PURCHASING PROCEDURES - University of Central Lancashire

Competitive
Dialogue and
Negotiated
Negotiated
Accelerated
Notes:
date invitation sent
Minimum time for receipt of requests to
participate from date contract notice sent
Minimum time for receipt of requests to
participate from date contract notice sent
37
15
a) The time period starts on the day the notice is despatched to the OJEU, not the date
when it is actually published. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday
then the receipt or closing date will be the first ordinary working day thereafter.
b) PIN = Prior Information Notice.
7 CONTRACT DOCUMENTATION
Once the contracting authority has established that the proposed contract falls within the
remit of one of the Regulations, and has selected which procedure to use, the contract must
be advertised and documentation prepared, paying special attention to the technical
specification and selection criteria.
7.1 Advertising Requirements
The Open, Restricted and, where applicable, Negotiated procedures require that the
contracting authority places a notice in the OJEU, stating its intention to seek offers in
respect of the perceived need. The notice must take into account the timescales detailed in
Table 2 above.
It is important that the maximum anticipated duration of the contract is stated in the notice.
For example, if the expected duration is 3 years but there is a possibility that it could be
extended to 5 years, then state “up to 5 years” in the notice. The circumstances under which
a contract extension might be granted can then be described with more precision in the
invitation to tender document.
The contracting authority cannot advertise the contract in its local or national press
before the notice has been despatched to the OJEU. The advertisement must not contain any
more information than is contained in the OJEU notice.
7.2 Technical Specifications
When preparing the documentation it is necessary to ensure that the specifications for the
product are non-discriminatory. In particular, the specification must not be based upon the
specification of an existing product from one supplier. This would be in breach of the
regulations and is likely to invite challenges from other suppliers. If the requirement can
only be expressed by reference to a brand or proprietary name, then the name must be
accompanied by the words “or equivalent”.
Purchasing Procedures December 2011