One of the key features of public procurement law and practice is that the system is designed to produce predictable and transparent outcomes. The expectation is that the stated tender evaluation system should generate an answer in a manner that is protected from inappropriate interference and should be seen as predictable by bidders. It should also be possible for those wanting to contract to understand in advance how the choice of one evaluation model or another would affect the sort of offer that is likely to be accepted. It is strange, therefore, that systems commonly applied should so often operate unpredictably. It is also rather strange that this is the subject of so little comment given that the problems are quite well known.
In this post, Michael Bowsher QC considers two problems arising from the use of a common formula for evaluating price.
To view the full Random Effects of Scoring Price in a Tender Evaluation article for Practical Law.
This article was first published on the Practical Law Public Sector Blog.