---
title: "Tender evaluation criteria: price carries most weight"
description: "In Polish laboratory furniture tenders since 2021, price usually weighed exactly 60% in tender evaluation criteria and was the sole criterion in one in five."
canonical_url: "https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tender-evaluation-criteria-laboratory-furniture"
language: "en"
published: "2026-09-26"
last_updated: "2026-10-09"
alternates:
  pl: "https://www.renggli.pl/pl/blog/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne.md"
  de: "https://www.renggli.pl/de/blog/zuschlagskriterien-ausschreibungen-labormoebel.md"
  uk: "https://www.renggli.pl/uk/blog/kryterii-otsinky-tendernykh-propozytsii-laboratorni-mebli.md"
  lt: "https://www.renggli.pl/lt/blog/kainos-ir-kokybes-santykis-laboratoriniu-baldu-pirkimuose.md"
---

# Tender evaluation criteria: price carries most weight

> In Polish laboratory furniture tenders since 2021, price usually weighed exactly 60% in tender evaluation criteria and was the sole criterion in one in five.

Published 2026-09-26 · Updated 2026-10-09 · Category: [Laboratory design](https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/category/laboratory-design) · Author: [Renggli Team](https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/author/zespol-renggli) · 10 min read

Post tags: [Public procurement](https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tag/public-procurement), [Award criteria](https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tag/award-criteria), [Universities](https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tag/universities), [Research institutes](https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tag/research-institutes)

Article 246 of the Polish [Public Procurement Law](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20260000793) allows price at most 60% of the weight in tender evaluation criteria. The exception is a contracting authority that sets quality requirements in the description of the subject matter of the contract: price may then weigh more, or even be the only criterion. The rule applies to the public contracting authorities listed in Article 4 points 1 and 2 of the Act, including public finance sector units. In tenders for [laboratory furniture](https://www.renggli.pl/en/offer/laboratory-furniture-systems), price almost always weighs at least 60%: it weighed less in only 10 tenders out of more than a thousand. Among the other criteria, contracting authorities most often choose the warranty and the completion time.

A single procurement procedure is often divided into lots, and each lot has its own criteria and its own bids. That is why this article counts each lot as a separate tender.

**Key points**

- Contracting authorities awarded points for the warranty in more than half of the tenders (57%) and for the completion time in more than one in four.
- Research institutes evaluated two in five of their tenders on price alone (41%), universities one in five.
- Quality and technical parameters were scored in only 4.4% of tenders.
- Half of the tenders received at most two bids, and almost one in three received just one (31%).

- **1,134** tenders with known weights for all criteria
- **63%** with price weighing exactly 60%
- **21%** with price alone, no other criteria
- **2** bids in a typical tender

## How much weight does price carry in tender evaluation criteria? {#how-much-weight-does-price-carry-in-tender-evaluation-criteria}

Most often exactly 60%, the most the law allows without a description of quality requirements. Price carried this weight in almost two thirds of the tenders (63%). The second most common choice is price alone, with no other criterion: one tender in five was evaluated this way (21%).

**In most tenders price carries exactly 60% of the weight** (Share of laboratory furniture tenders (contract lots) by the weight of price in the tender evaluation criteria, n = 1,134 lots with known weights of all criteria, notices from January 2021 to September 2026, 95% confidence intervals)

| Category | Value | 95% interval | n |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Price alone (100%) | 21% | 19 to 24% | 1,134 |
| 80% to under 100% | 13% | 11 to 15% | 1,134 |
| Above 60% and under 80% | 2.4% | 1.6 to 3.4% | 1,134 |
| Exactly 60% | 63% | 60 to 66% | 1,134 |
| Under 60% | 0.9% | 0.5 to 1.6% | 1,134 |

Source: e-Zamówienia (BZP) and TED, Renggli analysis. Chart: https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tender-evaluation-criteria-laboratory-furniture/chart/chart-waga-ceny.png Data: https://mom5efytyj47lt9h.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne-2026-09-25-lots.csv

When price weighed more than 60%, it was most often the only criterion. The first and the last full year look similar: in 2021, 16% of tenders were evaluated on price alone, in 2025, 19%. With this number of tenders, such a gap could arise by chance, so it is no evidence of a change. The year 2026 is not compared here because it is still under way.

## Which non-price criteria do contracting authorities choose? {#which-non-price-criteria-do-contracting-authorities-choose}

Besides price, contracting authorities most often awarded points for the warranty: they did so in more than half of the laboratory furniture tenders (57%). Completion time, meaning the time within which the bidder undertakes to perform the contract, was a criterion in 28% of tenders. Quality and technical parameters were rarely scored: in 4.4% of tenders.

