Public contracts: how to meet the environmental criterion

When the state, a local authority or a hospital buys, it chooses its supplier. The Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021 requires that choice to consider the environment. Its Article 35 writes this into the Public Procurement Code.

Since 22 August 2026, every tender launched by a public buyer must include an environmental requirement in two places: what the contractor must do during the contract, and how bids are scored. If your company sells to a municipality, hospital, region, ministry or social housing provider, your bids are no longer assessed as before.

In July 2026, Bercy published a practical sheet for buyers, deciding case by case what satisfies the obligation and what does not. For a bidding company, it indicates where points are gained and lost.

1Two distinct obligations: the clause and the criterion

The first is an environmental performance condition, under Article L. 2112-2 of the Public Procurement Code. It binds the contractor throughout the contract. The second, the award criterion, concerns the bid's environmental characteristics and is used to score and rank bids, under Article L. 2152-7. Concessions fall under Articles L. 3114-2 and L. 3124-5.

Confusing the two costs points, and an example is more useful than a definition. "The contractor delivers using electric vehicles" is a performance condition. It applies to whoever wins the contract, and therefore distinguishes no one. "The share of the delivery fleet made up of electric vehicles", used to score bids, is an award criterion, and determines your ranking. The clause earns nothing in scoring; only the criterion enters the score.

First check whether the tender documents refer to general administrative conditions, a template document the buyer can adopt as it stands. Two clauses can cover part of the obligation: packaging and social inclusion, provided the specific documents detail them. Note that the packaging clause does not exist in the template for works: in a works contract, referring to the template covers nothing on the environment. Then examine the specific conditions, where the buyer may depart from the template.

Three regimes according to contract value

Three regimes differ by value, detailed below. The foundation is the environmental clause. The award criterion is added from the adapted procedure, and the social clause appears only above the EU thresholds, the amounts from which EU law requires stronger procedures and publicity. In a contract divided into lots, this threshold is assessed lot by lot: check your lot's regime, rather than the entire tender's. Thresholds appear in Annex 2 of the Public Procurement Code and are revised every two years, so check the value in force on the tender date.

A contract awarded without publicity or competition must still include an environmental clause, in three forms depending on the case. Below €25,000 excluding VAT and without a written document, the buyer must make every effort to ensure the service incorporates these objectives, particularly through overall cost, meaning consideration of what the purchase also costs during use and end of life. If a quote is drawn up, the clause must appear in the general terms. In all other cases, a written document is mandatory and the clause must be in the contract.

2Price as the sole criterion has disappeared

Since every contract must include an environmental criterion, a buyer can no longer award solely on price. Bercy states this directly. With a sole criterion, only overall cost incorporating environmental considerations, or based on life-cycle cost, may be retained: a price extending beyond the invoice amount.

The document - DAJ, July 2026

The official doctrine, in yes and no

Legal Affairs Directorate and National Public Procurement Council.

The sheet is written for buyers, but its "no" column matters first to bidders: it lists wording that does not satisfy Article 35. It also settles the most consequential point: if the buyer retains only one selection criterion, it will be overall cost incorporating environmental considerations, or based on life-cycle cost. Price as the sole criterion effectively disappears. Finally, it recommends weighting at least 10% so the criterion remains meaningful.

For a company winning contracts by being cheapest, the equation changes. Life-cycle cost includes acquisition, operation, maintenance and end of life. Cheap but energy-intensive equipment loses out; a durable, repairable product can overcome an initial price difference.

Bercy primarily recommends a sufficiently high weighting for the criterion to remain meaningful, citing 10% of the total score as a benchmark to adapt to the contract's subject. The practice it discourages places environmental merit as a technical merit sub-criterion at 5%. The recommended practice makes it a standalone criterion at 10%.

3What does not count as an environmental criterion

The document reviews actual wording and determines whether each satisfies Article 35. Several common formulations fail. For a bidder, relying on them means believing it has answered the criterion while scoring nothing.

Encouragement wording is ruled out

A clause stating that "the contractor will favour", "as far as possible" or "if possible" does not meet the obligation if it sets neither an objective nor monitoring. The visual below compares wording Bercy rules out with wording it accepts, clause by clause.

The same reasoning applies to criteria: wording referring generally to the technical statement is ruled out as too imprecise. Wording that passes names the assessment elements and states a weighting.

Complying with existing regulation is insufficient

Regulation already applying to certain products or operators, independently of the purchasing process, cannot underpin a qualifying performance condition. Bercy cites waste sorting rules and rules on plant protection product use. However, going beyond the legislation qualifies again, and certain purchasing obligations can be used, such as those in the EGAlim Act for institutional catering or Article 58 of the AGEC Anti-Waste Act.

Good to know

A label does not always count as evidence

Labels recommended by ADEME, including the EU Ecolabel, and their associated evidence meet Article 35 conditions for clauses. The DAJ sheet sets a clear limit, however: outside these cases, simply referring to a label is not necessarily sufficient. The buyer must check the required label, an equivalent label, or evidence attesting to the characteristics it expects. Before basing a bid on a label, read the tender rules.

4Evidence a buyer can accept

An environmental criterion requires verifiable data, rather than an intention. The question is what a buyer accepts as evidence.

