Section 3: Groups of economic operators

Groups of economic operators may participate in procurement procedures.

A consortium is:1° Joint when each of the economic operators in the consortium undertakes to perform the service(s) likely to be awarded to it under the contract;2° Joint and several when each of the economic operators in the consortium is financially committed for the entire contract.

The consultation documents may prohibit candidates from submitting several applications for the contract or some of its lots, acting at the same time:1° As individual candidates and as members of one or more groupings;2° As members of several groupings.

The purchaser may not require a grouping of economic operators to have a specific legal form in order to submit an application or a tender.The purchaser may require groups of economic operators to adopt a specific legal form after the contract has been awarded insofar as this is necessary for its proper performance. In this case, the purchaser must justify this requirement in the consultation documents.

Applications and tenders must be submitted either by all the members of the consortium, or by a representative who has the necessary authority to represent the other members of the consortium. The same economic operator may not be the representative of more than one grouping for the same contract.

In the two forms of grouping mentioned in article R. 2142-20, one of the economic operators who is a member of the grouping, designated in the application and in the tender as the lead contractor, represents all the members vis-à-vis the purchaser and coordinates the services of the members of the grouping. If the contract so provides, the leader of a joint grouping shall be jointly and severally liable, for…

The assessment of the capacities of a group of economic operators is global. It is not required that each member of the group has all the capacities required to perform the contract.

Without prejudice to the provisions of article L. 2141-13, the composition of the consortium may not be changed between the date on which applications are submitted and the date on which the contract is signed. However, in the event of a company restructuring operation, in particular a takeover, merger or acquisition, or if the consortium provides proof that one of its members is unable to perform its task for reasons…

For service or works contracts and supply contracts requiring installation work or including the provision of services, the purchaser may require that certain essential tasks be performed by one of the members of the consortium, provided that this is stated in the consultation documents.