Technical support towards the development of a European repair score index for different product groups

Open procedure tender EC-JRC/SVQ/2025/OP/6837 by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) to provide technical support for developing and validating a European repair score index across five product groups. The contract, estimated at €180,000 and lasting up to 30 weeks, requires coordinating two independent assessment parties per product group to perform model selection, disassembly/reassembly tests, service-parameter verification, score calculation, sensitivity analysis and recommendations. Submission is electronic via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal with deadline 14/04/2026 16:00 (Europe/Madrid) and requires PIC registration, fulfilment of exclusion and selection criteria including a minimum turnover and specified technical profiles, with award by best price-quality ratio. The Union acquires results and associated IPR; bidders must ensure independence of assessment parties, sustainable device management, and compliance with contractual, security and administrative requirements in the tender documents.

Tender EC-JRC/SVQ/2025/OP/6837 (JRC)

What it funds

Services to perform independent reparability assessments and methodological calibration/validation to support the development of a European repair score index for several product groups (design and service‑related parameters, disassembly tests, data collection, scoring, sensitivity analysis and recommendations).

Who can apply:Any economic operator registered in the EU Funding & Tenders Participant Register (single entities or groups). Joint tenders allowed; subcontracting permitted with prior declaration. Tenderers must meet exclusion, selection and capacity criteria (technical profiles, past projects and minimum turnover). See tender documents for full eligibility Funding & Tenders Portal. ¹

1. 1Scope: independent reparability assessments (design + service parameters), scoring, calibration, sensitivity analysis and recommendations.
2. 2Applicants: sole tenderers or groups; must register and submit via eSubmission; meet selection criteria T1/T2 and financial threshold F1.

Tender documents, invitation letter, technical and administrative specifications, draft contract and templates are published on the Funding & Tenders Portal; all submissions must follow eSubmission rules and timelines.

Footnotes

1. 1Register and access the call on the Funding & Tenders Portal: ec.europa.eu

This is an open procurement procedure by the European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), seeking a contractor to provide technical support to develop and validate a European repairability score index across multiple product groups. The assignment covers independent reparability assessments using a JRC-provided methodology and will feed into calibration and validation for potential horizontal requirements under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

Opportunity type and identifier:Procurement — Call for tenders; Procedure identifier: EC-JRC/SVQ/2025/OP/6837; CPV: 73000000 (Research and development services and related consultancy services); Lead contracting authority: European Commission, DG JRC — Joint Research Centre (Seville, Spain)

Status and submission method:Open for submission; Electronic submission only via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Funding & Tenders Portal listing

Scope of work and technical content

The contractor will organise and execute independent reparability assessments across five product groups (to be confirmed by JRC at kick-off) using product-group-specific methods supplied by JRC (built on the JRC 2019 reparability scoring system and aligned with EN 45554). For each product group, two independent assessment parties must test a minimum of eight device models each (with overlap on two models to test repeatability and reproducibility), perform manual disassembly and service-parameter assessments, calculate repairability scores, analyse methodological choices and sensitivities, and formulate recommendations to improve product-specific methods. Results will support calibration/validation of the JRC methodology for potential use in horizontal ecodesign policy for repairability.

Indicative product groups:Smartwatches; Earphones; Headphones; Game consoles; Speakers; E‑scooters; E‑bicycles; Coffee machines; Toasters; Kettles (final five to be confirmed by JRC at kick‑off).

Tasks:Task 1: Project management and coordination of independent assessment parties; Task 2: Selection, purchase and management of at least 8 models per product group (EU market-available), based on market representativeness, brand variability, technological variability (including design outliers), and price range representativeness, subject to JRC approval; Task 3: Manual disassembly tests on priority parts and re-assembly verification using JRC method parameters (e.g., disassembly depth, fastener type, tool types) and sustainable post-assessment device management; Task 4: Collection and verification of service-related parameters via official OEM channels (e.g., availability of diagnostics, repair info, spare parts, software/firmware updates, data transfer/deletion, password reset/factory restore); Task 5: Score calculation and sensitivity analyses on methodological choices (priority parts, parameters, weights, thresholds) and market variability; Task 6: Recommendations on method adjustments for regulatory fitness (e.g., parameter inclusion/exclusion, scoring brackets, thresholds, verification feasibility).

