This procedure lets you clarify bids with bidders after their submission of fully formed initial tenders.
You should use this procedure If you are unable to define how to meet your needs technically and/or you cannot specify the legal or financial requirements of your contract.
Examples
This procedure may be used:
You may have to start a dialogue with the bidders to guarantee the satisfactory outcome of the procurement process.
This procedure should not be used for ‘off-the-shelf’ services or goods, where many suppliers can deliver the service or product.
The use of Competitive Procedure with Negotiation must be justified and the reasons recorded.
You can also use the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation where all of the submissions received for an Open or Restricted Procedure that you have conducted are classed as either irregular or unacceptable.
Quickfire Guide
A tender is irregular where:
A tender is unacceptable where:
Quickfire Guide
There are four variations of the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation with slightly differing timelines:
For many care and support services contract, an organisation may use the procurement procedures, tools and techniques of its choosing. You should follow a procurement procedure, as a matter of best practice, that is proportionate to the value of the contract and to take account of some fundamental considerations (for example, the principles of procurement and Fair Work Practices).
When doing so, you may choose to adapt or streamline the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation described in the Public Contract (Scotland) Regulations 2015. If you do so, you are not obliged to follow the detailed procedural requirements set out in those Regulations. You should therefore not refer to the Regulations in the tender documentation issued to participants, as this may create an expectation that the detailed procedural requirements will be followed. In all cases, you should ensure that the procurement process is described accurately and clearly, and then adhered to.
You may authorise or require variant bids. However this must have been specified:
Your Procurement Documents must set out the minimum requirements and how the variant will be evaluated. Variants cannot be considered unless:
All variant bids should be evaluated using the same criteria as the standard bids and compared on a like-for-like basis.
You should also consider whether to allow potential bidders to offer different TUPE scenario options within their bids. If so, you must provide clear directions to bidders to ensure that bids are compared on a like-for-like basis.
Since your final documents may be dependent upon the negotiations held, it is not practical to expect you to publish all Procurement Documents with the Contract Notice.
Invitations to Tender (ITT) should be sent to all selected bidders:
If an ITT is issued near to the closing date, bidders should be made aware that the submission date is imminent.
The ITT time limits for receipt of tender submissions should be proportionate to the contract complexity and the time required to prepare and submit a bid (bearing in mind minimum requirements).
Your Organisation must extend the time limits for the receipt of tenders so that all bidders are aware of all of the information needed. When:
Any extension should be proportionate to the complexity of the change and /or the additional information being provided.
To proceed with a tender extension the necessary approval should be obtained in accordance with your internal governance.
If the date is amended, the new date should be notified to all bidders. If any tenderer indicates that they have already submitted a tender, they should be able to withdraw their original bid and submit a revised one (in line with the extended tender deadline).
Care must be taken to guard against fraud. A full audit trail must be documented to ensure no information is passed to a bidder, to allowing them to amend bids already seen by the Organisation.
The activities you undertake at this stage must be carried out in a carefully managed manner that supports the Principles of Procurement. As a minimum the processes must be transparent ensuring no distortion of the market.The outcome cannot unduly favour or disadvantage a particular bidder.I It is the responsibility of your Organisation to make sure these requirements are met.