A consideração do ciclo de vida em contratações públicas: diagnóstico de maturidade nos tribunais de contas brasileiros

Abstract

This research analyzes the maturity level of sustainable public procurement by Brazilian Courts of Accounts, based on the available documentary evidence, with a focus on the incorporation of the life cycle logic of the contracted object. It is grounded in the premise that public procurement has significant potential to influence the market and may serve as a relevant public policy instrument for sustainable development, provided that sustainability and life cycle criteria are effectively translated into verifiable requirements, technical justifications, and documentary evidence. The objective of the research was to diagnose the maturity of procurement practices carried out by Brazilian Courts of Accounts from both a macro perspective, related to sustainability, and a micro perspective, specifically focused on the life cycle. To this end, 836 electronic procurement procedures during the period from January 1, 2024, to August 31, 2025, were analyzed through a maturity model applied to documents from the preparatory and procurement phases, especially preliminary technical studies, terms of reference, and notices of bidding. The results indicate a predominance, among the documentary records analyzed, of Level 1 maturity (Initial), with 677 records, in addition to 143 nonexistent records, 12 records classified as under development, and only 4 established records, with no occurrence of the managed or optimized levels. The findings show that, although sustainability appears in several documents, the specific consideration of the life cycle still occurs in a limited manner and, in many cases, predominantly as a formal reference. In the Life Cycle — Presence/Relevance dimension, the overall average was approximately 0.37/3, with coverage in 33.13% of the records; in the Life Cycle — Logical Arguments dimension, the average was only 0.08/3, with coverage in 5.74% of the records, revealing low justificatory density. The analysis also indicated that the findings are mainly concentrated in the terms of reference and bidding notices, with lower incidence of robust integration with the preliminary technical study, suggesting weaknesses in traceability among planning, solution definition, and procurement requirements. Despite the predominance of initial maturity, some more structured experiences were identified, especially when there was articulation between the preliminary technical study and the term of reference, the presence of technical justifications, and the conversion of life cycle considerations into measurable requirements. These cases indicate that maturity does not result from the mere mention of sustainability or life cycle, but from the ability to transform such concepts into objective parameters related to use, maintenance, service life, efficiency, disposal, and reverse logistics.The research also resulted in the development of a Technical Technological Product, embodied in a Good Practices Manual for considering the life cycle in public procurement, especially aimed at the Court of Accounts of the State of Goiás. It is concluded that the effective incorporation of the life cycle into public procurement depends on strengthening planning, qualifying the preliminary technical study, ensuring coherence between the preliminary technical study and the term of reference, and enabling Courts of Accounts to act as oversight bodies and inducers of good practices, promoting the transition from formal references to concrete, measurable, and verifiable criteria.