Repairability parameters referenced by the JRC method:Design-related: #1 Disassembly depth (number of steps); #2 Fastener type (e.g., removable, reusable, captive reusable); #3 Tool type (e.g., basic tools, commercially available tools, proprietary). Service-related: #4 Diagnostics support/interface; #5 Repair-related information (comprehensiveness and target audience); #6 Spare parts availability (duration, audience, scope); #7 Software/firmware updates (duration, audience, scope); #8 Data transfer and deletion functions; #9 Password reset and factory restore. Inclusion and scoring ranges depend on the product-group-specific methods provided by JRC.

Deliverables and timeline

• D1 Inception Report (work plan, deadlines, clarifications) at T0+4 weeks
• D2 List of selected models per product group with justifications at T0+4 weeks
• D3.xa and D3.xb per product group and per assessment party: editable Excel scoring files (per model, per parameter) plus analytical narrative (disassembly maps/charts, justifications). Due at T0+14 weeks for Product Groups 1–2 and at T0+29 weeks for Product Groups 3–5
• D4 Final Report (method, results, calibration/validation insights, recommendations) at T0+30 weeks

All deliverables must be in English, produced with MS Office (Commission standard), undergo internal quality checks, and meet Commission graphic and accessibility requirements for publication.

Procurement conditions and evaluation

Procedure and contract:Open procedure; direct service contract; maximum duration indicated as 30 weeks in the technical/administrative specifications (portal overview lists maximum duration 8 months); nature of contract: services; award method: best price-quality ratio.

Estimated total value:€180,000 (estimated total value published with the call)

Key dates and times (Europe/Madrid):TED publication: 05/03/2026; Deadline for receipt of tenders: 14/04/2026 16:00; Public opening: 15/04/2026 10:00; Final date to submit questions: 06/04/2026 23:59.

Evaluation and award criteria:Exclusion and selection checks precede technical and price evaluation. Best price-quality ratio out of 100 points, with up to 60 points for Technical Quality (TQ) and up to 40 points for Price (P = (Pmin/Po) x 40). Offers scoring under 27.5 points in TQ or failing minimum sub-criteria thresholds will be rejected.

• Criterion 1 Methodological approach (max 16; min 8): representativeness in selecting device models; suitability of disassembly, re-assembly, and service-parameter assessment methods
• Criterion 2 Device models (max 11; min 3): count of assessed device models beyond the minimum (extra points up to 5); robustness of post-assessment device management plan
• Criterion 3 Analysis and recommendations (max 15; min 7.5): completeness of impact analysis of methodological choices; completeness of recommendations towards a scoring system
• Criterion 4 Organisation and resources including quality control (max 18; min 9): adequacy of time/resource allocation, independence of assessment parties, task distribution; robustness/efficiency of quality control

Scoring scale per sub-criterion (except 2.1):Outstanding 100%, Satisfactory 75%, Partially satisfactory 50%, Not satisfactory 25%. Abnormally low tenders may be rejected. Liquidated damages and price reductions may apply for delays or quality shortfalls under the draft contract.

Eligibility, capacities and consortium

Eligible applicant types:Any economic operator (natural or legal person) within the scope of the EU Treaties, as well as international organisations, may tender. Typical eligible profiles include SMEs, large enterprises, testing laboratories, repair and teardown specialists, engineering consultancies, university departments, research institutes, and nonprofits with relevant technical capacity. Subcontracting is permitted. Joint tenders (consortia) are permitted and all group members are jointly and severally liable. The contractor may be one of the assessment parties but must ensure independence between the two assessment parties per product group.

