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EMVI, BPKV and sub-award criteria explained: how an authority weighs quality against price and where your points are.
Checked on 15-09-2026
The Dutch Public Procurement Act 2012 (Aanbestedingswet 2012) has three award criteria: best price-quality ratio (BPKV), lowest cost based on cost-effectiveness, and lowest price. Together they fall under the umbrella term most economically advantageous tender, abbreviated EMVI in Dutch.
According to PIANOo, best price-quality ratio is usually the starting point and the main rule in European tenders. If an authority nevertheless chooses lowest price or lowest cost, it has to explain why. Under BPKV the authority assesses the tender on several aspects: besides price, for example quality, sustainability, planning or life-cycle costs.
Those aspects are worked out in sub-award criteria, each with a weighting and an assessment method. The law does not prescribe the weighting; the authority sets it and publishes criteria, weighting and method in advance. Common methods are a points model or the weighted factor method. PIANOo advises authorities to limit the number of sub-award criteria and to assess price separately from quality.
A frequently used sub-award criterion is the plan of approach. It must concern the performance of this contract, not your company in general. An assessment panel scores the plans against the published criteria. Courts accept some subjectivity in this, as long as the method is known in advance and applied objectively.
What this means for you: first check how heavily quality weighs against price, because that determines where your effort pays off most. For each sub-award criterion, write an answer that follows the assessment questions in the same order, is specific to this contract and can be verified: who does what, when, and how you measure the result. A general company presentation does not fit criteria that are about performing this particular contract.
These articles explain how public tendering works; they are not legal advice. If you are unsure about a specific tender, ask your question through the clarification round or consult a lawyer.
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