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Standstill, debrief and remedies
What to do after award, including challenging a flawed decision.
Standstill, debrief and remedies
What this is
What happens between "we have chosen a winner" and "the contract is signed" — and what you can do if you lost and believe the decision was flawed. Covers the award notification, the standstill period, your right to a debrief, and the formal review (remedies) procedures.
When you need it
Immediately after you receive an award decision — winner or loser. The clocks here are short and start automatically. Losing bidders have the most to gain: a well-run debrief improves the next bid, and a genuine irregularity challenged inside the standstill window can still stop the contract.
How to fill it in
- Read the award notification carefully. Under Article 55 of Directive 2014/24/EU the contracting authority must inform each tenderer of the award decision, and on request tell an unsuccessful tenderer the reasons for rejection and the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning tender.
- Note the standstill deadline. Under Article 2a of the Remedies Directive (89/665/EEC as amended by 2007/66/EC), the contract may not be concluded before a standstill period of at least 10 calendar days (electronic notification) or 15 calendar days (other means), counted from the day after the award decision is sent.
- Request your debrief in writing, immediately — do not wait for the standstill to run. Ask for the winner's relative advantages and the scores against each award criterion.
- Compare the stated reasons with the published criteria. The evaluation must follow the award criteria and weightings published in the procurement documents (Article 67 of Directive 2014/24/EU). Scores that cannot be traced to a published criterion are a red flag.
- If you find a genuine irregularity, act inside the standstill. Review procedures under the Remedies Directive are national — each Member State designates its own review body and exact time limits. Check the tender documents and the national procurement authority for the competent body and deadline.
- Record everything — dates received, method of notification, what was requested and answered. Remedies cases are won and lost on the file.
What wins points
Nothing here is scored — this stage is after evaluation. The win is informational: a structured debrief tells you exactly where your bid lost points against the published Article 67 criteria, which is the cheapest bid-improvement input you will ever get. Treat every lost bid's debrief as the first working session for the next one.
How this gets you disqualified
This stage cannot disqualify your bid, but it can forfeit your rights:
- Missing the standstill window (10 or 15 calendar days under Article 2a) — once the contract is validly concluded, most remedies fall away; what remains (ineffectiveness under Article 2d) applies only in narrow cases such as illegal direct awards.
- Sitting on a known irregularity — several national systems require you to raise objections promptly or lose the right to rely on them.
- Challenging without first using the debrief — a challenge that misstates the facts the authority can easily correct damages credibility and wastes the window.
Template
# Debrief request — [CONTRACT REFERENCE / TITLE] To: [Contracting authority contact from the tender documents] From: [Your company, contact person] Date sent: [DATE] Award decision received: [DATE, METHOD] Standstill ends (own calculation): [DATE] Under Article 55(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU we request, as an unsuccessful tenderer, the following as soon as possible and within the time limit set by the directive: 1. The reasons for the rejection of our tender. 2. The characteristics and relative advantages of the tender selected, and the name of the successful tenderer. 3. Our scores and the winner's scores against each published award criterion and sub-criterion, with weightings. We note that the standstill period under Article 2a of Directive 89/665/EEC runs while this request is pending. [Signature]
What wins points
A written Article 55 debrief request converts every lost bid into scored feedback against the published award criteria — the cheapest bid-improvement input available.
How this gets you disqualified
Missing the Article 2a standstill window (10 calendar days electronic / 15 by other means) forfeits most remedies: once the contract is concluded, only narrow Article 2d ineffectiveness grounds remain.
What an evaluator actually looks for
Authorities expect debrief requests; a precise one citing Article 55(2) signals a professional counterparty and typically gets fuller scoring disclosure.
Sources
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