Rules on access and restrictive measures:Participation is open to entities within the EU Treaties and to third countries with specific procurement agreements with the EU under the conditions of those agreements. The WTO GPA does not apply. Entities subject to EU restrictive measures under TEU Art. 29 or TFEU Art. 215 are not eligible.

Exclusion and selection criteria:Exclusion: Article 138(1) Financial Regulation situations apply; Declaration on Honour is required with the tender; evidence may be requested from the presumed winner. Selection — Economic and financial capacity: average yearly turnover above €270,000 over the last two closed financial years (consolidated across group members, subcontractors and relied entities). Selection — Technical and professional capacity: Experience in all of the following fields with at least 1 similar contract/project completed in the last 5 years (per sole tenderer or each group member and identified subcontractor): EU ecodesign/repair regulatory or technical expertise; product disassembly; data collection and analysis. Team profiles (consolidated across involved entities): Project Manager with at least 5 years’ project management experience (or 8 years in absence of certification) and recognised PM certification (e.g., PM2, PRINCE2, MSP, PMI-PMP or equivalent); Senior Researcher in ecodesign and repair (8 years’ professional experience or relevant higher degree plus at least 5 years in field); at least two team members with English C1 level.

Contractual, IPR and security conditions

The contract follows the European Commission service contract general conditions (December 2024). The Union acquires ownership of the results and associated IPR in newly created materials; pre-existing rights incorporated are licensed to the Union on a royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable basis for the modes of exploitation set in the contract. Confidentiality, data protection, checks/audits by the Commission, OLAF, the Court of Auditors, and EPPO apply. Security requirements for Commission contractors must be followed, including security incident management and ethics reminders for service providers. EU VAT exemptions apply; payments in EUR; electronic invoicing via the Portal or compatible networks.

Submission and documentation

How to apply:Submit electronically via eSubmission on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Registration in the Participant Register (PIC) is mandatory. Documents must be signed preferably with a qualified electronic signature (eIDAS QES). Tenders must be autonomous and independent of other tenders. Variants are not allowed.

Technical tender structure (templates and guidance):Section 1 Methodology: model selection approach against JRC criteria; disassembly and service-parameter assessment methodology; Section 2 Device models: number per product group (min 8 per party) and post-assessment management plan; Section 3 Analysis and recommendations: how scores will be presented, visualisation, sensitivity analyses on parameters/weights/thresholds, and method recommendations; Section 4 Organisation and quality control: assessment party structure, task allocation per profiles, measures ensuring impartiality and repeatability, time/resource allocation. Include CVs and evidence for selection criteria as requested.

Administrative forms to include:Declaration on Honour on exclusion and selection criteria (Annex 2); Agreement/Power of attorney for joint tenders (Annex 3); List of identified subcontractors with roles and share if applicable (Annex 4); Commitment letters by identified subcontractors (Annex 5.1) and by relied entities (Annex 5.2); Evidence of authorisation to sign; Financial and technical evidence upon request; Draft contract special and general conditions with IPR, security appendix, and VAT annex.

Published documents (portal):Invitation letter; Administrative specifications; Declaration on Honour template; Technical specifications; Annex 2 Graphic requirements template; Draft contract; Appendix 1 Security requirements; Annex III Declaration of pre-existing rights; Annex IV VAT group share form.

Categorisation and structured answers

Eligible Applicant Types:Economic operators such as SMEs, large enterprises, testing and teardown laboratories, engineering and consulting firms, universities, research institutes, nonprofits and NGOs with relevant technical expertise, and public or semi-public entities acting as economic operators. Subcontractors and consortium members allowed; international organisations eligible. Individuals can participate as economic operators where national law permits.

Funding Type:Procurement — service contract. The contracting authority purchases services; no grant is awarded.

