Annulment of architectural services award via accelerated procedure: tender wrongly rejected as late after contradictory submission deadlines between email and e-procurement platform – contracting authority failed to examine legitimate expectations created by its own error
The Council of State annulled through the accelerated procedure under article 17, §6 the award by Nautisport of the architectural services contract for the renovation and extension of the multisports complex in Enghien to the consortium 'Atelier d'architecture D.D.V. – Fally & Associés – BE Pierre Berger', because Nautisport wrongly rejected the tender of Arcadus and Arcadis as late: the BOSA e-procurement platform had communicated 18 July 2024 as deadline while Nautisport had indicated 2 July 2024 by email, and Nautisport automatically excluded the tender without examining whether the legitimate expectations created by the platform notification required a different solution under the equality and proportionality principles.
What happened?
Nautisport tendered architectural services for the renovation of the multisports complex in Enghien. The email communicated 2 July 2024 as deadline, but the BOSA e-procurement platform — the official electronic communication channel under article 14, §1 — generated an invitation with 18 July 2024 as deadline. Arcadus and Arcadis relied on the platform date and submitted on 18 July. Nautisport declared their tender late based on the email date and awarded on 27 August 2024 to another consortium. The Council of State ordered suspension on 25 October 2024, finding three elements decisive: (1) the platform date created legitimate expectations that could prevail over email dates; (2) all invited candidates received the same platform notification, preserving equal treatment; (3) tenders were only opened on 18 July, eliminating information leak risks. Nautisport had automatically excluded the tender without examining whether the legitimate expectations created by its own platform notification required a different solution. After the suspension ruling, Nautisport adopted a new award decision on 27 November 2024, which was itself annulled by ruling no. 264.693 of 29 October 2025. The Council applied the accelerated procedure and annulled the original award.
Why does this matter?
This ruling is fundamental for digitalised procurement. When the e-procurement platform communicates a different submission deadline than the contracting authority communicated by email, the authority cannot automatically exclude a tender as late based on the email date. The platform is the official electronic channel and tenderers may legitimately rely on it. The authority must examine what legitimate expectations its platform notification created and whether the equality and proportionality principles require a different solution.
The lesson
As a contracting authority: ensure all communication channels show the same deadline. When the platform shows a different date, correct it immediately. Do not automatically exclude a tender as late when the tenderer relied on a platform-communicated date. As a tenderer: preserve all deadline communications including platform notifications. Contradictory dates are a strong ground for challenge.
Ask yourself
As a contracting authority: do all channels show the same deadline? After a platform error, have you examined the legitimate expectations created? As a tenderer: have you preserved all deadline communications? Are there contradictory dates?
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 →