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KfW 2026-0023, Procurement Procedure „ Environmental and Social Consulting Services for E&S Experts “

Bidders’ Questions and KfW's Answers (Version 5) Date of Distribution 09.09.2026

No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
1	Deadline Extension		To ensure that we can develop a high-	Thank you for your interest in participating in our tender process, which is highly appreciated. Kindly note that this tender process was already initiated with an extended submission period. For that reason, we are currently not anticipating any further extensions. We still hope to receive your proposal and thank you for your kind understanding.
			quality and competitive proposal that fully
			addresses the specific requirements of
			the Terms of Reference (ToR) and the
			needs of KfW, we would like to kindly
			request an extension of the submission
			deadline.
			This additional time would enable us to
			prepare a comprehensive and well-
			considered proposal that aligns with your
			expectations and project objectives.
			Thank you for your support and
			collaboration
2	Short CVs	Can the same individual be named simultaneously as the Team Coordinator and as one of the required Environmental or Social Experts (i.e., counted toward both roles), or must the Team Coordinator be a distinct individual separate from the 3+3 Environmental/Social Experts, bringing the Core Team to a minimum of 7 distinct persons?	Can the same individual be named	The Team Coordinator must be distinct to the core E&S Experts, which means that 7 CVs must be presented.
			simultaneously as the Team Coordinator
			and as one of the required Environmental
			or Social Experts (i.e., counted toward
			both roles), or must the Team Coordinator
			be a distinct individual separate from the
			3+3 Environmental/Social Experts,
			bringing the Core Team to a minimum of 7
			distinct persons?

[Seite 2]

No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
3	Declarations concerning eligibility		Shareholder status vs. "permanently	Operating shareholders/partners or members of the executive bodies of the tenderer or a consortium member may be classified as “permanent employee (P)” in the “List of Available Personnel” and counted towards the 90% ratio under Section 3.1.1, provided that they perform E&S-related work on an ongoing operational basis for the relevant company. A purely supervisory or advisory role is not sufficient. The tenderer shall confirm, by submitting the “List of Available Personnel”, that any person classified as “permanent employee (P)” meets these conditions.
			employed"
			In relation to Section 3.1.1 (Access to
			workforce) of the Vergabeunterlagen,
			which requires that 90% of the E&S
			workforce be "permanently employed in
			the company" (part-time and/or full-time),
			please clarify whether a shareholder or
			partner of the tendering company or a
			consortium member firm, who may not
			hold a formal employment contract but
			has an ownership stake and is actively
			engaged in the company's E&S
			operations, qualifies as "permanently
			employed" for the purposes of this
			criterion. Alternatively, please confirm
			whether this status would be classified as
			a freelancer or external resource (F) on
			the "List of Available Personnel" form.
4	Conditions for participation	Maximum number of consortium members Section 5 of the Vergabeunterlagen ("Conditions for participation pertaining to consortia") sets out the obligations of consortium members but does not appear to specify a maximum number of firms permitted to form a consortium for this tender. Please confirm whether there is a maximum number of firms that may jointly	Maximum number of consortium	There is no legally established upper limit on the number of members in a consortium, provided that the requirements of public procurement law and antitrust law are observed.
			members
			Section 5 of the Vergabeunterlagen
			("Conditions for participation pertaining to
			consortia") sets out the obligations of
			consortium members but does not appear
			to specify a maximum number of firms
			permitted to form a consortium for this
			tender. Please confirm whether there is a
			maximum number of firms that may jointly

[Seite 3]

No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
		participate as a consortium of tenderers, or whether the number of consortium members is unrestricted provided the eligibility and technical requirements are met
5	Vergabeunterlage, Page 108 via eVergabe		Minimum requirements for the general 50-	This is correct. 3.1.1 of the Kriterienkatalog lays out the minimum requirement: The Tenderer has access to minimum 50 experts working in the E&S sector, of which 90% of the employees working in the E&S workflow (part-time and/or full-time) are permanently employed in the company. The distribution should be balanced in the sense of being diversified and reasonably even across experience levels and education degrees, without any single category being disproportionately represented.
			expert workforce (outside Core Team and
			Expert Pool)
			Section 3.1.1 requires access to a
			minimum of 50 experts in the E&S sector.
			Within this group, the 7 Core Team
			members and the 19 Expert Pool
			members form a subset with defined role
			based, sectoral, and qualification
			requirements. For the remaining experts
			within the 50 who are not part of the Core
			Team or the 19 member Expert Pool,
			please clarify whether there are any
			minimum requirements regarding specific
			expertise or specialization areas, sector
			coverage, country or geographic
			coverage, or language capacity.
			Alternatively, please confirm whether the
			only applicable requirements for this
			broader group are the 90% permanent