Consortium Requirement:Single tenderer or consortium (joint tender) permitted. Not mandatory to form a consortium. However, the work requires two independent assessment parties per product group; the contractor may organise multiple parties (including itself as one party) via consortium composition and/or subcontracting, ensuring independence.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):Open to natural and legal persons within the scope of the EU Treaties and international organisations; also open to entities from third countries having a specific agreement with the EU in public procurement under that agreement. WTO GPA does not apply. Entities subject to EU restrictive measures are excluded.

Target Sector:Environment and circular economy; ecodesign; consumer electronics and ICT; light means of transport (e-mobility micromobility); small household appliances and whitegoods; research and consulting services; testing and standardisation; industrial sustainability; policy support.

Mentioned Countries:Spain (European Commission, DG JRC Seville, Calle Inca Garcilaso, 3, E-41092 Sevilla; public opening time zone Europe/Madrid). Geographic scope references: European Union.

Project Stage:Applied research, testing and validation. Activities include development, experimental assessment, calibration, and method validation to prepare for regulatory deployment; not commercialisation.

Funding Amount:Estimated total value €180,000. Direct contract with payments against approved deliverables. No VAT payable by the EU institutions; quotes must be VAT-free.

Application Type:Open call for tenders with a single submission; electronic submission only via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. One tender per tenderer; latest version counts if multiple submissions.

Nature of Support:Money — the winning contractor is paid for services delivered and accepted under the contract. No non-monetary support is foreseen.

Application Stages:Single-stage tender. Evaluation sequence: access and administrative compliance; exclusion; selection; technical and price evaluation; award decision; contract signature; public opening session post-deadline.

Success Rates:Not specified. No historical success data or expected award rate is provided in the documentation.

Co-funding Requirement:No co-funding is required. This is a fully paid service contract; the contractor bears its bid preparation and performance costs and invoices per contract terms.

Compliance, quality control and independence

The contractor must ensure independence between the assessment parties, robust internal quality assurance, traceable and repeatable scoring, sustainable handling of tested devices, and strict reliance on official OEM channels for service-parameter verification. Confidentiality, conflict of interest, and professional conflicting interest rules apply. Subcontracting and consortium structures must avoid cross-subcontracting conflicts and demonstrate genuine independence and impartiality in assessments.

Practical submission details and contacts

• Submission: exclusively via eSubmission on the Funding & Tenders Portal
• Registration: Participant Identification Code (PIC) is required; maintain accurate SME status
• File limits: portal system constraints (e.g., individual attachment size, number of documents) apply as per eSubmission requirements
• Questions: via the Portal Q&A; the contracting authority is not obliged to reply to questions after 06/04/2026 23:59 Europe/Madrid
• Opening session: virtual, on 15/04/2026 10:00 Europe/Madrid (max two representatives per tenderer by prior request)

Summary — What this opportunity is about and how to explain it

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre is procuring specialist services to test and refine a European repairability scoring system across multiple everyday product groups. The contractor will coordinate at least two independent testing parties per product group to dismantle devices, assess repair-friendly design features, verify repair and support services offered by manufacturers, calculate repairability scores, and analyse how methodological choices affect results. With a 30‑week delivery window and an estimated €180,000 value, this contract blends hands-on teardown testing with evidence-based policy support, directly informing potential EU-wide horizontal requirements on repairability under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. Bidders must show robust experience in ecodesign and repair, product disassembly, and data analysis; organise impartial multi-party assessments; and deliver structured datasets and analyses aligned with JRC’s methodology. The award is based on the best price-quality ratio, with significant weight on methodological soundness, depth of analysis, robust device sampling, and strong quality control. This is not a grant but a paid service contract; proposals are submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Opportunity Overview

This is an open procedure tender (EC-JRC/SVQ/2025/OP/6837) issued by the European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), for technical support in developing a European repair score index for five product groups. The service involves independent assessments of product reparability using JRC-provided methodology, contributing to calibration and validation for potential ecodesign regulations under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Product groups will be confirmed at kick-off and may include smartwatches, earphones, headphones, game consoles, speakers, e-scooters, e-bicycles, coffee machines, toasters, or kettles.

