Brief Guide to Public Sector EU Procurement Legislation. Despatch PIN not a call for competition (optional) allowing shortened timescale

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1 A summary of the Open Procedure: Brief Guide to Public Sector EU Procurement Legislation Despatch PIN not a call for competition (optional) allowing shortened timescale before the contract notice was dispatched, the minimum timescale for return of tenders can be reduced from 35 days to 15 days. Dispatch contract notice This is the formal start of the award procedure. The timescale for return of tenders in an open procedure is 35 days, although this can be reduced by 5 days if tenders can be received electronically. The tender return date is given in the contract notice. before the contract notice was dispatched, the timescale can be reduced to 15 days. Deadline for receipt of tenders The deadline for receipt of tenders has to be a minimum of 35 days from the date of dispatch of the contract notice, although 5 days can be deducted if tenders can be received electronically. before the contract notice was dispatched, the timescale can be reduced to 15 days. The procurement documents have to be made available on-line at the time that the contract notice is published. Assess compliance with minimum capacity requirements, evaluate tenders and determine winner. There is no minimum length for the evaluation period set by the legislation. If any minimum levels of requirements apply, these must be in accordance with the rules set out in the legislation regarding the type of information which can be considered. The evaluation of the offer itself has to be in accordance with disclosed award criteria, i.e. best price/quality ration (which can be on the basis of lowest price). Issue standstill letters The standstill letter is issued once the winning tender has been decided upon following the evaluation.. The standstill letter has to be sent as soon as possible after the award decision has been made and be the most rapid means practicable. It has to contain: i) The criteria used to award the contract; ii) The name of the winning bidder; iii) The winning bidder s score; iv) The recipient s own score; v) The reasons why the award decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning bid and; vi) A precise statement as to the end of the standstill period. Mandatory standstill period A minimum of 10 or 15 day standstill period has to be observed. If the standstill letters are sent to all tenderers (and any concerned candidates) by electronic or fax methods, then the minimum standstill period is 10 days; if one or more of the standstill letters are sent by other methods (such as post), then the minimum period is 15 days.

2 Conclude contract Unless the implications of a legal challenge need to be considered, the contract can be concluded once the standstill period has passed. Dispatch Contract Award Notice A contract notice must be sent to the Official Journal within 30 days of the conclusion of the contract. See diagram below for the detail of the Open Procedure process:

3 A summary of the Restricted Procedure for Sub-Central Bodies: Option of contract notice as call for competition A contract notice is one of two OJEU notices that can be used as a call for competition. This is the formal start of the award procedure. The minimum timescale for responses to the notice is 30 days. If an accelerated procedure has been duly justified, the minimum timescale becomes 15 days. It is common practice to provide a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) to suppliers for completion, although the regulations and contract notice pro-formas are drafted on the basis that the contract notice will state the pre-qualification information required for submission by the response date in the notice. If the PQQ is immediately available for download from a suitable website and this was referenced in the contract notice, then the return date for the PQQ could be the same as the closing date for responses stated in the notice. Option of PIN as call for competition A Prior Information Notice is one of the two OJEU notices which can be used as a call for competition. To be a valid call for competition, the PIN has to have been dispatched to OJEU at least 35 days and not more than 12 months before the issue of the invitation to confirm interest. Send invitation to confirm interest Where the call for competition is made using a PIN, it is necessary to issue an invitation to confirm to the respondents to the PIN when an individual procurement procedure is commenced. The minimum timescale for responses is 30 days. If an accelerated procedure has been duly justified, the minimum timescale becomes 15 days. The invitation requires the respondents to the PIN to confirm their interest in the individual procurement procedure and also to provide any additional pre-qualification information that is required. The invitation to confirm interest cannot be sent earlier than 35 days from the date that the PIN was dispatched to OJEU, or later than 12 months. Deadline for receipt of pre-qualification information The minimum timescale for responses to the notice is 30 days, or 15 days where an accelerated procedure is duly justified. It is common practice to provide a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) to suppliers for completion, although the regulations and contract notice pro-formas are drafted on the basis that the contract notice will state the pre-qualification information required for submission by the response date in the notice. If the PQQ is immediately available for download from a suitable website and this was referenced in the contract notice, then the return date for the PQQ could be the same as the closing date for responses stated in the notice. Where a PIN is used as the call for competition the same timescales apply, which run from the day after the invitation to confirm interest is issued to the respondents to the PIN. Evaluate pre-qualification information The length of the evaluation period is not prescribed in the regulations. The evaluation ofh te pre-qualification stage is effectively a three stage process. Stage1 is to reject the suppliers that fail the exclusion grounds, set out in Art 57 of the Public Sector Directive. The grounds set out in Art 57 include certain grounds for which it is mandatory for a contracting authority to reject suppliers (conviction for specified serious crimes). Stage 2 is to assess the those remaining against any minimum levels of standards which may be required of suppliers in terms of technical or financial aspects. Stage 3 is to reduce the numbers down to the shortlist (if necessary) by ranking the suppliers according to the scores from the pre-qualification evaluation.

4 A minimum shortlist of five has to be sought, subject to there being sufficient suitably qualified candidates. Deadline for receipt of tenders A uniform tender return deadline may be agreed with tenderers; otherwise the tender return deadline is a minimum of 10 days from the day after the invitation to participate in negotiation is issued. Evaluate tenders and determine winner The evaluation of the tenders is on the basis of the award criteria. Issue standstill letters The standstill letter is issued once the winning tender has been decided upon following the evaluation.. The standstill letter has to be sent as soon as possible after the award decision has been made and be the most rapid means practicable. It has to contain: i) The criteria used to award the contract; ii) The name of the winning bidder; iii) The winning bidder s score; iv) The recipient s own score; v) The reasons why the award decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning bid and; vi) A precise statement as to the end of the standstill period. Mandatory standstill period A minimum of 10 or 15 day standstill period has to be observed. If the standstill letters are sent to all tenderers (and any concerned candidates) by electronic or fax methods, then the minimum standstill period is 10 days; if one or more of the standstill letters are sent by other methods (such as post), then the minimum period is 15 days. Conclude contract Unless the implications of a legal challenge need to be considered, the contract can be concluded once the standstill period has passed. Dispatch Contract Award Notice A contract notice must be sent to the Official Journal within 30 days of the conclusion of the contract. See diagram below for the detail of the Restricted Procedure for Sub-Central Bodies process:

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