The public procurement directives are
based on three main principles:
- Community-wide advertising of
contracts so that all firms in all member states have
an opportunity of bidding for them
- The banning of any technical
specifications liable to discriminate against potential
foreign bidders
- Application of objective criteria in
tendering and award procedures
The latter principle is ensured by the
following requirements:
- Types of Procedure
The Directives provide for three types of procedure
that contracting authorities can use:
- Open procedure
All interested suppliers, contractors or service
providers may submit tenders.
- Restricted procedure
Only those suppliers, contractors or service providers
invited by the contracting authority may submit
tenders
- Negotiated procedure
The contracting authority consults suppliers, contractors
or service providers of its choice and negotiates
the terms of the contract with one or more of them.
Note: The negotiated procedure may be used
only in justified cases and if the conditions required
for its use are fulfilled.
For (Utilities) contracts they have a free choice
between all three procedures provided that a call
for competition notice has been published in the
Official Journal.
It should be stressed that in open and restricted
procedures, all negotiation with candidates or tenderers
on fundamental aspects of contracts, and in particular
on prices, is ruled out; however, discussions with
candidates or tenderers may be held, but solely
for the purpose of clarifying or supplementing the
content of their tenders, or the requirements of
the contracting authorities and provided this does
not involve discrimination.
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- Contract
Types
Four different types of contract are identified in
EU Directives:
- Works contracts- buildings
and civil engineering works
- Supplies contracts-
purchasing goods and supplies
- Services contracts-
advertising, property management services, architectural
/ engineering / surveying, management consultancy
services and so on.
- Combined contracts - some
tenders that are a combination of a supply and service
contract or a works and service contract can be
classified as a combined contract.
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- Types of tender
documents
Tender documents can be classed as:
- PINS- Prior Information
Notices are published annually as an indication
of the possible contracts, which may be awarded
in the coming year.
- Opportunities- Tender
notices (Invitation to Tender) are aimed at specific
contracts and invite suppliers to make an application
to be placed on the tender list or to be provided
with information.
- Awards- Award notices contain
details of which tender contracts have been awarded,
the awarding criteria and the successful candidate.
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- Threshold Values
Bodies and organisations that must comply with these
thresholds can be split into two distinct groups:
General - for all Government Departments, Local
and Regional Authorities.
Special - for Public Authorities, Public undertakings
and Organisations that operate on the basis of special
or exclusive rights granted by a competent authority
of a Member State in the water, energy, transport and
telecommunications sector.
These threshold values apply to both Tendering Opportunities
and PINS.
Tenders
- Services and Supplies
- *General - €200,000 (Directives 92/50 & 93/36)
*Where the above threshold is reached by having
separate contracts for different lots for Services,
then any lot over €80,000 and not exceeding 20%
of the total value of all the lots, becomes the
threshold.
- Services and Supplies
- Special (*Utilities) - €400,000 (Directive93/38)
*The provision or operation of fixed networks for
drinking water, electricity or gas (heat); oil/gas
exploration and extraction, provision of airports;
maritime or other inland ports; public transport.
- Services and Supplies
- Special (*Telecommunications) - €600,000 (Directive93/38)
*The provision or operation of public telecommunications
networks.
- Works - *€5,000,000 - General
(Directive 93/37), Special (93/38) *Where the above
threshold is reached by having separate contracts
for different lots, then any lot over €1,000,000
is the threshold. Any lot below this is exempt provided
it does not exceed 20% of the total value of all
the lots.
Periodic Information Notices (PINS) - €750,000
Applicable to all Services and Supplies contracts (Directive
92/50; 93/36; 93/38)
Contracts below the various thresholds may also be covered
by the Directives. Thresholds exclude VAT
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- European Directives
All Government Departments, Local and Regional Authorities,
non-commercial State Bodies and organisations dependent
on the State for more than 50% of their funding are
subject to the Directives. There is a separate regime
for the utilities - water, energy, transport and telecommunications.
- The Works Directive
in force is 93/37/EEC (OJ L 199/54 of 9.7.1993)
consolidating Directives 71/305/EEC and 89/440/EEC.
- The Supplies Directive
in force is 93/36/EEC (OJ L 199/1 of 9.7.1993) consolidating
Directives 88/295/EEC, 80/767/EEC and 77/62/EEC.
- The Services Directive
in force is 92/50/EEC (OJ L 209/1 of 24.7.1992)
- The Utilities Directive
in force is Council Directive 93/38/EEC (14.06.1993)
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- Using the CPV
Code
The CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) Code was developed
to promote ease and transparency in the public procurement
arena. By using a standard method of classification
codes potential suppliers can identify the contracts
that are of interest to them.
The CPV is an 8-digit code. Awarding authorities may
often use more than 1 code to accurately describe a
particular opportunity. The codes may be used broadly
to describe the industry sector of more narrowly to
define a particular product or service, e.g.:
For example, if we take a tender for the construction
of a road bridge, the diagram above shows the different
steps through the CPV code starting at the highest level:
45000000 - Construction work
And ending at the lowest level
45221111 - Road Bridge.
