Environmental award criteria for a sports equipment tender

From 22 August 2026, every public contract in France must include at least one award criterion based on the environmental characteristics of the offer and at least one environmental contract performance condition, and price can no longer be the sole criterion. Similar duties are appearing across the European Union as green public procurement moves from encouragement to obligation. This page gives wording you can copy into a sports equipment consultation, the evidence that is genuinely admissible, and a worked scoring grid.

The European basis is Directive 2014/24/EU: article 67 allows award on the most economically advantageous tender including environmental characteristics, article 68 allows life cycle costing, article 43 governs the use of labels, and article 70 allows environmental contract performance conditions. The French implementation comes from article 35 of the Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021, whose procurement provisions take effect on 22 August 2026. The French ministry for the economy indicates that a weighting of at least 10 per cent of the total score is sound practice. If you procure elsewhere, check your own national timetable; the drafting below works under the directive in any member state.

What the obligation actually covers

Like any award criterion, an environmental criterion must be linked to the subject matter of the contract, objective, precise and non discriminatory. A criterion that requires a named label without accepting equivalent evidence is unlawful under article 43 of the directive, which permits label requirements only where equivalent labels and other appropriate means of proof are also accepted.

Six criteria that work for sports equipment

An outdoor fitness station, a street workout rig or an impact attenuating surface does not fit the generic environmental criteria written for office supplies. The six below are specific to this family, measurable, and verifiable from a document rather than from a statement of intent.

The first two criteria discriminate most and are the easiest to check, because they rest on a written contractual undertaking rather than on a policy statement. They are also the ones that weigh most on real cost over twenty years: equipment replaced twice costs twice, in euros and in embodied carbon. That is exactly the reasoning article 68 of the directive supports through life cycle costing.

A worked scoring grid

Example breakdown of an environmental criterion weighted at 15 per cent of the total score, on an outdoor sports equipment consultation. Adapt the thresholds to your own market and to the responses you expect.

Environmental performance condition: usable wording

The obligation also bites during performance. A clause usable for sports equipment, to be inserted in the administrative conditions of the contract:

The contractor shall take back, at its own cost and at no additional charge to the buyer, all transport packaging following delivery. At handover it shall provide the buyer with the spare parts schedule for each item delivered, together with its written undertaking as to the spare part supply period. It shall inform the buyer, within one month, of the withdrawal from sale of any item delivered under this contract.

This wording has three advantages: it is linked to the subject matter of the contract, it is verifiable at handover, and it imposes no disproportionate burden on a small candidate, which limits the risk of challenge under the proportionality principle.

Three mistakes to avoid

• Requiring a named label. A criterion that reserves points for one certification scheme without accepting equivalent means of proof is discriminatory. Express the requirement as an outcome, not as a certification mark.
• Scoring an intention. A charter, an environmental policy or a general commitment cannot be scored objectively and invites challenge. Score figures that are contractually committed and verifiable.
• Confusing a criterion with a performance condition. Both are required and they do different work: the criterion ranks the offers at award stage, the condition binds the contractor throughout performance.

What Light In Fitness can substantiate

So that a buyer can calibrate realistic thresholds, here is what we commit to contractually.

Durations, exclusions and the claim procedure are on equipment warranties, and parts availability on after sales and spare parts.

Frequently asked questions

When does the environmental criterion become compulsory?

In France, on 22 August 2026, under article 35 of the Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021, for procedures launched from that date. Other member states apply their own timetables under the same directive, and several already require environmental criteria in specific product categories, so check your national rules and any sectoral green public procurement guidance.

What weighting should we apply?

No text imposes a percentage. French ministry guidance treats at least 10 per cent of the total score as sound practice. A weighting so low that it cannot change the ranking risks being treated as having no useful effect, which is a real litigation risk once the obligation is in force.

Can price remain the main criterion?

Yes, but it can no longer be the only one. On recently published sports equipment consultations, technical value commonly carries 40 to 60 per cent of the score, and some authorities now score warranty duration as a criterion in its own right rather than as a sub-criterion of technical value.

Can we require an environmental product declaration?

You may request one as a means of proof, but you may not make it exclusive: equivalent evidence must be accepted, otherwise the criterion becomes discriminatory under article 43 of the directive. Not every family of sports equipment has published environmental product declarations, so a criterion that depends on one may return no compliant offers.

Is warranty duration a legitimate environmental criterion?

Yes, provided it is linked to the service life of the installation and to avoiding replacements, and provided it is scored on a contractually committed figure. On this purchasing family it is the easiest environmental criterion to make objective, and it is directly connected to life cycle cost under article 68 of the directive.

Do we need a performance condition as well as a criterion?

Yes. Both are required and they serve different functions: the criterion ranks offers at award stage, the condition binds the contractor throughout performance. A single clause cannot do both jobs, and an audit will look for each separately.

Have your draft criteria reviewed

If you are preparing a sports equipment consultation, send us your draft criteria. We will tell you which evidence manufacturers in this market can genuinely produce, so you avoid a criterion that returns no compliant offer or that is open to challenge.

Réalisations documentées

• Cage street workout ultime, Carcassonne – armee francaise
• Cage street workout ultime, Tahiti – armee francaise, Polynesie
• Cage SP Max, centre EPIDE de Combree – etablissement public d insertion
• Cage SP Max, lycee Saint-Benigne de Dijon – etablissement scolaire

Sources et références

• Code de la commande publique – texte intégral en vigueur (Légifrance)
• Direction des affaires juridiques, ministère de l’Économie – réglementation de la commande publique et fiches techniques
• NF EN 16630 – modules fixes d’entraînement physique de plein air : exigences de sécurité et méthodes d’essai (AFNOR)
• Code du sport, article L322-2 – garanties d’hygiène et de sécurité des établissements d’activités physiques et sportives (Légifrance)