The financial and economic requirements for admitting a subcontractor to a tender

In brief: the Public Contracts Code (D.Lgs. 36/2023, in force since 2023, which replaced the earlier D.Lgs. 50/2016) governs, in Articles 94, 95 and 100, the grounds for exclusion and the participation requirements that also apply to subcontractors named in a tender — not only to the main economic operator. Naming a subcontractor that does not meet these requirements exposes the entire bid to the risk of exclusion, not only the single subcontracted work item.

Why it matters already at the tender stage, not only when the works begin

Unlike the solvency check that a contractor carries out in its own interest on a private subcontractor (see the dedicated guide), in public contracts the verification of the requirements of a subcontractor named in a tender is a formal step with direct consequences for the admissibility of the entire bid — an inadequate subcontractor is not only a future operational risk, it is an immediate risk of exclusion.

What Articles 94, 95 and 100 of D.Lgs. 36/2023 check, in brief

• Absence of the grounds for exclusion provided for by the Code (established business crisis situations, serious professional misconduct, unsettled tax or social security irregularities, among others) — grounds that, if present in respect of the subcontractor, can affect the admissibility of the bid.
• Economic and financial capacity requirements, when required by the contracting authority for the specific subcontracted work — proportionate to the scope and nature of that part of the works, not necessarily identical to those required of the main economic operator.

How to verify it concretely before naming a subcontractor in a tender

In addition to the formal documentation that the subcontractor itself provides (self-declarations, certificates), an independent check of its actual financial situation — balance sheet, protests, insolvency proceedings in progress — reduces the risk of discovering a problem only when the contracting authority verifies the requirements, when the award has already been made or is in progress, and the time left to replace the subcontractor is much more limited.

What this guide is not

Veryfy is not a law firm specialised in public contracts: our expertise is financial risk management. This guide does not replace a lawyer's advice on preparing tender documentation or on the formal assessment of the grounds for exclusion — it concerns the substantive financial verification that comes before, and complements, that formal assessment.