• on whose capacities the tenderer relies upon to fulfil the selection criteria as described under Section 3.2 ; 

• whose individual share of the contract, known at the time of submission, is above 20 %. 

Any such subcontractor must provide the tenderer with a commitment letter drawn up in the model attached in Annex 5.1 and signed by its authorised representative. 

Changes concerning subcontractors identified in the tender (withdrawal/replacement of a subcontractor, additional subcontracting) during the procurement procedure (after the submission deadline and before contract signature) require the prior written approval of the Contracting authority  subject to the following verifications: 

• any new subcontractor is not in an exclusion situation; 

• the tenderer still fulfils the selection criteria and the new subcontractor fulfils the selection criteria applicable to it individually, if any; 

• the terms of the originally submitted tender are not altered substantially, i.e. all the tasks assigned to the former subcontractor are taken over by another involved entity, the change does not make the tender non-compliant with the Tender specifications, and the evaluation of award criteria of the originally submitted tender is not modified. 

Subcontracting to subcontractors identified in a tender that was accepted by the Contracting authority  and resulted in a signed contract, is considered authorised. 

## 2.4.3. Entities on whose capacities the tenderer relies to fulfil the selection criteria 

In order to fulfil the selection criteria a tenderer may also rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links it has with them. It must in that case prove that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for the performance of the contract by producing a commitment letter in the model attached in Annex 5.2,  signed by the authorised representative of such an entity, and the supporting evidence that those other entities have the respective resources. 

If the contract is awarded to a tenderer intending to rely on another entity to meet the minimum levels of economic and financial capacity, the Contracting authority  may require the entity to sign the contract or, alternatively, to provide a joint and several first-call financial guarantee for the performance of the contract. 

With regard to technical and professional selection criteria, a tenderer may only rely on the capacities of other entities where the latter will perform the works or services for which these capacities are required (i.e. the latter will assume the role of subcontractors). 

  Relying on the capacities of other entities is only necessary when the capacity of the tenderer is not sufficient to fulfil the required minimum levels of capacity. Abstract commitments that other entities will put resources at the disposal of the tenderer will be disregarded. 

