This case from Ireland, under EU procurement regulations, is relevant as it may influence UK cases under PCR 2015 and similar rules in the Procurement Act.
The Facts
The case involved a procurement for public lighting, led by Mayo County Council for itself and six other councils. Breedon, who placed third, raised concerns about the winning bid from BAM/Killaree being abnormally low. The challenge, brought late due to delayed awareness of the Council’s failure to investigate, showed the winning bid was 49% of the average of the other two bids. This bid offered low labour costs seemingly offset by higher equipment costs, potentially not meeting minimum wage requirements.
The Judgment
The Court ruled for the claimant as the Council failed to investigate low labour rates. This resulted in the award being set aside, rejecting the Council’s time limitation argument by noting the infringement revealed later restarted the limitation period.
Comment
The case underscores the necessity for contracting authorities to investigate potentially abnormally low bids. The UK Government’s Sourcing Playbook advises referring such bids (“any abnormally low bid that is more than 10% lower than either the average of all bids or the Should Cost Model Estimate” ) to a specific team, a practice the Council in this case should have adopted.
In2 the bargain 