Market research is establishing the usual market price of a performance before purchasing it. In projects financed from EU funds it fulfils two roles at once: it serves to determine the estimated value of the contract, from which the chosen procurement procedure is derived, and it also demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of the expense during the check of the payment request. The best-known form is approaching several suppliers and obtaining comparable price offers, but price lists, catalogue prices, results of previous procurements or available price databases are recognised equally. What is decisive is comparability: offers must be requested for the same subject matter and the same scope, otherwise they have no evidential value. Nor is it enough to mechanically attach three offers if they come from related entities or are obviously supplementary. Document the market research at the time it is carried out – if added retroactively after the purchase, the check usually will not accept it and the expense gets reduced.
See also: Low-value contract, Public procurement in EU projects, Financial correction.
