Your bid is for 4 million — but it must be signed for the framework agreement's estimated 12 million
Equans lost a 12-million-euro lot because its Division Manager and Department Manager could only sign offers up to 10 million; the Council of State rules that the relevant value is the estimated value of the entire framework agreement, not the value of the test case the bid is based on.
What happened?
Sibelga, an in-house purchasing centre for Brussels' local authorities, launched a six-year framework agreement for HVAC renovations in May 2022, split into two lots. Lot 2 ('large installations' over 250,000 euro per project) carried a total estimated value of 12 million euro published in BDA and OJEU. Bidders had to submit a price for a single 'test case' — a concrete reference project on which they would be scored. Equans Services tendered for Lot 2 on 2 November 2022, with its offer signed by a Division Manager and a Department Manager. Per Equans' delegation of authority published in the Belgian State Gazette, those two together can sign offers up to 10 million euro; above that threshold, a director or delegate is required. On 17 January 2023, Sibelga rejected the offer as irregular: the estimated market value of Lot 2 is 12 million, exceeding the 10-million authority of the signatories. The lot was awarded to Cegelec, Druart and EEG. Equans filed an extreme-urgency suspension claim, arguing the relevant value is the test-case price (well below 10 million), or alternatively that a framework agreement's value is by nature indeterminable, citing Dutch case law (Rechtbank Groningen, 31 August 2007). The Council of State (VIth chamber, in chambers) dismissed the application on 22 March 2023. The object of the contract — and therefore of the bidder's commitment — is not limited to the test case: by tendering, a bidder commits to submitting offers for every subsequent order under the framework, on pain of a 500-euro penalty per missing offer. A framework agreement is not necessarily of indeterminable value: the contracting authority publishes the estimated value precisely to set the ceiling at which the framework ends and to allow the validity of upstream commitments to be tested. The crucial obiter dictum: even if the value were indeterminable, Equans would not benefit. An indeterminate commitment requires unlimited signing authority — which the two signatories did not have. Costs (970 euro) borne by Equans.
Why does this matter?
Anyone signing for a framework agreement must measure their delegation of signing authority against the published estimated total value of the framework — not the price of the test case, not the average order, not their own 'realistic' estimate. This affects every bidder with tiered signing authority (Division Manager up to X, Director up to Y). The error is fully detectable beforehand: simply compare the estimated lot value in the notice with the ceilings in your internal authority matrix. If you don't, there is no second chance — extreme-urgency suspension does not allow you to retroactively widen the delegation or regularise the offer. The defect is substantial.
The lesson
When signing for a framework agreement, always check the total estimated value in the contract notice (BDA/OJEU, not your own bid amount) against the ceiling in your corporate signing mandate. Tiered authority? Have a higher-level signatory (board member, delegate) sign whenever the estimated market value approaches or exceeds your 'manager ceiling', regardless of how low your actual bid is. Frameworks of indeterminable value require unlimited authority.
Ask yourself
Is the estimated lot value in the contract notice higher than your signatory's authority ceiling? Have someone with sufficient authority sign — not the operational manager 'because he runs the project'.
About this database
The Council of State (Raad van State / Conseil d'État) is Belgium's supreme administrative court. In disputes over public procurement — from contract awards to tenderer exclusions — the Council of State is the final arbiter. The rulings in this database are summarised by TenderWolf in plain language, with practical lessons for tenderers and contracting authorities. View all rulings →