Article 78
United Kingdom
If, for a given contract, tenders appear to be abnormally low, the contracting authority shall, before rejecting such tenders on that ground alone, request in writing details of the constituent elements of the tender which it considers relevant and shall verify those constituent elements, after due hearing of the parties, taking account of the explanations received.
The contracting authority may, in particular, take into consideration explanations relating to:
the economics of the manufacturing process, of the provision of services or of the construction method;
the technical solutions chosen or the exceptionally favourable conditions available to the tenderer;
the originality of the tender.
Where the contracting authority establishes that a tender is abnormally low as a result of State aid provided, it may reject the tender on that ground alone only if the tenderer is unable to prove, within a reasonable time determined by the contracting authority, that the aid in question has been awarded definitively and in accordance with the procedures and decisions specified in the Community rules on State aid.