Guide updated 11 July 2026
The abnormally low bid, with numbers
Bidding low earns points until it stops earning them: below a threshold, the bid is presumed abnormally low and you have to justify it. If the specifications set no other parameters and price is the only criterion, the threshold comes from article 85 of the Regulation (RGLCAP).
One bidder
A bid is abnormal if it is below the base budget by more than 25 percentage points.
Two bidders
A bid is abnormal if it is below the other bid by more than 20 percentage points.
Three bidders
Those more than 10 percentage points below the average of the bids. To calculate that average, the highest bid is excluded if it exceeds the average by more than 10 points. In any case, a discount of more than 25 points is abnormal.
Four or more
Those more than 10 percentage points below the average. If any bid exceeds the average by more than 10 points, a new average is calculated without them; and if fewer than three remain, the new average is made with the three lowest bids.
An example
Base budget of €100,000 and four bids: €95,000, €90,000, €85,000 and €70,000. Average of the bids: €85,000. The €95,000 one exceeds it by 11.8%, more than 10%, so it leaves the calculation: new average of the other three, €81,666.67. The threshold sits 10% below, at €73,500: the €70,000 bid is presumed abnormal.
If you fall into it
The committee asks you to justify the bid (art. 149.4 LCSP): savings in the method, favourable conditions, originality, compliance with labour and environmental obligations. If it is not convincing, the bid is out. Note: with several criteria, the specifications must set their own parameters, and those are the ones that apply.
Work it out with your numbers
It applies when price is the only criterion and the specifications set no other parameters. It is a calculator, not advice: the result is given by the committee.
Frequently asked questions
What are the percentage points measured against?
It depends on what it is compared with. Against the budget (one bidder, and the 25 cap with three), against the budget: it is abnormal below 75% of it. Against the average or the other bid, the percentage is taken on the average or on that bid, in amounts: it is abnormal below 90% of the average (or 80% of the other bid), and a bid that exceeds it by more than 10% leaves the calculation. That is how Recomendación 8/2002 of the Comisión Consultiva de Contratación Pública de Andalucía explains it and how committees apply it.
And if the specifications say something else?
The specifications prevail. Article 85 of the Regulation applies when price is the only criterion and the specifications set no other parameters.
Do bids from companies in the same group count?
To calculate the average, companies in the same group that bid separately count as one: the lowest is taken (art. 149.3 LCSP and art. 86 RGLCAP).