Labels recommended by ADEME, including the EU Ecolabel, and their associated evidence meet Article 35 conditions for clauses. Outside these cases, simply referring to a label is not necessarily sufficient. The buyer must then check the required label, an equivalent, or evidence attesting to the expected characteristics.

Beyond labels, the data answering an environmental performance criterion most directly remains life cycle assessment. Its form depends on your sector. It may be a product LCA, an environmental and health declaration or product environmental profile in construction and equipment, or an emission factor per product reference. An organisation's Bilan Carbone® answers criteria concerning the company rather than the product.

In construction, knowing how to read an FDES declaration becomes a prerequisite for bidding for a works contract.

A final, rarer route lies in the contract's subject itself. When the contract directly targets environmental protection, this qualifies under Article 35 for clauses, with soil remediation and low-carbon construction as examples.

The improvement plan, provided it is quantified

The improvement plan is also recognised as a valid response to the clause obligation, provided implementation and monitoring arrangements are precise. It must set measurable, realistic objectives, with indicators such as the share of refurbished products or reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The benefit for an SME is direct: the improvement plan does not require data when submitting the bid. It commits to monitored improvement during performance and becomes contractual. It is an entry route for a company not yet holding an LCA.

Where to start

Useful work concentrates on three points, from least costly to most foundational.

• Reread your latest technical statements, separating what answers a performance condition from what answers a scored criterion.
• Inventory the data you can produce today: equipment energy consumption, recycled material share, sourcing distance, waste recovery rate. Quantified data is worth more than a general commitment.
• Decide whether you need a product LCA. It also serves environmental labelling, your customers' scope 3 and your clients' CSRD sustainability reporting.

For the budget, the cost of a first product LCA depends on chain complexity. Bpifrance's Diag Éco-conception funds 60 to 70% for companies with fewer than 250 employees, including microbusinesses, in all sectors. The amount payable falls to €5,400 excluding VAT below 50 employees, €7,200 excluding VAT between 50 and 249. For a Bilan Carbone®, Diag Décarbon'Action reduces a €10,000 excluding VAT fixed price to €6,000 excluding VAT. A low-budget LCA remains possible with a limited scope.

5Key takeaways

Article 35 shifts part of the score from price to environmental data, across all public contracts outside defence and security. SNBC 3 creates no direct obligation for companies, but public procurement is one channel through which the national pathway reaches them.

• Two distinct obligations: a performance clause, which is not scored, and an award criterion, which is.
• Price alone no longer suffices: with a sole criterion, it will be overall cost or life-cycle cost.
• Vague commitments are ruled out: without a quantified objective or monitoring, a clause does not satisfy Article 35.
• Evidence is prepared beforehand: recognised label, life cycle assessment, product environmental declaration or quantified improvement plan.

For an industrial SME, this work substantially overlaps with a decarbonisation diagnostic or a greenhouse gas emissions report if required. Data collected once serves several purposes.

Further resources

Frequently asked questions

1From when does Article 35 apply to my bid?

The new obligations cover contracts where a tender is initiated, or a competition notice sent for publication, from 22 August 2026. A tender launched before this date remains governed by earlier rules until its conclusion. Check the date the notice was sent, rather than the bid submission date.

2Are all contracts covered, even intellectual services?

Yes. The Legal Affairs Directorate specifies that all contracts and concessions are covered, including intellectual services. Only defence and security contracts and concessions are outside the scope. Other situations have a lighter regime, however, particularly purchases without publicity or competition. For intellectual services, the State Purchasing Directorate provides tool sheets with examples of suitable clauses and criteria.

3Does ISO 14001 certification suffice to meet the criterion?

Not automatically. Management system certification concerns the organisation, rather than the bid's environmental performance. It can serve as evidence if the buyer has provided for it, but a criterion concerning a product's environmental characteristics calls for product data. Read the tender rules before assuming general certification will count.

4What if I have no environmental data on my products?

An improvement plan is the fastest route. It meets the environmental clause obligation without requiring data at bid submission, provided it sets precise, measurable objectives monitored during performance. In parallel, begin collecting data on your best-selling references. Our article on low-budget LCA details limited scopes that remain admissible.

5Can the buyer still choose the lowest-priced bid?

It can retain price as a criterion, but no longer as the sole criterion, since every contract must now include an environmental criterion. If it wants only one criterion, the Legal Affairs Directorate's sheet states that only overall cost incorporating environmental considerations, or based on life-cycle cost, may be retained.

6What weighting should you expect for the environmental criterion?

There is no regulatory threshold. The Legal Affairs Directorate recommends weighting at least 10% of the total score so the criterion remains meaningful, and advises separating it from technical merit rather than making it a low-weight sub-criterion. Weighting is not mandatory in the adapted procedure, but displaying it is good practice.

7I have never bid for a public contract. Does that close the door?

No. The environmental criterion concerns what you propose, rather than your public contract history. A first-time bidder starts with the same points as another company on this criterion, provided it supplies quantified, verifiable data rather than a general commitment. Start by reading the tender rules, which state the criteria and weightings, then see what data you can already produce for the product or service concerned.

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