broader group are the 90% permanent

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No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
		employment ratio and the general balanced distribution across experience levels and education degrees
6	Concept		In the document	The formal requirements for preparing the concept can be found at the top of page 15 of document KfW 2026-0023 – Evaluation Matrix.
			‘VERGABEUNTERLAGEN KfW-2026-
			0023 Environmental and Social
			Consulting Services for E&S Experts
			Offenes Verfahren (EU) (VgV)
			Ausschreibung – section 1.4 ‘Contents of
			the tender’’, it is mentioned that ‘For
			documents that the tenderer must prepare
			themselves (e.g. concepts), the format
			specifications provided by KfW must be
			adhered to.’ We presume this would apply
			to the ‘Written Concept’ for which we have
			not found the relevant format
			specifications to be used. Can you clarify?

specifications to be used. Can you clarify?

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No.	Reference Documents	Question	Answer
7	Consortium of tenderers‘ declaration	The ‘VERGABEUNTERLAGEN KfW- 2026-0023 Environmental and Social Consulting Services for E&S Experts Offenes Verfahren (EU) (VgV) Ausschreibung’ talks about a “Declaration of Consortia”, however we have only found a template names ‘‘Consortium of tenderers‘ declaration’. Can we assume this is the same document?	Yes, this correct.
8	Terms of Reference	The TOR talks about a total of 1710 days effort which will be divided among the three consultancy firms to be chosen equally (leading to 570 per consultancy firm). However, the ‘Leistungsverzeichnis’ invites the consultancy firm to present the rates for the different specialists for a total of 1710 days. Please clarify if the budget needs to reflect 1710 or 570 days.	The budget for the entire framework agreement with three consultants totals 1,710 days. An even distribution is a reasonable assumption. Please refer to the contract for information on the rotation cascade and the contractual criteria for deviations from the consultant’s assignment. To ensure comparability, please submit a bid for 1,710 days.

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No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
9	Commitment in the Event of a Reliance on the Capacities of Other Entities	For the presentation of our bid, we shall collaborate with a few external subcontractors and other offices across the world that consist of the same group however are a part of different legal entities. Do we understand correctly that that each of these subcontractors/entities would need to sign the form ‘KfW 2026- 0023 - Commitment in the Event of a Reliance on the Capacities of Other Entities’?		Yes, since these are separate companies—despite being part of the same corporate group—due to their status as distinct legal entities, the form must be completed by each company whose capacity the bidder or the bidding consortium relies on to demonstrate its capability in accordance with § 47 VgV.
10	Submission of the Bid		It is mentioned in	If a document requires a signature, it is permissible to submit it as a PDF so that it can be signed digitally.
			VERGABEUNTERLAGEN KfW-2026-
			0023 Environmental and Social
			Consulting Services for E&S Experts
			Offenes Verfahren (EU) (VgV)
			Ausschreibung’ – section 1.1 Electronic
			submission of a Tender : Tenders need to
			be submitted exclusively electronically in
			text form. A signature is not
			required.’ And Section 1.4 Contents of a
			tender: ‘All forms to be submitted must be
			submitted in the format (e.g. Word or
			Excel) in which they were provided to the
			tenderer. Additional conversion (e.g. to
			PDF) should be avoided. However, some
			of the forms requested as a part of the
			Tender request for a Signature. In these
			cases, is it acceptable to transform these
			files to pdf for signing? Or is the tenderer
			expected to a) not sign these forms or b)
			sign the word file with an image?

sign the word file with an image?