**Besides price, warranty and completion time count most often** (Share of laboratory furniture tenders (contract lots) with at least one criterion in a given category, n = 1,172 lots with criteria, notices from January 2021 to September 2026, 95% confidence intervals; a lot can have several categories)

| Category | Value | 95% interval | n |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Warranty | 57% | 54 to 60% | 1,172 |
| Completion time | 28% | 26 to 31% | 1,172 |
| Other criteria | 11% | 9.6 to 13% | 1,172 |
| Quality and technical parameters | 4.4% | 3.4 to 5.8% | 1,172 |
| Service | 1.4% | 0.8 to 2.2% | 1,172 |
| Life-cycle cost | 1.2% | 0.7 to 2% | 1,172 |
| Social aspects | 1.1% | 0.6 to 1.9% | 1,172 |

Source: e-Zamówienia (BZP) and TED, Renggli analysis. Chart: https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tender-evaluation-criteria-laboratory-furniture/chart/chart-kryteria-pozacenowe.png Data: https://mom5efytyj47lt9h.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne-2026-09-25-lots.csv

Warranty and completion time are easy to compare, because the bidder enters a number of months or days in the bid. For a quality criterion, the contracting authority has to describe in advance what earns points and how the evaluation committee will check it. The data do not show whether this is why such a criterion is rare.

## Which contracting authorities evaluate bids on price alone? {#which-contracting-authorities-evaluate-bids-on-price-alone}

Research institutes had the highest share of price alone: they evaluated two in five of their tenders this way (41%). Universities announced the most tenders and evaluated one in five of them on price alone (20%). Schools (7.8%) and public administration and local government (8.5%) chose price alone least often.

**Research institutes evaluated two in five of their tenders on price alone** (Share of laboratory furniture tenders (contract lots) with price as the only criterion by type of contracting authority, n = 1,134 lots with known weights of all criteria, notices from January 2021 to September 2026, 95% confidence intervals; types with fewer than 30 lots grouped as Other)

| Category | Value | 95% interval | n |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Research institutes | 41.5% | 33.8 to 49.6% | 147 |
| State inspectorates and laboratories | 25.9% | 16.3 to 38.4% | 58 |
| Other (incl. uniformed services and companies) | 24.5% | 14.9 to 37.6% | 53 |
| Universities | 19.6% | 16.5 to 23.2% | 545 |
| Healthcare | 17.3% | 12.4 to 23.7% | 173 |
| Public administration and local government | 8.5% | 4.4 to 15.9% | 94 |
| Schools | 7.8% | 3.4 to 17.0% | 64 |

Source: e-Zamówienia (BZP) and TED, Renggli analysis. Chart: https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/tender-evaluation-criteria-laboratory-furniture/chart/chart-sama-cena-wedlug-zamawiajacego.png Data: https://mom5efytyj47lt9h.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne-2026-09-25-lots.csv

The four smallest groups (schools, state inspectorates and laboratories, public administration and local government, and Other) had fewer than a hundred tenders each, so their results are less certain. The data also do not show why research institutes chose price alone so often. The notices do not reveal whether they described the quality requirements that allow it, or whether the 60% limit applies to them at all.

## Does price alone attract more bids? {#does-price-alone-attract-more-bids}

The data do not confirm it. If price alone attracted bidders, such tenders would end with a single bid less often. A single bid came in for 27% of tenders evaluated on price alone and for 31% of tenders where price was one of several criteria. With this number of tenders, such a gap could arise by chance, so it shows no link.

Bids are scarce in general: half of the laboratory furniture tenders received at most 2 bids. The analysis does not account for the scope of contracts, the time allowed for bids or the region, so it does not show what the number of bids depends on.

## What this means for tender specifications (SWZ) {#what-this-means-for-tender-specifications-swz}

When writing tender specifications (SWZ, the Polish equivalent of tender documents) for laboratory furniture, three things are worth checking.

1. **Price above 60% only with quality requirements in the description of the subject matter of the contract**

    An authority covered by Article 246 may give price a weight above 60%, or evaluate bids on price alone, if it describes quality requirements. The description of the subject matter of the contract must set these requirements at least for the main elements of the contract (Article 246(2) of the [Public Procurement Law](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20260000793)). For laboratory furniture, this can be the material of [laboratory countertops](https://www.renggli.pl/en/offer/laboratory-countertops), the construction of cabinets or the requirements for [fume hoods](https://www.renggli.pl/en/offer/fume-hood).
2. **A warranty criterion that separates the bids**

    If the maximum points go to a warranty period that every bidder offers anyway, all bidders get the same points. Price then decides the choice regardless.
3. **A quality criterion the committee can check**

    A quality criterion works when the bidder enters a specific feature in the bid, such as a material or a construction method, and the committee scores it on a scale described in advance. The features worth describing are listed in the [article on the features laboratory furniture should have](https://www.renggli.pl/en/blog/criteria-of-laboratory-furniture).

## Method and data {#method-and-data}

The unit of the data is the contract lot, because the contracting authority gives the criteria and the number of bids for each lot separately. A procedure can be divided into lots, for example by laboratory or by type of furniture.

**About the data: Award criteria in laboratory furniture tenders since 2021**

- Sample: 1,285 public contract lots
- Observation period: 1 January 2021
- Collected: 25 September 2026
- Version: 2026-09-25
- Licence: CC BY 4.0
- Verification: Classification checked manually on a random sample of 45 lots and 30 procedures.

