Regulation 175. Variants

(1) For tenders having an estimated value which falls under regulation 30(1)(b), contracting entities may authorise or require tenderers to submit variants which meet the minimum requirement specified by the contracting entities.

(2) Contracting entities shall indicate in the procurement documents whether or not they authorise or require variants and, if so, the minimum requirements for their presentation, in particular whether variants may be submitted only where a tender, which is not a variant, has also been submitted.

(3) Where variants are authorised or required, contracting entities shall also ensure that the chosen award criteria can be applied to variants meeting those minimum requirements as well as to conforming tenders which are not variants.

(4) In procedures for awarding supply or service contracts, contracting entities that have authorised or required variants shall not reject a variant on the sole ground that it would, where successful, lead either to a service contract rather than a supply contract or to a supply contract rather than a service contract.