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No.	Reference Documents	Question	Answer
11	Contract	Should the Tenderer have comment on the contract template, where, how and when should we include our comment on the contract template and specific clauses during the Tender process?	Because this is an open bidding process, bidders are not permitted to make any changes to the tender documents as a whole.
12	General Contractual Conditions/Terms of Reference	In the general contractual conditions, clause 8 mentions the "results of performance". Could you please confirm this designate our deliverable which are the results of our services?	Yes

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No.	Reference Documents	Question	Answer
13	Short CVs	Regarding "B. Qualification of Core Team Members": There are requirements relevant to the knowledge of languages. How are you going to proof the level of knowledge. Is any kind of certification required? or is it enough to state in the CV the level? Are Core Team Members allowed to be part of the expert workforce as well (minimum 50 experts)? or must Team Members be additional profiles? Can a Member of the Core Team be an External Consultant?		No language certification is required; it is sufficient to state the language level
				in the CV. The language skills may be verified during the interviews, and a
				severe misrepresentation of actual language levels may lead to the bidder’s
				complete disqualification from the procurement process.
				Yes, the minimum expert workforce of at least 50 experts may include the 7
				core team members.
				Yes. A Core Team member may be an external consultant. The Tenderer
				must have access to the required Core Team members and ensure that they
				meet the qualification requirements applicable to the respective role. The
				Tenderer must further ensure that the proposed Core Team can be mobilised
				and remains available to perform the services in accordance with the
				requirements of the tender documents, including under short-notice
				conditions. The Tenderer’s approach to personnel availability, substitution
				arrangements and continuity is to be addressed in the written concept, which
				is preferably demonstrated by a high percentage of permanent staff.
14	Team Coordinator / Team Manager terminology	The Tender Documents consistently refer to the key position as Team Coordinator, whereas the Price Schedule refers to “Core Team – Team Manager” and allocates 240 person-days to this position. Please confirm that “Team Manager” in the Price Schedule is intended to mean the Team Coordinator?	The assumption is confirmed. The Team Coordinator is the Team Manager in the Price Schedule	The assumption is confirmed. The Team Coordinator is the Team Manager in
				the Price Schedule

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No.	Reference Documents	Question	Answer
15	Task 5(b) – meaning of ESAP	For the Team Coordinator, Task 5(b) requires experience in a “Gap analysis of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment with an Environmental and Social Action Plan.” Please confirm whether the required action plan must be formally entitled Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP), or whether equivalent instruments such as an ESMP/ESRMP, corrective action plan, compliance action plan or other documented remedial-action matrix would also satisfy this requirement?	Other plans that consist in identifying gaps and measures to remediate this gaps, such as compliance action plan, corrective action plan etc. are eligible for this criteria, under the condition that applicable standards (ESS or IFC PS) are considered in this analysis.
16	Meaning of “completed after 2020”	The minimum requirements state that each personal project reference must be completed after 2020. Please confirm whether a completed assignment, task order, call-off, contract phase or clearly defined work package may qualify as a completed reference where the wider programme or overall project is still ongoing.	The wider programme can still be ongoing, but the task conducted by the expert used as a reference must be closed.

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No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
17	World Bank ESS / IFC Performance Standards requirement	Please clarify what is meant by a project having been “implemented in terms of” the World Bank Environmental and Social Standards or IFC Performance Standards. In particular, is it sufficient that the consultant was required to review or assess a project against those standards, or must the standards have been formally contractually applicable to the underlying project? In addition, where a project expressly applies one or more relevant IFC Performance Standards, would this qualify as experience with the IFC Performance Standards for the purposes of the minimum requirement?		A review against applicable standards is qualified as a project reference.
18	Sector coverage requirement for Environmental and Social Experts		The requirements state that each	It is confirmed that each individual expert must demonstrate at least five sectors, while the three Environmental Experts collectively must cover all 13 sectors. The same applies to the Social Experts.
			Environmental Expert must demonstrate
			knowledge of at least five sectors and that
			the expert group as a whole must cover all
			sectors. Please confirm that the intended
			interpretation is that each individual expert
			must demonstrate at least five sectors,
			while the three Environmental Experts
			collectively must cover all 13 sectors.
			Please also confirm that the same
			interpretation applies to the Social
			Experts?