The dataset on laboratory furniture tenders covers 1,285 lots from 948 procedures announced from 1 January 2021 to 24 September 2026 in the Public Procurement Bulletin (BZP) on the e-Zamówienia platform and in TED. It is a subset of the Renggli base dataset, version 2026-09-25. The base dataset combines the contract notice, its changes and the award notice into one procedure and classifies each lot. The subset takes the lots classified as laboratory furniture and counts a procedure announced both in the BZP and in TED once. The study was conducted by Renggli; the observation period covers notices from January 2021 to September 2026.

The price weight is the share of the price criterion's weight in the sum of the weights of all criteria of the lot, calculated only when the notice gives all weights (1,134 lots). Criteria categories come from the criteria names in the notices (1,172 lots with at least one criterion), and the number of bids is known for 977 lots. The percentages in the text therefore have different bases. The share of lots with a single bid under price alone and under price as one of several criteria was compared in 875 lots with known weights and a known number of bids. The overall share of lots with a single bid (31%) covers all lots with a known number of bids, which is why it does not lie between the shares of the two groups. Types of contracting authority with fewer than 30 lots are grouped as Other.

Shares in the charts have 95% Wilson confidence intervals. The interval shows the range in which the true share most likely lies; the fewer lots in a group, the wider it is. The median number of bids is 2 (quartiles 1 and 3); both bounds of the bootstrap interval of the median from 10,000 resamples equal 2. The two differences described in the text (price alone in 2021 and 2025; a single bid under price alone and under price as one of several criteria) have Newcombe intervals that include zero, so the text speaks neither of a change nor of a link.

Limitations: the dataset does not cover contracts below the threshold at which the Polish Public Procurement Law applies or purchases made without a notice. Criteria weights are known for 1,134 of 1,285 lots. The type of contracting authority is derived from the name of the institution, so it can be approximate. The year 2026 is incomplete. The dataset does not say which contracting authority is a public finance sector unit. The data describe the criteria in the notices; they say nothing about the quality of the furniture delivered.

The text was prepared by the Renggli editorial team; every number comes from this dataset or from the source cited in the sentence.

Sources:

- Renggli, dataset “Laboratory furniture tenders in Poland since 2021 (e-Zamówienia and TED)”, version 2026-09-25: procedures.csv, lots.csv, criteria.csv
- [Urząd Zamówień Publicznych (Public Procurement Office), Biuletyn Zamówień Publicznych (Public Procurement Bulletin) on the e-Zamówienia platform](https://ezamowienia.gov.pl/mo-board/api/v1/notice): notices API (contract notices, award notices and change notices).
- [dane.gov.pl, dataset 916 “Ogłoszenia publikowane w Biuletynie Zamówień Publicznych” (UZP), CC0 1.0 licence](https://dane.gov.pl/pl/dataset/916): a link to the API above, with no archive to download.
- [Publications Office of the European Union, TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)](https://api.ted.europa.eu/v3/notices/search): v3 search API and notice XML.

Files:

- [lots.csv (version 2026-09-25)](https://mom5efytyj47lt9h.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne-2026-09-25-lots.csv) (1,285 rows · 131 kB)
- [summary.json (version 2026-09-25)](https://mom5efytyj47lt9h.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne-2026-09-25-summary.json) (15 kB)
- [feasibility.json (version 2026-09-25)](https://mom5efytyj47lt9h.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne-2026-09-25-feasibility.json) (3 kB)
- [datapackage.json (version 2026-09-25)](https://mom5efytyj47lt9h.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/kryteria-oceny-ofert-meble-laboratoryjne-2026-09-25-datapackage.json) (38 kB)

## Frequently asked questions {#frequently-asked-questions}

**Can price be the only tender evaluation criterion?**

It can. A Polish public contracting authority covered by Article 246 of the [Public Procurement Law](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20260000793) must then set quality requirements in the description of the subject matter of the contract. In laboratory furniture tenders since 2021, one tender in five was evaluated on price alone (21%).

**What non-price tender evaluation criteria are used for laboratory furniture?**

Most often the warranty, which earned points in more than half of the tenders (57%), and the completion time (28%). Quality and technical parameters were scored in only 4.4% of tenders.

**How many bids does a laboratory furniture tender receive?**

Few: half of the tenders since 2021 received at most two bids, and almost one in three received just one (31%).

**What is the most common price weight?**

60%, the most the law allows without a description of quality requirements. Price carried this weight in 63% of laboratory furniture tenders since 2021.

**Request a quote for laboratory furniture for a tender** You can attach the description of the subject matter of the contract and the tender evaluation criteria from the SWZ to your request. [Send a request](https://www.renggli.pl/en/contact)

## Sources

- [Ustawa z dnia 11 września 2019 r. Prawo zamówień publicznych (tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2026 poz. 793), art. 4 i art. 246](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20260000793), Sejm RP, Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych, 2026-06-16T00:00:00.000Z