Part 3: Award of public contracts and procedures Exclusions and modifications Section 26: Excluding suppliers from a competitive award
Subsection (1) requires a contracting authority to disregard any tender from a supplier that is an "excluded supplier" when assessing which tender is the most advantageous tender. This means that contracting authorities must consider whether each supplier meets any of the mandatory grounds for exclusion, and if so whether the issue in question is likely to occur again or is continuing; whether the supplier is to be treated as an excluded supplier for other reasons (see sections 16(5), 30(6) and 82(4)); as well as checking whether the supplier is on the debarment list on the basis of a mandatory ground for exclusion.
	Subsection (2) places an obligation on a contracting authority to consider whether a supplier is an "excludable supplier" before assessing tenders for the most advantageous tender and allows a contracting authority to disregard a tender submitted by such a supplier. This means that contracting authorities must consider whether each supplier meets any of the discretionary grounds for exclusion, and if so whether the issue in question is likely to occur again or is continuing; as well as checking whether the supplier is on the debarment list on the basis of a discretionary ground for exclusion.
	Subsection (3) states that, where a supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier by virtue of an "associated person" of the supplier being an excluded or excludable supplier, before disregarding a tender, contracting authorities must notify the supplier of their intention to do so and give the supplier the opportunity to replace the associated person with a suitable alternative i.e. one who is not an excluded or excludable supplier. A supplier’s tender must or may be disregarded under this provision only if the supplier fails to replace the associated person.
	Subsection (4) defines an "associated person" as any entity which the supplier in question is relying upon to meet the conditions of participation in the procurement (see sections 22(8) and (9)) with the exception of guarantors, which would for example include banks. Associated persons could be individuals, companies, partnerships or any entity with legal personality. An associated person might include subcontractors or consultants who are essential to ensure the supplier has the technical ability to perform the contract or other consortium members if the supplier is relying on them to ensure it has the legal and financial capacity to perform the contract.
	The basis on which a supplier is an excluded supplier (i.e. subject to mandatory exclusion) or an excludable supplier (i.e. subject to discretionary exclusion) is set out in sections 57 (meaning of excluded and excludable supplier) and 58 (considering whether a supplier is excluded or excludable) and the grounds on which a supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier are set out in Schedule 6 (mandatory exclusion grounds) and 7 (discretionary exclusion grounds). A supplier must also be treated as an excluded supplier in certain other circumstances (see sections 16(5), 30(6) and 82(4)).