Technical specifications must be relevant and proportionate, relating to the characteristics of the work, supply or service being purchased.
For construction and infrastructure there are standard specifications which are relevant to climate resilience in the built environment. It is important that standards used in the procurement phase are effective in achieving the required climate change adaptation outcome.
The specification and/or design statement is therefore an essential step.
A buyer may ask for a product to have been given an independently verifiable label or operate to a stated standard which certifies that it meets specific climate change characteristics.
Labels are a specific term and how they should be used is set out in Regulation 44 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
For adaptation requirements buyers should be aware that labels tend to focus on climate mitigation rather than adaptation, so may not provide suitable evidence of compliance with adaptation measures.
For detailed information on the use of labels and mitigation refer to the Climate and Energy guidance.
Within Annex 3 are examples of climate change adaptation wording that may be used within specifications.
