In order to award the contract to the tenderer or, where appropriate, to the tenderers who have submitted the most economically advantageous tender, the purchaser shall base himself:
1° Either on a single criterion which may be :
a) Price, provided that the sole object of the contract is the purchase of standardised services or supplies whose quality cannot be varied from one economic operator to another;
b) Cost, determined according to an overall approach which may be based on the life cycle cost defined in article R. 2152-9;
2° Or on the basis of a number of non-discriminatory criteria linked to the subject of the contract or its performance conditions, including the price or cost criterion and one or more other criteria including qualitative, environmental or social aspects. These may include the following criteria
a) Quality, including technical merit and aesthetic or functional characteristics, accessibility, learning, diversity, production and marketing conditions, guarantee of fair remuneration for producers, innovative character, performance in terms of environmental protection, development of direct supply of agricultural products, integration of disadvantaged groups into the labour market, biodiversity, animal welfare ;
b) The lead times, delivery conditions, after-sales service and technical assistance, security of supply, interoperability and operational characteristics;
c) The organisation, qualifications and experience of the personnel assigned to perform the contract where the quality of the personnel assigned may have a significant influence on the level of performance of the contract.
Other criteria may be taken into account if they are justified by the subject of the contract or its performance conditions.
It must be possible to apply the award criteria selected to both variants and basic tenders.