bid\u00adder ques\u00adtions must be answered pub\u00adlicly. In this arti\u00adcle, we sum\u00adma\u00adrize the key points for you.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click here for the video of the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion of the deci\u00adsion:<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe hcb-fetch-image-from=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/q5wt_B5jjRY\" title=\"Bieterfragen sind bieter\u00f6ffentlich zu beantworten! VK Nordbayern (RMF-SG21-3194-9-18)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q5wt_B5jjRY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bid\u00adder ques\u00adtions and their role in the award pro\u00adce\u00addure \u2014 Deci\u00adsion of the North Bavar\u00adi\u00adan Pub\u00adlic Pro\u00adcure\u00adment Cham\u00adber<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a recent deci\u00adsion, the North Bavar\u00adi\u00adan Pub\u00adlic Pro\u00adcure\u00adment Cham\u00adber (VK) clar\u00adi\u00adfied how to deal with bid\u00adder ques\u00adtions in the con\u00adtext of award pro\u00adce\u00addures. In a pro\u00adce\u00addure in which plan\u00adning ser\u00advices for bridges were ten\u00addered in two lots, a dis\u00adpute arose about how to deal with ques\u00adtions and how to answer them. The deci\u00adsion has both prac\u00adti\u00adcal and legal sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance for con\u00adtract\u00ading author\u00adi\u00adties and bid\u00adders.  <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Back\u00adground and facts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ten\u00adder com\u00adprised plan\u00adning ser\u00advices in two lots, each for con\u00adstruc\u00adtion super\u00advi\u00adsion and con\u00adstruc\u00adtion man\u00adage\u00adment for a tem\u00adpo\u00adrary bridge and bypass. From the out\u00adset, the pro\u00adce\u00addure was char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized by numer\u00adous changes and queries, which led to a total of 23 change notices. Par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly strik\u00ading: some answers to bid\u00adder ques\u00adtions were not com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcat\u00aded pub\u00adlicly by the client, but only pri\u00advate\u00adly to indi\u00advid\u00adual bid\u00adders.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few days before the bid dead\u00adline, one bid\u00adder asked a series of ques\u00adtions, some of which were only answered on the day the dead\u00adline expired \u2014 again, only pri\u00advate\u00adly. After sub\u00admit\u00adting his bid, this bid\u00adder lodged a com\u00adplaint, as he felt that the answers would also have been rel\u00ade\u00advant for oth\u00ader par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpants. <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Deci\u00adsion-mak\u00ading by the pub\u00adlic pro\u00adcure\u00adment tri\u00adbunal: prin\u00adci\u00adple and excep\u00adtions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pro\u00adcure\u00adment cham\u00adber con\u00adfirmed the gen\u00ader\u00adal prin\u00adci\u00adple that <strong>answers to bid\u00adders\u2019 ques\u00adtions must always be made avail\u00adable to all bid\u00adders<\/strong>. This is nec\u00ades\u00adsary to ensure equal oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties and trans\u00adparen\u00adcy in com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion. How\u00adev\u00ader, it named excep\u00adtions that may jus\u00adti\u00adfy a pri\u00advate response: <\/p>\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Indi\u00advid\u00adual mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00ading of a bid\u00adder<\/strong>: If the ques\u00adtion has no gen\u00ader\u00adal rel\u00ade\u00advance, it may be answered indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Busi\u00adness secrets<\/strong>: Infor\u00adma\u00adtion con\u00adcern\u00ading trade or busi\u00adness secrets may be pro\u00adtect\u00aded.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal con\u00adnec\u00adtion<\/strong>: Ques\u00adtions with\u00adout a rec\u00adog\u00adniz\u00adable con\u00adnec\u00adtion to the ten\u00adder can also be clar\u00adi\u00adfied pri\u00advate\u00adly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this case, how\u00adev\u00ader, the VK Nord\u00adbay\u00adern saw vio\u00adla\u00adtions, as answers to ques\u00adtions of rel\u00ade\u00advance to the cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion \u2014 such as the scope of ser\u00advices for plan and sup\u00adple\u00admen\u00adtary audits \u2014 were only passed on pri\u00advate\u00adly. Such infor\u00adma\u00adtion should have been made avail\u00adable to all bid\u00adders. <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Con\u00adse\u00adquences and infringe\u00adment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The award\u00ading cham\u00adber found that the pri\u00advate answer\u00ading of these rel\u00ade\u00advant ques\u00adtions vio\u00adlat\u00aded the rights of the oth\u00ader bid\u00adders. It could not be ruled out that the addi\u00adtion\u00adal infor\u00adma\u00adtion would have influ\u00adenced the appli\u00adcan\u00adt\u2019s com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive suc\u00adcess by caus\u00ading oth\u00ader bid\u00adders to cal\u00adcu\u00adlate their bids dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly. The CC there\u00adfore decid\u00aded to sus\u00adpend the pro\u00adce\u00addure and con\u00adduct it again.  <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Crit\u00adi\u00adcal clas\u00adsi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion: Where the pro\u00adcure\u00adment cham\u00adber leaves lee\u00adway<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The deci\u00adsion of the VK Nord\u00adbay\u00adern is large\u00adly in line with estab\u00adlished case law, but shows a gen\u00ader\u00adous inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion of the exemp\u00adtion rules. This har\u00adbors risks: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Indi\u00advid\u00adual respons\u00ades<\/strong>: The indi\u00adca\u00adtion that pri\u00advate respons\u00ades are per\u00admis\u00adsi\u00adble in the event of \u201cmis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00adings\u201d or facts that are already known could tempt clients to be too lax in their approach to the prin\u00adci\u00adple of trans\u00adparen\u00adcy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pass\u00ading on infor\u00adma\u00adtion in the event of cor\u00adrec\u00adtions<\/strong>: Accord\u00ading to many experts, even minor infor\u00adma\u00adtion, such as revised doc\u00adu\u00adments, should also be made avail\u00adable to all bid\u00adders in order to ensure equal oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How\u00adev\u00ader, the award\u00ading cham\u00adber remains strin\u00adgent in its expla\u00adna\u00adtions: As soon as a ques\u00adtion is asked which the award\u00ading author\u00adi\u00adty answers, the answers must be addressed to all bid\u00adders \u2014 regard\u00adless of how tight the dead\u00adline for sub\u00admit\u00adting a bid is.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Con\u00adclu\u00adsion: trans\u00adparen\u00adcy wins<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The deci\u00adsion of the VK Nord\u00adbay\u00adern under\u00adlines the fact that trans\u00adparen\u00adcy is an indis\u00adpens\u00adable cor\u00adner\u00adstone of the award pro\u00adce\u00addure.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bid\u00adders <\/strong>should be able to trust that infor\u00adma\u00adtion is pro\u00advid\u00aded equal\u00adly and com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsive\u00adly.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Clients <\/strong>are well advised to com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcate bid\u00adder ques\u00adtions and answers strict\u00adly anony\u00admous\u00adly and pub\u00adlicly in order to avoid unnec\u00ades\u00adsary legal risks.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fur\u00adther insights and detailed expla\u00adna\u00adtions of the deci\u00adsion can be found in our video on the YouTube chan\u00adnel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCLY0cjJ9l70mjfHXl_xxi8A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">abante Recht\u00adsan\u00adw\u00e4lte<\/a>. Take a look! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In pub\u00adlic pro\u00adcure\u00adment pro\u00adce\u00addures, there are many spe\u00adcial fea\u00adtures and chal\u00adlenges that both con\u00adtract\u00ading author\u00adi\u00adties and bid\u00adders must take into account. A recent deci\u00adsion by the North Bavar\u00adi\u00adan Pub\u00adlic Pro\u00adcure\u00adment Cham\u00adber dat\u00aded Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 11, 2024 (Ref.: RMF-SG21-3194\u20139\u201118) dealt with when bid\u00adder ques\u00adtions must be answered pub\u00adlicly. In this arti\u00adcle, we sum\u00adma\u00adrize the key points for [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[743,703,248,709],"tags":[],"team_kategorien":[],"lexikon_kategorie":[209,211,198,206],"class_list":["post-23399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bidders-and-applicants","category-current-public-procurement-law-in-15-minutes","category-jurisdiction","category-public-procurement-law-in-general","lexikon_kategorie-procedure-of-the-procurement-procedure","lexikon_kategorie-reasons-for-exclusion","lexikon_kategorie-suitability","lexikon_kategorie-suitability-criteria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23400,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23399\/revisions\/23400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23399"},{"taxonomy":"team_kategorien","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_kategorien?post=23399"},{"taxonomy":"lexikon_kategorie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abante.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lexikon_kategorie?post=23399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}