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No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
19	Cross-reference to sector list	The sector-coverage requirement refers in different places to Section 2.2.4 and Section 3.2.4 of the Form “Declarations concerning eligibility”. Please confirm the correct section reference?		The correct section reference in the form “Declarations concerning Eligibility” is 2.2.4. The same sectors are also referenced in sections 5 and/or 6 in the CV forms for the environmental and social experts respectively.
20	Indicative workload and equal allocation		KfW estimates a total of 1,710 person-	KfW generally intends an approximately equal allocation within each personnel category services but this will depend on the needs to be covered by services.
			days over the term of the Framework
			Agreement and states that the three
			contractors shall receive an approximately
			equal share. Please confirm whether the
			approximately equal allocation is intended
			to apply only to the overall number of
			person-days, or whether KfW also intends
			an approximately equal allocation within
			each personnel category: Team
			Coordinator, Environmental Experts,
			Social Experts and Expert Pool?
21	Cascade assignments and expert availability	Standard assignments may be offered with only 2–3 days’ mobilisation notice. Please clarify the procedure where the nominated Core Team expert is temporarily unavailable. In particular, may another suitably qualified Core Team or Expert Pool member be proposed for the assignment, and may a cascade assignment be declined without penalty or loss of position in the cascade?	Standard assignments may be offered	It is the bidder’s responsibility to address the organizational approach to such cases in the written concept. In principle, another suitably qualified Core Team or Expert Pool member or Expert Pool member might be proposed for the assignment. A cascade assignment can be declined without penalty. Whether a Panel Firm submits a binding offer or not does not change the rotation order for the next individual contracts (7.1. framework agreement) .
			with only 2–3 days’ mobilisation notice.
			Please clarify the procedure where the
			nominated Core Team expert is
			temporarily unavailable. In particular, may
			another suitably qualified Core Team or
			Expert Pool member be proposed for the
			assignment, and may a cascade
			assignment be declined without penalty or
			loss of position in the cascade?

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No.	Reference Documents		Answer
22	Total renumeration	For the purposes of Section 19.6, read	1. According to section30.9 (a) the calculation of the total remuneration is based on the estimated total remuneration of the framework agreement. 2. The basis for determining the amount of the contractual penalty in each individual case (for example in the case of a contractual penalty according to 19.6) is the severity and the consequences of the violation (Section 30.4.).
		together with Sections 30.4 and 30.9,
		please clarify how “total remuneration” will
		be determined in the context of a
		framework agreement. Will the calculation
		be based on the estimated total
		remuneration under the framework
		agreement or on the remuneration under
		the individual call-off or assignment in
		connection with which the relevant
		violation occurred?(1) Please also clarify
		whether the value of the affected call-off
		will be taken into account when assessing
		the proportionality of any contractual
		penalty under Section 30.4.(2)
23	Short CVs	Regarding the knowledge of the 13	The sector knowledge can be either obtained from the projects referred in the CV or from other projects, in case those would not meet all the criteria to be included the CV
		sectors by the 3 environmental experts
		and the 3 social experts, the CVs ask to
		provide maximum 3 sentences per sector
		to explain how the expert has obtained the
		required knowledge. Does these three
		sentence have to refer to the projects
		referenced in the CV, or can they relate to
		the expert experience outside of the
		project references?

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No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
24	Presentation of the concept and Case Study Solution	How are the dates for the respective presentations coordinated?			The presentation of the concept and the case study solution are to take place
					between Monday 28 September 2026 and Friday 2 September 2026.
					We would therefore be grateful if you could let us know, for planning
					purposes, the dates on which you can arrange for the required number of
					people to attend in person.
					The appointments themselves will take around three hours per bidder. These
					will take place in the morning and afternoon.
					YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE AN ACTUAL INVITATION IF YOUR TENDER
					MEETS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AND ACHIEVES THE MINIMUM
					SCORE.
25	Data protection		With regard to Section 19.3, please clarify	19.3.The understanding is correct, provided that the collection of the data is strictly necessary for the fulfillment of the contractual purposes and that the subsequent processing after the personal data has been collected takes place exclusively within the EU or the European Economic Area. 19.7. Your understanding of the data protection responsibility areas is correct.	19.3.The understanding is correct, provided that the collection of the data is
			whether necessary collection of and		strictly necessary for the fulfillment of the contractual purposes and that the
			access to personal data during fieldwork		subsequent processing after the personal data has been collected takes
			in countries outside the EEA is permitted,		place exclusively within the EU or the European Economic Area.
			provided that the applicable GDPR
			requirements and appropriate safeguards
			are complied with.		19.7. Your understanding of the data protection responsibility areas is correct.
			With regard to Section 19.7, please
			confirm that the contractor is responsible
			for ensuring the lawful disclosure of
			employee data to KfW, while KfW remains
			responsible for compliance with the
			GDPR in relation to its subsequent
			processing of such data as an
			independent controller.

