What it does not mean
MEAT does not always mean the cheapest offer; quality, cost, or price may be assessed under the published method.
In practice in Portugal
The contract goes to the most advantageous proposal (CCP, Article 74(1)), in one of two modes: multifator, a set of factors and sub-factors, or monofator, a single aspect such as price.
A multifactor call needs an evaluation model, which sets how the factors are scored (Articles 74(2) and 139).
In practice in Spain
The LCSP bases the award on several criteria tied to best value for money (Article 145(1)); more than one criterion is mandatory in the cases of Article 145(3), and price alone is allowed only for well-defined supplies and services (Article 145(3)(f) and (g)). Quality criteria must come with a cost criterion, price or life-cycle cost (Article 145(2)).
When criteria depend on judgement as well as on formulas, bids come in two envelopes and the judgement part is assessed first (Articles 157(2) and 146(2)).
What you see on the notice
- TED: a section “Award criteria” with, for each criterion, a “Type” (such as Price) and a “Category of award weight criterion” (for example “Weight (percentage, exact)”) with its number.
- BASE and PLACSP: the weights are usually in the procedure documents.
How Sinal shows it
Open the original notice and documents for criteria and weighting; Sinal does not infer scores.
- For PLACSP calls whose award criteria carry weights, the drawer shows a row “Award criterion”: “Price only”, or “Quality counts (price 50%)”.
Example in a real notice
TED notice with published quality and price award criteria (notice text in German) ↗