Part 3: Award of public contracts and procedures Technical specifications Section 56: Technical specifications
In public procurement technical specifications contain the required characteristics of the goods, services or works that a supplier has to provide. They are included within procurement documents to present suppliers with a full description of the contracting authority’s needs, to enable suppliers to propose a solution to meet those needs in their tenders.
	This section contains provisions on technical specifications and subsection (1) sets out the areas to which this section is applicable.
	Subsection (2) requires that the procurement documents must not refer to a design, particular licensing model or a description of characteristics when they could appropriately refer more generically to performance or functional requirements.  For example, developing technical specifications for a procurement that are linked to a specific design is not permitted if it would be appropriate to instead include a description of how the goods or services should perform. This is to avoid contracting authorities creating unnecessary barriers to suppliers’ participation in a procurement by proposing a specific or narrow solution. However there may be circumstances where it would not be appropriate to refer to performance or functional requirements and thus design characteristics can be used, for example in order to ensure standardisation across a series of procurements.
	Subsection (3) sets out that the procurement documents can only refer to a United Kingdom standard if this standard adopts an internationally recognised equivalent or if there is no internationally recognised equivalent. For example, if international standards or United Kingdom standards adopting international standards, deliver the procurement requirement, these must be used. Only in the absence of these may a United Kingdom standard be used. This is to ensure procurement documents do not limit a competition or set out discriminatory conditions in relation to their technical specifications.
	Subsection (4) requires that if a United Kingdom standard is used, a contracting authority must set out in the procurement documents that an equivalent standard will be treated as having met the United Kingdom standard.
	Subsection (5) clarifies that for the purpose of determining whether a standard is equivalent pursuant to subsection (4), a contracting authority may consider the purpose behind setting the standard, for example, whether this was to meet a statutory requirement or if it was used by the contracting authority as a general indication of the type of good or service it envisaged. A similar international standard may not always be equivalent to a United Kingdom standard.
	Subsection (6) makes clear that contracting authorities can require certification or other evidence to verify that a standard is satisfied or equivalent. For example, this may include conformity assessments from certification bodies accredited by organisations such as the United Kingdom Accreditation Service or other equivalent accreditation organisations.
	Subsection (7) prohibits the procurement documents from referring to a particular trademark, trade name, patent, design or type, place of origin, producer or supplier, unless using the term is necessary to make the requirements of the contract understood. This is to ensure the procurement documents do not unduly limit competition.
	If specifying matters outlined in subsection (7) is necessary, subsection (8) states that the procurement documents must also provide that tenders will not be disadvantaged if they demonstrate equivalent quality and performance.
	Subsection (9) sets out what is meant by "procurement documents". It also explains that a United Kingdom) standard is a standard set by the British Standards Institution (BSI) or one that is primarily developed for use in the United Kingdom, or part of the United Kingdom.