Abstract
Public works procurement regulates two award procedures from within the same criteria: either the price or a variety of different conditions. Although the question of price may not seem the most important factor to be considered, it is imperative to always be aware of it when bearing in mind the award criteria. Economic scoring formulae (ESF) are numerous and each agency has the authority to determine which will be used for each of their bids, making this article a comparative analysis of all the options. The results show that most formulas give the highest score to the most economic bidder, it is necessary to eliminate the use of formulas that give the highest score to the offers which are closest to the average of all bids submitted. One should always opt for formulas with moderate or strong scoring gradients across various stages or phases, thereby giving more weight to economic analysis, as set out in the various administrative clauses.
