{
  "type": "problem",
  "slug": "tender-compliance-docs",
  "lang": "en",
  "url": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/tender-compliance-docs/",
  "markdown": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/tender-compliance-docs.md",
  "title": "A tender requires compliance documentation per product",
  "description": "A public tender asks for declarations, test reports and certificates per product. What a contracting authority may require and what you can offer instead.",
  "answer": "A public buyer may require a test report or a certificate from an accredited conformity assessment body as proof that a product meets the tender's technical specifications (Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 44). Product law already makes the manufacturer hold technical documentation and, for CE products, a declaration of conformity. Build one evidence pack per product, and offer equivalent proof where a named certificate is missing.",
  "theme": {
    "id": "marketplace-retailer",
    "label": "Marketplace and retailer demands"
  },
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "manufacturer",
      "label": "Manufacturer"
    },
    {
      "id": "importer",
      "label": "Importer"
    }
  ],
  "regulations": [
    "GPSR",
    "LVD"
  ],
  "path": [
    "documentation-generator",
    "compliance-status-links"
  ],
  "trigger": "A call for tenders or a framework agreement lists compliance documents to be submitted for every product offered",
  "keep": "Manufacturers keep the technical documentation for 10 years after the product was placed on the market (GPSR Article 9(3)); under the Low Voltage Directive the same period applies to the declaration of conformity (Article 6(3)).",
  "why": [
    {
      "text": "A public buyer does not invent its documentation demands freely. Under Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, the technical specifications in the procurement documents lay down the characteristics required of a supply (Article 42(1)). They are formulated as performance or functional requirements, or by reference to standards, and each reference to a standard is accompanied by the words \"or equivalent\" (Article 42(3)). The specifications must give economic operators equal access and must not create unjustified obstacles to competition (Article 42(2)).",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The directive also says how compliance is proven. A contracting authority may require a test report from a conformity assessment body, or a certificate issued by such a body, as proof of conformity with the technical specifications, the award criteria or the contract performance conditions. The body must be accredited in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, and certificates from equivalent bodies must be accepted (Article 44(1)). Other appropriate means of proof, such as a technical dossier of the manufacturer, must be accepted where the operator had no access to the reports or could not obtain them within the time limits, for reasons not attributable to it, and proves that the requirements are met (Article 44(2)).",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The documents a tender asks for mostly exist already, because product law requires them. For consumer products without a CE act, the manufacturer carries out an internal risk analysis and draws up technical documentation before placing the product on the market, and keeps it for 10 years (General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988, Article 9(2) and (3)). For CE products the sector act applies instead; under the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU, for example, the manufacturer draws up the technical documentation, carries out the conformity assessment, draws up the EU declaration of conformity and affixes the CE marking (Article 6(2)).",
      "sources": [
        2,
        3
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Two things follow. A tender cannot be answered with documents the product does not have: a product without a CE act has no EU declaration of conformity, and the honest answer is to say so and submit the technical documentation instead. And the same file serves the authorities, who can require documents and information on compliance from any economic operator (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 14(4)(a)). What you send a buyer should match what you would send an authority.",
      "sources": [
        4
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Read where each demand sits in the tender",
      "text": "Mark for every requested document whether it belongs to the technical specifications, the award criteria or the contract performance conditions, and which lot and product it concerns. Note the deadline for questions to the buyer; unclear demands are raised there, not in the tender itself."
    },
    {
      "name": "Match each demand to a document you hold",
      "text": "Go through the list per product: the declaration of conformity for CE products, the technical documentation and risk analysis for other consumer products, test reports, instructions in the required language. Write down what is missing and who can supply it.",
      "item": "documentation-generator"
    },
    {
      "name": "Check who issued each report",
      "text": "Where the tender asks for a test report or certificate from a conformity assessment body, check that the body behind your report is accredited for that activity and that the report names the model you offer. A report on a similar model from the same factory is not proof for this one."
    },
    {
      "name": "Offer equivalent proof where you lack the named one",
      "text": "If the tender names a standard, a label or a specific body, show that your solution meets the requirement in an equivalent way and say so in the tender. Where you could not obtain a report in time for reasons outside your control, submit the manufacturer's technical dossier and explain why."
