Best bidder or highest bidder? The public sector and companies (partially) owned by the state are obliged to put contracts out to public tender above a certain minimum value (threshold value). Below-threshold contracts can be awarded directly; the threshold values for this are regulated in a separate law. It must be determined from the outset in the invitation to tender whether the lowest or best bidder is to be awarded the contract. As a rule, the best bidder principle is applied, which is prescribed by law for the vast majority of tenders: § Section 91 (5) BVergG 2018: (5) The contract shall be awarded to the technically and economically most favourable tender for the following services: 1. in the case of services - in particular intellectual services - that are to be awarded by negotiated procedure pursuant to Section 34 (2) to (4), or 2. if the description of the service is essentially functional, or 3. for works contracts with an estimated contract value of at least EUR 1 million, or 4. if the contract is awarded by means of a competitive dialogue, or 5. if the contract is awarded by way of an innovation partnership. The evaluation criteria according to which quality is assessed must be described transparently in the tender documents in accordance with their importance. In Austria, the price is usually rated relatively highly. The lowest bidder can be requested if the service can be clearly defined in technical, economic and legal terms so that all bids that fulfil the criteria can be considered equivalent. In terms of good quality management, however, it makes sense to also quantify the value of an appealing external appearance, material quality and unique aesthetic features in order to correctly evaluate potential savings. The private client is of course free to decide how to award contracts. However, the best bidder principle will also be applied here. It is flexible, can be adapted to the client's wishes and enables the best and also the most favourable contractor to be commissioned.