How are BIM sample models scored in a Latvian public tender?

What is a sample model?

This article follows VNĪ's requirements (annexes 3 and 4, version 2.1), which the government's annotation and the 2023 guidelines point clients to. Check each tender's own annexes. Under VNĪ's, each design-part lead named in the pre-contract plan provides a model with:

• a grid of two axes each way, with one intersection at given coordinates and a given spacing;
• one storey with a given name and elevation;
• one solid of given dimensions, tied to that storey and lined up with the grid;
• a data set with four attributes: the design part, its lead, the date and the authoring software with its version;
• an IFC class set per design part, for example IfcSlab for architecture and IfcBeam for structures.

The values change. VNĪ's requirements and the 2023 guidelines advise clients to vary them from tender to tender, so that bidders don't resubmit old models. Take them from the tender in front of you.

What do you submit?

File names follow the requirements' naming rule. The number of models must match the design-part leads listed in section 3.1 of the pre-contract plan, and a lead with several parts makes one model.

The 2023 guidelines on the most economically advantageous tender say what this proves: that the bidder has licensed software in the right versions, can export data and federate models, can deliver, and that every named lead is really available.

How are the marks given?

At every mark the federated model must be there, show all the information and have the models in the right place with no manual correction. The 2023 guidelines add the bottom of the scale: a bid scores zero if models are missing or don't meet the requirements, and a client may decide that zero means the bid is rejected as non-compliant, so look for that clause.

How do marks become points?

Under the 2023 guidelines, points are the tender's maximum for the criterion, times the marks, divided by 30. In a tender that gives the criterion 3 points, 20 marks give 3 × 20 / 30 = 2 points.

How much does BIM weigh in the award?

Since 2023 the Public Procurement Law requires a criterion besides price for design and design-and-build contracts, and names the use of BIM as an example (section 51). The guidelines add that the experience of the specialists can be scored, not that of the bidder as a company.

What should you check before submitting?

Each of these comes straight from a criterion:

1. The grid, storey, solid and attribute values are this tender's, not the last one's.
2. Each model was made in the software and version named in section 3.6 of your plan.
3. In the IFC file, not the native one, the solid has the right class and the data set with all four attributes.
4. The IFC holds only what was asked for: grid, storey and solid.
5. The federated model opens with every model in place and all information visible, with no manual shift.
6. There is a model from every lead listed in section 3.1.
7. File names follow the rule, with the codes the annex gives.

How Digitalyse can help

We prepare discipline sample models to the client's requirements and check them with IFC Checker, our own tool, before submission. See BIM in Latvian public tenders.

Sources

Checked on 4 November 2026.

• VNĪ annex 3, sample-model requirements, version 2.1
• VNĪ annex 4, sample-model evaluation criteria, version 2.1
• VNĪ's tender for Amatu iela 6 in EIS, VNĪ 2020/7/2-3/AK-9
• 2023 guidelines on the most economically advantageous tender, with the 5 to 10% and the Amatu iela 6 example
• Notice of the VNĪ tender for Duntes iela 8
• Public Procurement Law, section 51