The Public Contracts Regulations 2015

Innovation partnership

31.—(1) In innovation partnerships, any economic operator may submit a request to participate in response to a contract notice by providing the information for qualitative selection that is requested by the contracting authority.

(2) In the procurement documents, the contracting authority shall—

(a) identify the need for an innovative product, service or works that cannot be met by purchasing products, services or works already available on the market, and

(b) indicate which elements of this description define the minimum requirements to be met by all tenders.

(3) The information provided under paragraph (2) shall be sufficiently precise to enable economic operators to identify the nature and scope of the required solution and decide whether to request to participate in the procedure.

(4) The contracting authority may decide to set up the innovation partnership with one partner or with several partners conducting separate research and development activities.

(5) The minimum time limit for receipt of requests to participate shall be 30 days from the date on which the contract notice is sent.

(6) Only those economic operators invited by the contracting authority following the assessment of the information provided may participate in the procedure.

(7) Contracting authorities may limit the number of suitable candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure in accordance with regulation 65.

(8) The contracts shall be awarded on the sole basis of the award criterion of the best price-quality ratio in accordance with regulation 67.

(9) The innovation partnership shall aim at the development of an innovative product, service or works and the subsequent purchase of the resulting supplies, services or works, provided that they correspond to the performance levels and maximum costs agreed between the contracting authority and the participants.

(10) The innovation partnership shall be structured in successive phases following the sequence of steps in the research and innovation process, which may include the manufacturing of the products, the provision of the services or the completion of the works.

(11) The innovation partnership shall set intermediate targets to be attained by the partners and provide for payment of the remuneration in appropriate instalments.

(12) Based on those targets, the contracting authority may decide after each phase to—

(a) terminate the innovation partnership, or

(b) in the case of an innovation partnership with several partners, reduce the number of partners by terminating individual contracts,

provided that the contracting authority has indicated in the procurement documents those possibilities and the conditions for their use.

(13) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, contracting authorities shall negotiate with tenderers the initial and all subsequent tenders submitted by them, except for the final tender, to improve their content.

(14) The minimum requirements and the award criteria shall not be subject to negotiation.

(15) During the negotiations, contracting authorities shall ensure equal treatment of all tenderers and, to that end—

(a) they shall not provide information in a discriminatory manner which may give some tenderers an advantage over others;

(b) they shall inform all tenderers whose tenders have not been eliminated under paragraph (18), in writing, of any changes to the technical specifications or other procurement documents, other than those setting out the minimum requirements; and

(c) following any such changes, contracting authorities shall provide sufficient time for tenderers to modify and re-submit amended tenders, as appropriate.

(16) In accordance with regulation 21, contracting authorities shall not reveal to the other participants confidential information communicated by a candidate or tenderer participating in the negotiations without its agreement.

(17) Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.

(18) Negotiations during innovation partnership procedures may take place in successive stages in order to reduce the number of tenders to be negotiated by applying the award criteria specified in the contract notice, in the invitation to confirm interest or in another procurement document.

(19) In the contract notice, the invitation to confirm interest or in another procurement document, the contracting authority shall indicate whether it will use the option described in paragraph (18).

(20) In selecting candidates, contracting authorities shall in particular apply criteria concerning the candidates’ capacity in the field of research and development and of developing and implementing innovative solutions.

(21) Only those economic operators invited by the contracting authority following its assessment of the requested information may submit research and innovation projects aimed at meeting the needs identified by the contracting authority that cannot be met by existing solutions.

(22) In the procurement documents, the contracting authority shall define the arrangements applicable to intellectual property rights.

(23) In the case of an innovation partnership with several partners, the contracting authority shall not, in accordance with regulation 21, reveal to the other partners solutions proposed or other confidential information communicated by a partner in the framework of the partnership without that partner’s agreement.

(24) Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.

(25) The contracting authority shall ensure that the structure of the partnership and, in particular, the duration and value of the different phases reflect the degree of innovation of the proposed solution and the sequence of the research and innovation activities required for the development of an innovative solution not yet available on the market.

(26) The estimated value of supplies, services or works shall not be disproportionate in relation to the investment required for their development.