AustriaBarrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), section 34, Bundesvergabegesetz 2018, sections 107 and 275, and Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018, section 60, accessibility requirements in public procurement and concessions
Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG) § 34; Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 (BVergG 2018), §§ 107 Abs. 1 und 2 und 275 Abs. 1 und 2; Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018 (BVergGKonz 2018), § 60 Abs. 1 und 2
In force since .
A procurement conditions rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- If you sell to a public contracting authority a product or service that the BaFG covers, expect the tender's technical specifications to require the accessibility requirements of Annex 1 of the BaFG, which section 34(1) makes mandatory accessibility requirements within the meaning of section 107(1) and section 275(1) of the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 and section 60(1) of the Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018; a product or service that meets harmonised standards or technical specifications whose references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union is treated as meeting them (BaFG, s. 34(1) and (3); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 24(1)).
- If you tender for a performance intended for use by natural persons, expect the technical specifications to take account of design for all, including accessibility for persons with disabilities, and to refer to mandatory accessibility requirements that follow from a legal act of the European Union; the contracting authority may depart from this in objectively justified cases, in particular where no use by persons with disabilities is expected or the estimated additional costs are disproportionate (Bundesvergabegesetz 2018, s. 107(1) and (2); for sector contracting entities above the threshold values, s. 275(1) and (2); for concessions above the threshold values, the technical and functional requirements under Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018, s. 60(1) and (2)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
Section 34(1) of the BaFG makes the accessibility requirements of Annex 1 mandatory accessibility requirements, for the products and services that the Act covers, within the meaning of sections 107(1) and 275(1) of the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 and section 60(1) of the Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018. Article 24(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/882 is the source of that rule.
Section 107(1) of the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 requires a contracting authority that procures a performance intended for use by natural persons to set the technical specifications so that design for all, including accessibility for persons with disabilities, is taken into account. Where mandatory accessibility requirements follow from a legal act of the European Union, the technical specifications must refer to them so far as those criteria are concerned.
Section 107(2) allows the contracting authority to depart from that duty in objectively justified cases. Such a case exists in particular where the contracting authority can assume that persons with disabilities are not expected to use the performance, or where the estimated additional costs of taking the criteria into account are disproportionate.
Section 275(1) states the same duty for a sector contracting entity (Sektorenauftraggeber) that procures such a performance above the threshold values, and section 275(2) allows the same departures.
Section 60(1) of the Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018 requires a contracting entity that procures, above the threshold values, a performance intended for use by natural persons to set the technical and functional requirements so that design for all, including accessibility for persons with disabilities, is taken into account and to refer to mandatory accessibility requirements that follow from a legal act of the European Union.
Section 60(2) of that Act allows the same departures in objectively justified cases. Sections 107 and 275 of the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 and section 60 of the Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018 have applied in their current wording since . Section 34(3) of the BaFG treats those mandatory accessibility requirements as met where harmonised standards and technical specifications, whose references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, are used.
Section 34(2) of the BaFG lets the requirements of Annex 1, Section 5 be used to assess the accessibility that other federal laws prescribe for features, components or functions of products or services outside the Act. Section 36(6) excludes the fines of section 36(1) to (3) in award procedures under the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 and the Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018.
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