A reference 'since 1969' built from one-off jobs can still qualify as a 'long-running contract/framework agreement'
The Council of State rejects the extreme-urgency suspension against the City of Ghent, accepting that 'Ghent University — since 1969, mainly student housing, always one-off jobs' qualifies as a long-running contract under the tender's selection criterion.
What happened?
The City of Ghent ran a tender as a central purchasing body for a 48-month framework agreement to replace broken glass — open procedure, price the only award criterion. The tender (SLS/2023/013-ID5419) required at least one reference of a 'long-running contract/(framework)agreement of the last 48 months with a total turnover of at least 50,000 EUR incl. VAT'. Three bidders responded. On 27 July 2023, Ghent awarded to Qualiglas Van De Velde; Inspired by Glass got the rejection on 3 August. Inspired by Glass filed an extreme-urgency suspension on 18 August. Their issue: Qualiglas filled in 'Ghent University' in annex C, with start date 'since 1969' and end date 'still ongoing'. At Inspired by Glass's prompting, Ghent emailed the university on 4 August (after the award). The reply: 'we have worked with Qualiglass for about 30 years, but always with separate jobs, mainly the student homes'. For Inspired by Glass, this was the smoking gun: separate jobs are not a 'long-running contract/(framework)agreement'. The Council of State read the tender differently. 'A long-standing collaboration with a public body consisting of separate jobs appears at first glance to fall under the term long-running contract/(framework)agreement, where a long-running contract refers to jobs replacing broken glass over an extended period.' The pre-printed fields 'start' and 'end of contract' in annex C didn't change that reading. Read against the actual subject (small jobs in many buildings), the criterion probed the capacity to handle volume over time, not the contractual form. The second plea (duty of care — references not contacted in advance) failed because the duty was limited to verifying that annex C with at least one reference was filed. The third plea (reasoning) failed because a brief 'OK' in tabular form suffices when the contracting authority sees no issue. The suspension was rejected.
Why does this matter?
If you draft tenders for small, repeated works: this judgment confirms that 'long-running contract' doesn't necessarily imply a formal framework agreement — a pattern of separate jobs over years can suffice. For bid managers, references from a long client relationship without a framework contract remain valid, provided the turnover threshold is met. But beware: this only works because the tender wrote 'contract/(framework)agreement' as alternatives. Anyone who really wants framework contracts only must say so unambiguously — otherwise the Council of State will eat the apparent strictness alive.
The lesson
If as a contracting authority you tender repeat work and only want real framework agreements as references: write 'framework contract' or 'multi-year contract' — not the slash-form 'contract/(framework)agreement'. The latter opens the door to any years-long collaboration with separate jobs. As a bid manager: a client relationship without a formal framework but with regular repeat orders is perfectly valid as a reference, as long as you can show the required turnover over the reference period.
Ask yourself
Read the selection criterion in your tender: does it say 'long-running contract/(framework)agreement' (with slash)? Then you must accept separate jobs over years if turnover and period thresholds are met. If you don't want that, rewrite for the next tender as 'multi-year framework agreement' or 'contractual framework with multiple call-off orders' — otherwise you lose the first extreme-urgency suspension on exactly this point.
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 →