The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015

Invitations to candidates

55.—(1) In a restricted procedure, a competitive dialogue procedure, an innovation partnership and a competitive procedure with negotiation, an invitation by a contracting authority to selected candidates or to participants to submit a tender must be issued simultaneously and in writing.

(2) In a competitive dialogue procedure or an innovation partnership, an invitation by a contracting authority to selected candidates to participate must be issued simultaneously and in writing.

(3) Where the call for competition is made by means of a prior information notice, as referred to in regulation 27(8)(choice of procedure), the contracting authority must, simultaneously and in writing, invite all economic operators which have expressed their interest following the publication of the prior information notice, to confirm their interest in writing.

(4) The invitations required by paragraphs (1) to (3) must—

(a) include a reference to the electronic address at which the procurement documents have been made directly available by electronic means; or

(b) be accompanied by the procurement documents, where those documents have not been the subject of unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, for the reasons referred to in regulation 54(3) or (4) (electronic availability of procurement documents) and have not already been made otherwise available.

(5) The invitations required by paragraphs (1) and (2) must also contain at least the following information—

(a) a reference to the call for competition published;

(b) where tenders are to be submitted, the deadline for the receipt of the tenders, the address to which the tenders must be sent and the language in which the tenders must be drawn up;

(c) in the case of competitive dialogue, the date and the address set for the start of consultation and the language or languages to be used;

(d) a reference to any documents to be submitted, either in support of verifiable declarations by the tenderer in accordance with regulations 60 (European Single Procurement Document: use, content and form of ESPD) and 61 (means of proof) and, where appropriate, 63 (quality assurance standards and environmental management standards) or to supplement the information referred to in those regulations, and under the conditions laid down in regulations 60, 61 and 63; and

(e) the relative weighting of criteria for the award of the contract or, where appropriate, the descending order of importance of such criteria, where they are not given in the contract notice, in the invitation to confirm interest, in the technical specifications or the descriptive document.

(6) An invitation to confirm interest referred to in paragraph (3) must also contain at least the following information—

(a) the nature and quantity, including all options concerning complementary contracts and, where possible, the estimated time available for exercising such options for renewable contracts, the nature and quantity and, where possible, the estimated publication dates of future notices of competition for works, supplies or services to be put out to tender;

(b) the type of procedure, namely restricted procedure or competitive procedure with negotiation;

(c) where applicable, the date on which the delivery of supplies or the execution of works or services is to commence or terminate;

(d) where electronic access cannot be offered, the address and closing date for the submission of requests for procurement documents and the language or languages in which they are to be drawn up;

(e) the address of the contracting authority which is to award the contract;

(f) economic and technical conditions, financial guarantees and information required from economic operators;

(g) the form of the contract which is the subject of the invitation to tender, namely purchase, lease, hire or hire-purchase, or any combination of these; and

(h) the contract award criteria and their relative weighting or, where appropriate, the descending order of importance of such criteria, where this information is not given in the prior information notice or the technical specifications or in the invitation to tender or to negotiate.