After it has notified the economic operators who participated in the tender procedure and after the deadline for the filing of hierarchical recourses elapses, and provided that the award and signature of the contract is not suspended by interim measures, and that the procedure for the examination of hierarchical recourses, if any, is completed as described in Section 4.5.4 of the present Chapter, the Contracting Authority may proceed to complete the procedure for the conclusion of the Contract, as described below.
Content of the Contract
The Contract between the Contracting Authority and the Contractor consists of the following uniform and integral parts:
| a. | The Agreement, which is signed by the interested parties and includes the key information and the special conditions of the contract (Part B of the model tender documents, which must be completed, where required, with the actual data from the Contractor's tender). |
| b. | Any relevant correspondence exchanged between the Contracting Authority and the Contractor for clarifying any points in the tender. |
| c. | The Technical and Financial Offer of the Contractor. |
| d. | The tender documents, except for the part referring to the conduct of the tender procedure (in the model tender documents, these are Annex I. GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR SERVICE CONTRACTS, and Annex II. TERMS OF REFERENCE – TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS). |
In the case of a difference between the contracting parties regarding the performance of the Contractor’s obligations, the provisions of the constituent parts of the Contract shall apply in the same order as above during the period of validity of the Contract.
Inviting the candidate Contractor to sign the Agreement
After the text of the Agreement has been completed as appropriate and finalised, , the Contracting Authority invites the Contractor to sign the Contract.
The Contractor is obliged to present himself within a specified period of time or on a specific date set by the Contracting Authority, bringing with him the credentials required in the tender documents for each particular case, which usually include:
| a. | The Performance Guarantee for the Contract. |
| b. | The certificates, certifications or other evidence confirming that the requirements for participation in the tender procedure have been met, for which the Contractor had submitted together with his tender the solemn declaration contained in the Appendix to the tender documents. |
| c. | The authorisation documents for the person who shall sign the Agreement, if the Contractor is a legal person or a consortium,. |
| d. | Additionally, in the case of a consortium of natural and/or legal persons: |
| • | The final Cooperation Agreement determining the participation rate of each member in the consortium, the legal representative of the consortium and the consortium member to act as the leader of the consortium. It is understood that this information must be the same with that stated in the tender and evaluated. |
| • | If a relevant provision has been made in the tender documents, the act of establishment of a legal person with the specific legal form as provided for in the tender documents. |
The contents of the written invitation to the candidate Contractor to present himself for signing the relevant agreement may be identical or similar to the relevant Template No. 4, contained in Annex 4-2 of the present Chapter.
Failure of the Contractor to present himself for the signature of the Contract
If the Contractor who has been awarded the contract fails to present himself to sign the Agreement within the specified period of time and at the place specified by the Contracting Authority, then he shall be declared in default of the award made in his name and of all rights deriving from it, and the Tender Guarantee shall simultaneously be forfeited in favour of the Contracting Authority.
In such a case, if a relevant provision has been made in the tender documents, the Competent Body for the Award of the Contract may decide to award the Contract to the tenderer ranked second in the ranking of the Final Evaluation Report, provided that the tender and the guarantee of such tenderer are in force. Otherwise the Competent Body for the Award of the Contract must cancel the tender procedure.
Notification of tender procedure results to the European Commission
A Contracting Authority which has concluded a public contract of an estimated value which is higher than the thresholds specified in article 19 of Law 12(Ι)/2006, shall dispatch to the European Commission a contract award notice no later than 48 days from the conclusion of the contract.
Similarly, a Contracting Entity which has awarded a contract of an estimated value which is higher than the thresholds specified in article 15 of Law 11(Ι)/2006, shall dispatch to the European Commission a contract award notice within a period of two months from the award of the contract.
This specific notice is drawn up and dispatched in the manner and in accordance with the procedure described in the Law, using the specified standardised forms. In addition to the information requested in the standardised forms, the Contracting Authority may include any additional information which it may consider useful.
Certain information may not be published, when their notification may prevent the application of the laws, be contrary to the public interest or harm the legitimate commercial interests of public or private economic operators or the conditions of fair competition between them.
In addition to the above obligation, Cyprus, as a Member State of the European Union, is obliged to inform the European Commission of its activities regarding the contracts awarded by the public and wider public sector:
| • | Either by supplying statistical information about the contracts awarded by each Contracting Authority and overall in the Republic of Cyprus, |
| • | Or by supplying specific information, upon request by the European Commission, about likely acts or omissions of the Contracting Authority in connection with a particular contract award procedure. |
The European Commission may demand the provision of specific information about a particular contract, following a relevant report or complaint by an offended economic operator who, pursuant to Community Law, may appeal to this procedure in order to safeguard his interests.
The obligation to inform the European Commission is reflected in the harmonising laws of 2006 on the Coordination of Procedures for the Award of Public Works Contracts, Public Supply Contracts and Public Service Contracts and for Related Matters, and more specifically in articles 49, 86 and 87 of Law 12(Ι)/2006, and articles 52 and 71 or Law 11(Ι)/2006.
In all cases, the provision of information to the European Commission is carried out by the Contracting Authority, through the Competent Authority of Public Procurement.