3.2.1.1 Award of supply contracts and

service contracts using the open procedure

The structure of the tender documents in the case of the open procedure is shown in the Figure below:

Figure 3-5: Structure of tender documents in the case of the open procedure

The correspondence between the three key categories of information that the tender documents must provide and their proposed parts, is given in the Table below:

Table 3-1: Categories of information in each part of the tender documents

At the contract award stage, the tender documents determine the terms of the tender procedure to be conducted by the Contracting Authorities and the conditions for participation in it of the economic operators, while at the contract implementation stage they determine the framework of cooperation between the Contracting Authority and the selected contractor.

The tender documents function differently in the two stages mentioned above.

At the contract award stage (commencing with the announcement of the tender procedure and concluding with the selection of the contractor), the tender documents should provide economic operators with all the information which they need in order to answer the following questions:

At the contract implementation stage (commencing with the signature of the contract and ending with its completion), the tender documents, together with the tender of the selected contractor, form the contractual documents which govern the relations between the two contracting parties regarding the implementation of the contract.

The Figure below presents the correspondence between the tender documents and the tenders of candidate economic operators, on the one hand, and the contract documents, on the other:

Figure 3-6: Correspondence between the tender documents, the tenders of candidate

economic operators and the contract, in the case of the open procedure

The next Table helps Contracting Authorities understand the twofold function of each part of the tender document for each interested party, i.e. for Contracting Authorities and for economic operators.

Table 3-2: Function of the tender documents for the Contracting Authorities and the economic operators

The tender documents should provide clear and full answers to the questions of Table 3-2 or supply the appropriate information that will enable both the Contracting Authorities and the economic operators to answer those questions.

Part Α: Instructions to Economic Operators

The Table below lists the key information contained in Part A – “Instructions to Economic Operators” of the tender documents:

Table 3-3: Key information of Part A – “Instructions to Economic Operators”

The Instructions to Economic Operators is the only part of the tender documents that is of no practical value or formal significance after the award of the contract.

The most important elements in the tenders of economic operators are requested to be supplied in a standardised format (“Templates for Forms” Appendix to the model tender documents). This approach provides economic operators with guidance on how to complete the respective forms correctly and allows the competent bodies of the Contracting Authorities to compare and evaluate them more easily.

The Table below lists indicatively some of the templates included in the Appendix – “Templates for Forms”:

Table 3-4: Contents of Appendix – “Templates for Forms”

Part Β: Agreement and Special Conditions of Contract

The Table below lists the key contents of Part B – “Agreement and Special Conditions of Contract” of the tender documents:

Table 3-5: Contents of Part B – “Agreement and Special Conditions of Contract”

Once the contractor has been selected, the Agreement and Special Conditions of Contract document becomes the principal contractual text that regulates the terms of cooperation of the two contracting parties, and is supported by four Annexes (General Conditions of Contract, Terms of Reference – Technical Specifications, Contractor’s Technical Offer and Contractor’s Financial Offer).

In the model draft tender documents, the Special Conditions of Contract have been limited to a small number of articles that regulate, among other things, the acceptance and payment procedures, the penalty clauses, the dispute resolution procedure and the method of communication between the contracting parties. All other issues are regulated by the Annexes to the Contract. This helps reduce significantly the time that will be required for the contract to be signed, as most of its points shall already have been determined through the approval of the tender documents (Terms of Reference and General Conditions of Contract) and the submission of the tenders by candidate economic operators (Contractor’s Technical and Financial Offer).

Annex Ι: General Conditions of Contract

The Table below lists the key contents of Annex I – “General Conditions of Contract” of the tender documents.

Table 3-6: Contents of Annex I – “General Conditions of Contract”

An effort has been made to bring together in the General Conditions of Contract all provisions and agreements of a general nature which do not depend on the particular features of each contract and thus can be reproduced without changes in all the contracts of a specific category (public works contracts or public supply contracts or public service contracts).

The Contracting Authorities should not make changes to the text of the General Conditions of Contract. This however does not mean that the Procurement Team should not read carefully the model draft General Conditions of Contract, to confirm the validity of its contents in relation to the particularities of the specific project. In the event that a clause must be modified, omitted or added, this should be done by a special reference to be added in the Special Conditions of Contract. It is estimated that in the majority of cases no modifications will be required.

Annex ΙΙ: Terms of Reference – Technical Specifications

The Table below lists the key contents of Annex II “Terms of Reference – Technical Specifications”.

Table 3-7: Contents of Annex ΙΙ – “Terms of Reference – Technical Specifications”

The Terms of Reference of the draft model tender documents are accompanied by instructions on how to complete the relevant information, thus providing Contracting Authorities with guidance on how to record their needs and requirements correctly and helping economic operators understand the environment and scope of the project, so that they may propose the most appropriate solutions. Detailed guidelines on how to develop the Terms of Reference and the Technical Specifications for projects are given in paragraphs 3.2.2.1 (Preparing the Terms of Reference) and 3.2.2.2 (Preparing the Technical Specifications).

After the award of the contract, the Terms of Reference, together with the Contractor’s Technical and Financial Offer, represent the contractual commitment regarding the extent of the project scope and its implementation.

The parts of the tender documents are individual texts that make up the overall framework of the particular procurement, and each one of them should be drawn up by appropriately qualified members of the Procurement Team.

Table 3-8: Qualifications of Procurement Team members required for drawing up the parts of the tender documents

The use of the model draft tender documents reduces the need for providing support to the Procurement Teem in connection with: