Weighting of Award Criteria in Procurement Law 2026

Definition: Weighting of award criteria denotes the percentage or otherwise expressed importance set in advance in the procurement documents that attaches to each individual award criterion in determining the most economically advantageous tender.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Art. 67 Directive 2014/24/EU; § 127 GWB; § 58 VgV; § 91 BVergG 2018

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What is the weighting of award criteria?

Weighting of award criteria is a central element of the best-bidder principle: it determines in advance how strongly price, quality, sustainability and other features feed into the overall evaluation of a bid. Under Art. 67(5) of Directive 2014/24/EU, contracting authorities are required to indicate the relative weightings of each award criterion in the contract notice or procurement documents. Only exceptionally – where weighting is objectively impossible – does indicating a rank order suffice.

Weighting creates transparency and enables bidders to design their bids strategically. At the same time it binds the contracting authority: subsequent change of the weighting is contrary to procurement law.

Legal requirements

The weighting must be linked to the subject of the contract and must be transparent and non-discriminatory.

The central requirements:

• Advance disclosure: the weighting must be indicated in the notice or procurement documents (§ 58(3) VgV; § 91(2) BVergG 2018)
• Link to the contract: criteria must be linked to the subject of the contract (no impermissible company rating)
• No subsequent change: once criteria and weightings have been published, they may not be altered
• Transparency of evaluation method: the scoring scale (e.g. 0–10 points) must be comprehensible

Typical weighting structures

In practice, award criteria are often weighted with a price share of 40–70 % and a quality share of 30–60 %, depending on the type of contract and the strategic procurement objective.

Examples of weightings:

Criterion	Simple supply contract	Complex service
Price	70 %	40 %
Quality/concept	20 %	40 %
Delivery time	10 %	10 %
Sustainability	–	10 %

Evaluation matrices and scoring systems

To make the weighting operational, contracting authorities use evaluation matrices in which each criterion is assigned a scoring scale; the score is then multiplied by the weighting factor. A frequently used method is utility analysis. It is essential that the evaluation method is made transparent in advance; not every detail must appear in the notice, but the basic structure must be comprehensible to bidders (CJEU Case C-6/15 – TNS Dimarso).

Consequences of incorrect weighting

Missing, unclear or subsequently altered weighting constitutes a serious procurement law breach that may lead to the cancellation of the procedure or the annulment of the award. Bidders disadvantaged by faulty weighting can lodge a review application. Courts have held that even minor deviations from disclosed weightings may render the procedure unlawful.

FAQ

Must price always be an award criterion? No. Price or cost must, however, be taken into account in some form (Art. 67(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU). A purely qualitative evaluation without any price component is not envisaged by the directive.

May the contracting authority subsequently clarify the weighting? Generally not. Subsequent clarifications are permitted only if they do not constitute substantive changes and all bidders are informed in good time. In case of doubt, a correction must be made via a corrigendum to the notice.

What is the difference between award criteria and eligibility criteria? Eligibility criteria assess whether a bidder is in principle capable of performing the contract (turnover, references, certifications). Award criteria assess which bid is the most economically advantageous. Weighting concerns exclusively the award criteria.

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Last updated: January 2026 All information provided without guarantee. For legally binding advice, please consult a law firm specialising in procurement law.