# Selection criteria

- Title: Selection criteria: definition — Sinal
- URL: https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/glossary/selection-criteria
- Language: en
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Alternate (pt-PT): https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/pt/glossario/criterios-de-selecao (markdown: https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/pt/glossario/criterios-de-selecao.md)
- Alternate (es-ES): https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/es/glosario/criterios-de-seleccion (markdown: https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/es/glosario/criterios-de-seleccion.md)

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Requirements used to assess whether a supplier has the suitability, economic standing, or technical ability to perform the contract.

Reviewed 26 October 2026 · Sinal team

## What it does not mean

They do not rank the merits of competing tenders; that is the role of award criteria.

## In practice in Portugal

In a *concurso limitado por prévia qualificação* the buyer may set minimum technical-capacity requirements that suit the contract: track record, staff and equipment, organisation, environmental management (CCP, Article 165(1)).

## In practice in Spain

The minimum solvency requirements, and the documents that prove them, are stated in the anuncio de licitación and the pliego, and must be linked to the contract's object and proportionate to it (LCSP, Article 74(2)).

In a restricted procedure the objective criteria must be fixed before the anuncio (Article 162(1)).

## The EU rule behind both

EU law lets buyers ask for a minimum yearly turnover, which in general cannot exceed twice the estimated contract value (Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 58(3)).

## What you see on the notice

- TED: a “Selection criteria” section lists each “Criterion” (for example “Specific yearly turnover” or “References on specified services”) with a description.
- BASE and PLACSP: the requirements themselves are in the procedure documents (“Peças do procedimento” on BASE, the documents listed on PLACSP), not in the summary fields.

## How Sinal shows it

Check the source notice and procurement documents; Sinal does not replace the buyer’s qualification assessment.

- The drawer links the tender documents when the source gives them. Sinal does not decide whether you qualify.

[Open the Feed in Sinal →](https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/app/feed?lang=en)

## Example in a real notice

[TED restricted procedure stating candidate qualification requirements (notice text in Danish) ↗](https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/145870-2026/pdf)

## Related terms

- [Restricted procedure](https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/glossary/restricted-procedure)
- [Award criteria and MEAT](https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/glossary/award-criteria-meat)
- [ESPD / DEUCP](https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/glossary/espd-deucp)

## Answers that use this term

- [Can a company bid for public contracts across the Portugal–Spain border?](https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/answers/bidding-across-the-portugal-spain-border)
- [How do you qualify a tender notice before you commit to a bid?](https://sinal-pme.babete.pt/answers/how-to-qualify-a-tender-notice)

## Primary sources

- European Union — [Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 58 ↗](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014L0024)
- Portugal — [CCP, Articles 164(1)(h) and 165 (restricted procedure) ↗](https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/decreto-lei/2008-34455475)
- Spain — [LCSP, Articles 74–76 ↗](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2017-12902)

Sources checked 26 October 2026

General information, not legal advice. The notice and the applicable national law decide.