1. Session “International standards for planning and conducting procurement process” Conditions and rules of the tender procedure - Recommended content of the tender documents Ľubica Páleníková EBRD-Consultant, WOLF THEISS Kiev, 1-2 March 2012 1 1/3/2012

2. Agenda 1.TENDER DOCUMENTS 2.DRAFTING of the tender documents 3.INTERPRETATION of the tender documents 4.DESPATCH of the tender documents 5.CLARIFICATION questions 6.CONTENT of the tender documents 2 1/3/2012

3. TENDER DOCUMENTS (1) Tender documents shall contain detailed information about  bid submission  contract fulfilment Contract subject shall be described  clearly  completely  neutrally 1/3/2012 3

4. TENDER DOCUMENTS (2) Tender documents may be challenged in a review procedure.  e.g. due to discriminatory provisions Tender documents are binding for  contracting authority  candidates / bidders  review authority / court 1/3/2012 4

5. DRAFTING of the tender documents (1) General principles  equal treatment  non-discrimination  transparency Preparatory works Persons involved in the preparation or elaboration of the tender documents shall be excluded from the tender procedure if their participation eliminates an open and fair competition.  e.g. technical studies about the soil conditions / water quality  test drillings 1/3/2012 5

6. DRAFTING of the tender documents (2) Preparatory works ! Case-law ECJ (case C-21/03 and C-34/03, Fabricom)  no automatic exclusion of the bidder involved in the preparatory works  exclusion justified only if the bidder has obtained “an unfair advantage capable of distorting the normal conditions of competition” 1/3/2012 6

7. DRAFTING of the tender documents (3) Preparatory works ! Case-law Austria Contracting authority is obliged to compensate any competitive advantage among the bidders.  providing the relevant information to all bidders  answering clarification questions  neutral tender documents  adequate time-limit for the bid submission 1/3/2012 7

8. INTERPRETATION of the tender documents (1) Tender documents shall be interpreted objectively. Benchmark = diligent and averaged competent bidder Interpretation principles  wording  (objective) intention of the parties involved  fair practice 1/3/2012 8

9. INTERPRETATION of the tender documents (2) ! Case-law Austria + Slovakia Unclear provisions in the tender documents shall be interpreted to the detriment of the contracting authority.  exclusion of the bidder / bid generally unjustified ! Case-law Austria Concrete tender documents are decisive. ↔ Tender documents used by the contracting authority in the past are irrelevant. 1/3/2012 9

10. DESPATCH of the tender documents (1) 1)Contracting authority may despatch the tender documents together with the invitation to tender (restricted procedure). 2)Interested bidders shall request the tender documents specifically (open procedure). Contracting authority shall provide the relevant information for the request of the tender documents by the bidders.  time-limit for making the request  amount of any charges / free of charge  address for obtaining of the tender documents 1/3/2012 10

11. DESPATCH of the tender documents (2) ! Austria + Slovakia Amount of charges for the tender documents must not exceed the production costs and the postal charges. Contracting authority shall despatch the tender documents within  six days of the request made by the bidder (open procedure)  a reasonable time-limit (restricted procedure) 1/3/2012 11

12. CLARIFICATION questions (1) Candidates / bidders may pose clarification questions regarding unclear provisions in the tender documents.  time-limit: “in good time” before the deadline for the bid submission (EU Public procurement directives) Contracting authority shall provide the clarification answer  to all bidders  at the same time  within 6 days of the receipt of the clarification question 1/3/2012 12

13. CLARIFICATION questions (2) ! Case-law Slovakia Contracting authority shall provide the clarification answer  “in due time”  at the latest: within 6 days of the receipt of the clarification question Right approach  answering each clarification question promptly Impermissible conduct  collecting numerous clarification questions and answering only 6 days before the deadline for the bid submission 1/3/2012 13

14. CLARIFICATION questions (3) Clarification answers form an integral part of the tender documents.  binding effect Clarification answers may be challenged in a review procedure. ! Case-law Austria Time-limit for the challenge is different for  original provisions in the tender documents (unchanged by the clarification answer)  changed provisions in the tender documents (by the clarification answer) 1/3/2012 14

15. CONTENT of the tender documents (1) Contracting authority shall decribe the contract subject so that  bids can be compared accordingly  bidders do not take incalculable risks Principle of bid comparability ! Case-law Austria  Tender documents contained information regarding 90% of the tendered medical products.  10% of the tendered products not regulated 1/3/2012 15

16. CONTENT of the tender documents (2) Contracting authority must not distribute incalculable risks to the bidders. ! Case-law Austria  71.904 packages of paper towel  The tendered amount may “vary significantly upwards or downwards”.  discretion of the contracting authority too wide 1/3/2012 16

17. CONTENT of the tender documents (3) Tender documents usually contain  tender conditions  contract subject  contract conditions  forms for affidavits of the bidders Forms = templates  e.g. business information about the bidder  consortium members  subcontractors  bank guarantee  bid price 1/3/2012 17

18. Contact 1/3/2012 18 Ľubica Páleníková, Dr. iur. Tel: + 43 / 1 / 51510 – 2350 Fax: +43 / 1 / 51510 – 665355 E-Mail: lubica.palenikova@wolftheiss.com WOLF THEISS Attorneys-at-Law Schubertring 6 1010 Vienna Austria