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No.	Reference Documents		Answer
26	Evaluation matrix	In the evaluation matrix for the	All three roles can earn the total amount of points with the minimum number of references as well as by other additional references (up to the maximum amount as defined), which must also meet all the minimum requirements for eligibility.
		Environmental Experts, the following
		statement is included: the document says
		"For each additional instance in which the
		references demonstrate that the
		Environmental Expert has experience with
		a required task, the CV will earn 1,5
		scoring points per task". Similar wording is
		used for the Team Leader and Social
		Experts, although with different point
		allocations. Based on this wording alone,
		we understand that the additional points
		can only be earned through references
		provided in addition to the minimum eight
		required references. However, the Social
		Expert CV template includes the following
		clarification: "The points can be achieved
		either by the submitted 8 references
		(minimum number of references) as well
		as by other additional references (max.
		15), which must also meet all the minimum
		requirements for eligibility as described
		above." This clarification does not appear
		in the Team Leader or Environmental
		Expert templates.
		Could you please confirm whether the
		scoring methodology differs between the
		Social Experts and the Team
		Leader/Environmental Experts?
		Specifically, can the additional points for
		the Team Leader and Environmental
		Experts also be obtained from the initial

Experts also be obtained from the initial 14

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No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
		eight references, or only from references submitted beyond the minimum requirement?
27	Environmental Expert CV		The Environmental Expert CV	Correct. The experience gained through projects financed by or undertaken for institutions such as KfW, AFD, Proparco, and Swedfund and all other institution using similar E&S Standards, as well as projects carried out in accordance with the Equator Principles (EP) or OECD-aligned approaches counts toward “Experience with international finance institutions” in the CVs.
			requirements include task (c):.
			"Experience with international finance
			institutions’ requirements towards
			environmental and social assessments,
			which are detailed in sustainability
			guidelines or frameworks of EPFI, DFI and
			any other European bilateral financing
			institution".
			Our understanding is that experience
			gained through projects financed by or
			undertaken for institutions such as KfW,
			AFD, Proparco, and Swedfund, as well as
			projects carried out in accordance with the
			Equator Principles (EP) or OECD-aligned
			approaches, would be considered as
			meeting this requirement. Could you
			please confirm whether this interpretation
			is correct?

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No.	Reference Documents	Question		Answer
29	Conditions for participation		The Request for Proposal (RFP)	The consortium shall present an unified team. More generally the members consortium combined together must meet the minimum render requirements.
			stipulates that, in the event of a
			consortium, each entity will be assessed
			individually.
			Does this imply that each member of the
			consortium must submit its own
			designated Core Team of Seven, or is it
			permissible for the consortium to present
			a unified team?
30	Declarations concerning eligibility	If a consortium member operates on an associate-based network model, and the offer demonstrates the capacity for short- notice availability and deployment, can the network members be considered permanent employees?	If a consortium member operates on an	Permanent employment as referred in „Declarations concerning eligibility“, section 2.1 shall only refer to individuals employed by the bidder, meaning present on the payroll of the company, and registered for social security (or equivalent). With regard to members of the executive body please refer to question number 3 (above).
			associate-based network model, and the
			offer demonstrates the capacity for short-
			notice availability and deployment, can
			the network members be considered
			permanent employees?

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No.	Reference Documents	Question	Answer
31	Declarations concerning eligibility	Is a shareholder of an AG (Aktiengesellschaft) considered a permanent employee, provided they act as a subject matter expert and are actively involved in project acquisition and implementation?	Shareholder status alone is not sufficient.
32	Evaluations Matrix	I would like to seek clarification regarding the following requirement stated in the ToR: "A completed Master’s Degree or a degree of equivalent level in studies with immediate relevance to the proposed role in the assignment." In the United States, many qualified social experts hold only a Bachelor's degree, although these programs typically require four years of study. Could such a Bachelor's degree be considered equivalent to a Master's degree under this requirement, or would you recommend seeking further clarification to confirm eligibility?	A Bachelor degree is not considered equivalent. For the US system a Master (or a higher academic degree) is expected. For example, for the German system (prior to the Bologna process), a Diplom or Magister (or a higher academic degree) are considered equivalent.

KfW 2026-0023 - Question & Answer catalogue Version 5.pdf