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- How do I get
more information on a specific opportunity
Most notices contain contact details of the Awarding
Authority. In the case of Award notices it will contain
details of the successful applicant. Notices usually
contain an address field with details of where to obtain
further details.
Alternatively simply contact us quoting the Document
Number and we will obtain further details on your behalf.
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- Replying to tenders
and getting on tender lists
Once you have identified a tendering opportunity that
is of interest to you and obtained information on the
awarding authority, the next step is to reply to the
tender and get yourself on the tendering list. The best
way to ensure inclusion onto a tendering list is to:
- Ensure you supply all the
information required as set out in the tender notice
by the awarding authority.
- Convince the awarding authority
that your products / services meet the necessary
performance criteria and specifications
- Convince the awarding authority
that your company meets all the criteria for inclusion
on tender lists
- Respond promptly to any requests
for information or clarification arising from your
application.
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- Timescales for
replying
The normal periods that contracting authorities must
allow for receipt of tenders is no less than 52 days
for an open procedure and no less than 40 days for a
restricted procedure.
This may be reduced to 36 and 26 days respectively,
in the cases of works or service contracts where an
indicative notice has been published.
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- Tendering checklist
- Do you have the necessary
resources?
- Does your product/service
meet the specifications set out in the tender document?
- Can you meet the delivery
schedule?
- Can you meet the closing
date and time for receipt of tenders?
- Can you tender for part of
the contract or must you tender for everything?
- Do they require financial
information on your company?
- Do they want details and
references of previous contracts?
- Do they want details of your
personnel and qualifications?
- Do they want details of your
plant and any specialized equipment?
- Will you be able to provide a Tax
Clearance Certificate, if successful?
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- What do I need
to apply
Awarding authorities look for similar information when
evaluating potential suppliers for tender lists. The
requirements may vary in detail and structure depending
on the nature of the tender, but the vast majority look
for information to assess the skills, efficiency, experience
and reliability of the potential suppliers. This information
usually takes the form of:
- Financial and Economic Information
- Information Supporting Technical
Capacity
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Financial and Economic Information that may be required
- Balance Sheet Information
- Bank Statements
- Turnover over the previous
3 financial years
- Evidence of overall turnover
and turnover in respect of services/products to
which the contract relates, over the previous 3
financial years
- Any document which the Public
Sector Organisation considers appropriate
- Relevant professional risk indemnity
insurance
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Information Supporting Technical Capacity that may
be required
- A list of principal product
deliveries/services provided over the previous 3
years with details of amounts, dates and recipients
(whether in the public or private domain).
- The technical bodies and
personnel responsible for monitoring your quality
control and conformance with other standards.
- Recognised third party certification
of conformity of the products/services to given
specifications and industry standards.
- For complex or special purpose
services/products, a possible check on the supplier's/service
providers technical ability, study and research
facilities or quality control measures carried out
by an official body in the supplier's country of
establishment.
- Information on Health and
Safety aspects
- Information on Environmental
Controls
- The educational and professional
qualifications of managerial staff and of those
responsible for providing the services.
- Average annual manpower and
the number of managerial staff for the last 3 years.
- The tools, plant or equipment
available for the carrying out of the services.
- An indication of the proportion,
if any, of the contract, which the service provider
intends to sub-contract
- Quality assurance standards referring
to EN29000 European Standards series. (see ISO9000)
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- Qualification
criteria
Qualification criteria must be clearly laid out either
in the notice, or the tender documents, preferably in
order of importance. They must be easily identifiable
- it is not acceptable for potential tenderers to have
to interpret documentation in order to establish the
criteria as this may lead to inequality due to alternative
interpretation.
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- European criteria
for awarding tenders
Awarding Authorities when deciding which bid to accept
may do so on the basis of either:
- The lowest price only
- The most economically advantageous
tender - using various criteria such as price, period
for completion, running costs, profitability, technical
merit.
If an Awarding Authority chooses to use the "most economically
advantageous" method, this must be stated in the tender
notice or documents. Details must include which criteria
it intends to apply to the award, and their order of
importance.
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- Who won what
tenders and why
Details of any contract awarded must be notified to
the Commission no later than 48 days after the award
of a particular contract. Award notices should include
information on the successful tenderer as well as the
awarding criteria.
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- Why didn't I win that
tender
Tenderers should be informed without undue delay if
they have been unsuccessful. Awarding Authorities must
release the relevant information to unsuccessful tenderers
who inquire as to why their bids were not accepted.
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- You do not have to be established
in any particular location as long as you have the ability
to meet the response times of the buyer
- If you have tendered a particular
buyer recently, you should not have to re-supply information,
which you have previously made available to the buyer
- There is no need for a permit
issued by a government department or to be on an "official
list" in order to apply for a contract. However, this
is not to be confused with tender lists, which the public
sector commonly use when seeking product/service providers.
- The resources of other suppliers
may be availed of while tendering as long as you supply
proof of a relationship/arrangement between you and
the other supplier.
- Tender details must not mention
products/services of a specific make, source, process
or trademark. However, if it is absolutely essential
to describe something by these terms, the words "or
equivalent" must be used.
- You will not be permitted to sub-contract
an entire contract to another supplier.
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