Single Procurement Document (SPD)

The SPD is a standard form that includes exclusion and selection questions, it allows buyers to identify suitably qualified and experienced bidders. It is mandated for use in all Regulated Procurements above GPA threshold, and is recommended for use in all other Regulated Procurements. The aim of the SPD is to simplify the procurement process, especially for SMEs, by enabling bidders to self-declare that they have not breached any of the grounds for exclusion, and that they meet the relevant selection criteria. SPD Modules are available in Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) and PCS Tender (PCS-T). Guidance on the SPD can be found in the Procurement Journey.

When carrying out Regulated Procurements, you must take account of the mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds which apply. These can be found in Annex B of the statutory guidance and further guidance can be found in the Procurement Journey. In all cases a bidder will have an opportunity to provide evidence that it has taken remedial action to demonstrate its reliability (“self-cleansing”).

Many questions in the SPD are generic. In some cases, you (as the buyer) must add to the standard SPD selection questions with the specific minimum requirements for your procurement exercise. You must ensure that any requirements are proportionate to the value and risk of your procurement exercise, and are not demanding for bidders.

Bidders will use their SPD response to indicate whether they can meet the requirements of the procurement exercise.

The questionnaire is a self-declaration form and suppliers do not need to provide any evidence upfront unless there are clear reasons for doing so.

There are 2 ways to issue an SPD request:

the SPD module in Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) or
PCS-Tender

Depending on the value and risk of your procurement exercise you will follow either the Route 2 or Route 3 SPD guidance:

Route 2 SPD Guidance Route 3 SPD Guidance

Standardised Statements

A set of Standardised Statements has been developed to support you in explaining your selection criteria to bidders.

Each standardised statement is aligned to a selection question in the SPD. You should select the statements relevant to your procurement exercise. In some instances, you are able to adapt them.

This process will enable you to adopt a standard approach to defining the selection criteria in Contract Notices.

If using PCS-Tender, you should set out your specific requirements and minimum standards in the Contract Notice (or the PIN if that is being used as a Call for Competition).

If using the online SPD module on PCS there is no need to add the statements in the Contract Notice, it should be added directly to the module.

More information on where to state information in the Contract Notice can be found on the Contract Notice and Advertising station.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are available to assist you.

The Supplier Journey contains guidance to help suppliers complete their SPD response.

If you are carrying out a procurement exercise that requires you to continue to use the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), please refer to the ESPD guidance. If you are in any doubt as to whether this applies, please seek legal advice.