verifiability

Verifiability is a fundamental principle in public procurement that requires contracting authorities to document all significant assessments and decisions throughout the procurement process. The principle ensures that any third party can review the process after the fact and verify that the rules were followed.

How does verifiability work?

Under EU Directive 2014/24/EU, the transparency principle serves as the primary mechanism for enabling verifiability. All communication between the contracting authority and suppliers must be in writing and recorded. Oral interactions — such as meetings, phone calls, and negotiations — must be documented in minutes detailed enough for an outsider to understand what took place and what considerations were made.

The principle manifests in several concrete requirements. The obligation to maintain a procurement record ensures systematic documentation. The duty to provide reasons when awarding contracts allows unsuccessful tenderers to assess whether the award criteria were applied correctly. And publication requirements for contract notices ensure openness about contract awards. Importantly, verifiability is not about the volume of documentation, but its quality — records must be clear and comprehensive enough for someone who was not present to understand the reasoning.

Why is verifiability important?

• Legal protection for suppliers: Makes it possible to verify that decisions are objective and rule-compliant
• Public trust: Citizens can check that public funds are spent responsibly
• Prevention of errors and abuse: Knowing that assessments may be scrutinised has a disciplinary effect
• Access to remedies: Suppliers who believe they were unfairly treated can bring cases before complaint bodies like KOFA

Complaint bodies regularly find verifiability breaches — typically where the contracting authority lacked written documentation for its evaluation, failed to keep meeting minutes, or could not adequately justify its award decision. Tools like Cobrief can help suppliers stay on top of public procurement processes where transparency and documentation are essential.

Rooted in the EU/EEA transparency principle, verifiability ensures that public procurement withstands scrutiny. Together with equal treatment, proportionality, and non-discrimination, it forms the framework that protects the integrity of procurement processes and the rights of all parties involved.