    },
    {
      "name": "Keep the pack current through the contract",
      "text": "A framework agreement runs for years. Tie each document to a product revision and a date, replace it when the product, the standard or the supplier changes, and tell the buyer. Share one verified status per product instead of sending files again.",
      "item": "compliance-status-links"
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "name": "EU declaration of conformity for each CE-marked product",
      "from": "The manufacturer",
      "ground": "Low Voltage Directive Article 6(2), as an example of a CE act"
    },
    {
      "name": "Technical documentation with the risk analysis, for consumer products without a CE act",
      "from": "The manufacturer",
      "ground": "GPSR Article 9(2)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Test report or certificate from an accredited conformity assessment body",
      "from": "The testing or certification body",
      "ground": "Directive 2014/24/EU Article 44(1)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Evidence that the product meets an equivalent standard or label",
      "from": "You, with the manufacturer's technical dossier",
      "ground": "Directive 2014/24/EU Articles 42(5), 43(1) and 44(2)"
    }
  ],
  "risks": [
    {
      "title": "The burden of proof is on the tenderer",
      "text": "Where the tender refers to a standard and you offer another solution, you must prove in the tender, by any appropriate means, that it satisfies the requirements in an equivalent manner (Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 42(5)).",
      "source": 1
    },
    {
      "title": "A declaration commits the manufacturer",
      "text": "The manufacturer draws up the declaration of conformity only after the conformity assessment has shown compliance (Low Voltage Directive, Article 6(2)). A declaration written for a tender without that basis is a false statement to the buyer and to authorities.",
      "source": 3
    },
    {
      "title": "Authorities can ask for the same file",
      "text": "Market surveillance authorities can require economic operators to provide documents, technical specifications and information on compliance, in any form (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 14(4)(a)).",
      "source": 4
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Can the buyer insist on a certificate from one named laboratory?",
      "a": "No. Where a contracting authority requires certificates from a specific conformity assessment body, it must also accept certificates from equivalent bodies (Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 44(1)). The body must be accredited under Regulation (EC) No 765/2008."
    },
    {
      "q": "We have no third-party test report. Are we out?",
      "a": "Not necessarily. The buyer must accept other appropriate proof, such as the manufacturer's technical dossier, where you had no access to the report or could not obtain it in time, provided that this is not attributable to you and the dossier proves the requirement is met (Article 44(2))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is the CE marking enough as proof?",
      "a": "The CE marking is the manufacturer's own indication that the product conforms. A buyer may ask for the documents behind it, such as the declaration of conformity and test reports, as means of proof for its technical specifications."
    },
    {
      "q": "Do the same rules apply to a private company's tender?",
      "a": "No. Directive 2014/24/EU binds contracting authorities: the State, regional or local authorities and bodies governed by public law (Article 2(1)). It applies to contracts at or above the EU thresholds, for supply contracts from 1 January 2026 EUR 140 000 for central government and EUR 216 000 for other contracting authorities (Article 4); below them, national procurement rules apply. A private buyer sets its own documentation demands, and they are set by agreement. The product law behind the documents is the same in both cases."
    },
    {
      "q": "The tender names a specific eco label. What if we do not have it?",
      "a": "A buyer that requires a specific label must accept all labels that confirm equivalent requirements. If you demonstrably could not obtain the label in time for reasons not attributable to you, it must accept other appropriate proof, such as a technical dossier (Article 43(1))."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement (consolidated text of 1 January 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014L0024-20260101",
      "accessed": "2026-10-05"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (consolidated text of 29 May 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02023R0988-20260529",
      "accessed": "2026-10-05"
    },
    {
      "title": "Directive 2014/35/EU on electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014L0035-20260530",
      "accessed": "2026-10-05"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products (consolidated text of 12 August 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02019R1020-20260812",
      "accessed": "2026-10-05"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "retailer-proof",
    "b2b-customer-questionnaire",
    "retailer-supplier-portal",
    "first-declaration-of-conformity",
    "documents-scattered",
    "due-diligence-buyer"
  ],
  "reviewer": "Conphora compliance team",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-05",
  "notice": "General information, not legal advice."
}