Key Dates and Milestones

• TED publication date: 05/03/2026
• Deadline for receipt of tenders: 14/04/2026 16:00 Europe/Madrid
• Questions deadline: 06/04/2026 23:59 Europe/Madrid
• Public opening: 15/04/2026 10:00 Europe/Madrid
• Contract duration: Maximum 30 weeks (initially stated as 8 months in metadata, clarified in specs as 30 weeks)
• Estimated total value: €180,000

Eligibility and Who Can Apply

Open to all natural and legal persons within the scope of the EU Treaties and international organisations. Entities established in third countries with special EU procurement agreements may participate. Tenderers must not be subject to EU restrictive measures and must meet exclusion and selection criteria. Joint tenders and subcontracting are permitted, with joint and several liability for groups. Registration in the EU Participant Register (PIC required) is mandatory.

Exclusion Criteria

Tenderers in exclusion situations per Article 138(1) of the Financial Regulation (e.g., bankruptcy, tax/social security breaches, fraud, corruption, grave professional misconduct) are excluded. Declaration on Honour required; supporting evidence requested from presumed winner.

Selection Criteria

Economic and Financial Capacity (F1):Average yearly turnover above €270,000 over the last two financial years (consolidated assessment).

Technical and Professional Capacity:

• T1 (individual): Experience in EU eco-design/product repair, product disassembly, data collection/analysis (at least 1 similar contract/project in last 5 years).
• T2 (consolidated): Project Manager (5+ years experience, certification or equivalent, similar project management); Senior Researcher (8+ years or degree +5 years in eco-design/repair); 2 team members with C1 English.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

Contractor coordinates two independent assessment parties per product group to test at least 8 models each (6 unique + 2 shared for repeatability). Tasks: project management, model selection (market/brand/technology/price representativeness), disassembly/reassembly (design parameters), service parameter collection (OEM data), score calculation/sensitivity analysis, recommendations. Key deliverables include Inception Report, model lists, scoring results/analysis per group/party (Excel + Word), Final Report.

Timeline of Deliverables/Meetings (T0 = Contract Signature):

Financial Details

Estimated Value:€180,000 maximum (services only, no reimbursements).

Payment Schedule:

1. 1Interim (20%): After D2 acceptance.
2. 2Balance (80%): After Final Report acceptance and pre-existing rights declaration.

Prices in EUR, VAT-exempt. Award on best price-quality ratio (Price 40 pts, Technical Quality 60 pts, min 27.5/60 threshold).

Submission Requirements

Electronic submission via EU Funding & Tenders Portal eSubmission. Technical tender structured by 4 sections (methodology, models, analysis, organisation). Financial tender with price breakdown. Documents: Declaration on Honour, authorisations, etc. (see Annex 1). QES preferred.

Applicable Law and Disputes

Governed by EU law + Spanish law. Exclusive jurisdiction:Courts of Seville. Security requirements per Appendix 1 (no EU classified info access).

Key Documents and Links

Primary source:EU Funding & Tenders Portal. TED Notice: TED 45/2026. JRC Repairability Studies: JRC Publications ¹.

Risks and Considerations

• Must organise 2+ independent parties for assessments (contractor may be one).
• Sustainable device management post-assessment required.
• IP: Union owns results; pre-existing rights licensed royalty-free.
• Liquidated damages for delays; price reductions for quality issues.
• Strict independence for assessments to test repeatability/reproducibility.

Applicants should review full tender specs for detailed award criteria (60 pts technical:methodology 16, models 11, analysis 15, organisation 18), exclusion/selection proofs, and security obligations. Early PIC registration advised.

Footnotes

1. 1JRC studies on repair scoring: General Scoring Methodology; Smartphones/Tablets Application. ESPR Preparatory Study: JRC Product Bureau.