Belgian TED notice: can I submit a variant with my tender?
You learn where a TED notice says whether a variant is allowed, required or not allowed, what the law says when the notice is silent, and what you still need to read in the specifications.
What is a variant?
Article 2, 53°, of the Belgian law of 17 June 2016 on public procurement defines a variant as “an alternative method of design or performance that is submitted either at the request of the contracting authority or on the tenderer’s own initiative”. An option (article 2, 54°) is something else: “an ancillary element that is not strictly necessary to perform the contract”. The law is published in French and Dutch; the wording here is our English rendering.
In a TED notice, the answer is given lot by lot, under point 5.1.12 “Terms of procurement”, on the line “Variants”. It reads “Allowed”, “Required” or “Not allowed”. When a notice has several lots, the answer can differ from one lot to the next.
What the law says
Article 56, § 1, says the contracting authority may allow tenderers to submit variants or options, or require them to do so. It says so in the contract notice. Without such a statement, no variant or option is allowed.
The same paragraph adds an exception for contracts whose estimated value is below the thresholds for EU-wide publication: unless the procurement documents say otherwise, the tenderer may submit “free variants” and “free options” there without the notice mentioning them. Variants and options are linked to the subject-matter of the contract.
Article 56, § 2, says that, for required and allowed variants, the procurement documents state the minimum requirements they must meet and how they must be submitted. They also state whether a variant may only be submitted together with a base tender. An option may not be submitted without a base tender or, where relevant, a variant. The award criteria must be able to apply to the required and allowed variants that meet the minimum requirements, as well as to base tenders.
Text of the law: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/loi/2016/06/17/2016021053/justel
Three Belgian notices still open on 12 October 2026
TED notice 632308-2026 was published on 14 September 2026, in French, in the same procedure as notice 606899-2026 of 3 September 2026. It states that the procurement documents were changed on 9 September 2026 (new plans, adjusted bill of quantities for lot 1, new version of the specifications). The title stays in French: “Belgique – Travaux de construction de canalisations d'eaux usées – PERWEZ-INCOURT - Construction du collecteur d'Orbais et Malèves-Sainte-Marie”. The published buyer is in BW association intercommunale SC, in Nivelles. The published procedure is open.
It has two lots. For lot 1, “Travaux d'égouttage, de collecteur et de voiries d'Orbais”, the “Variants” line reads “Required”. For lot 2, “Travaux d’égouttage, de collecteur et de voiries de Malèves-Sainte-Marie et d’Incourt”, it reads “Not allowed”. For both lots, the deadline for receipt of tenders is 26 October 2026 at 10:00 (UTC+01:00), price is the only published award criterion, and submission is electronic, on https://www.publicprocurement.be, in French. The notice does not describe the required variant: it refers to the procurement documents, published at https://cloud.3p.eu/Downloads/1/2050/HS/2026.
TED notice 698736-2026 was published on 9 October 2026, in French. The title stays in French: “Belgique – Véhicules d'incendie – Acquisition de camions-citernes de 8000 litres destinés à la Zone de Secours Wallonie Picarde”. The published buyer is the Zone de secours de Wallonie Picarde. The published procedure is open, in a single lot. The “Variants” line reads “Allowed”. The description of options names two allowed options from the specifications: III.10.11, a space for a temporary water reserve, and III.11.9.6, a signalling panel on the vehicle roof. The deadline for receipt of tenders is 9 November 2026 at 10:00 (UTC+01:00). The procurement documents are published at https://cloud.3p.eu/Downloads/1/273/17J/2026.
TED notice 700281-2026 was published on 9 October 2026, in Dutch. Its title stays as in the notice: “België – Diensten voor ophalen van vuilnis – Huis-aan-huisophaling restafval, PMD en/of GFT vanaf januari 2027”. The published buyer is Gemeente Niel. The published procedure is open, in three lots (“afvalophaling huisvuil”, “afvalophaling PMD” and “Perceel 3 (afvalophaling GFT)”). For all three lots, the “Variants” line reads “Allowed”, the deadline for receipt of tenders is 16 November 2026 at 10:00 (UTC+01:00), and the published award criteria are price (60 points), “Kwaliteit uitvoering en nazorg” (20 points) and “Duurzaamheid en milieuprestaties” (20 points). Submission is on https://www.publicprocurement.be, in Dutch. The procurement documents are published at https://cloud.3p.eu/Downloads/1/452/2C/2026.
The notice pages: https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/-/detail/632308-2026 https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/-/detail/698736-2026 https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/-/detail/700281-2026
Can I still reply with a variant?
On 12 October 2026, none of the three deadlines has passed. For lot 1 of notice 632308-2026, the variant is required: the tender must include it, in the form the procurement documents set. For lot 2 of the same notice, a variant is not allowed. For notices 698736-2026 and 700281-2026, a variant is allowed, under the minimum requirements and the submission method the procurement documents set.
If a TED notice does not say that a variant is allowed or required, article 56 says no variant is allowed. The “free variants” exception only applies to a contract whose estimated value is below the EU thresholds, and only if the procurement documents do not rule them out.
Before you draft a variant, read in the procurement documents the minimum requirements, how to submit it, and whether a base tender is also required. If a more recent change notice moves these conditions or the date, the latest published notice and the procurement documents prevail.
What AOEX does not do
AOEX does not draft the variant, does not submit the tender and does not contact the buyer. This page does not say whether a variant will be found compliant or who will win the contract.
The text to follow remains the latest official notice and the procurement documents, including the specifications.
This note describes public documents and how AOEX works. It is not legal advice.
Edited by Rachid Bouhmou.
