{"id":896,"date":"2021-06-21T21:42:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T21:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legalblog.ie\/?p=896"},"modified":"2021-06-21T21:42:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T21:42:16","slug":"public-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Procedures\" title=\"Procedures\">Procedures<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Choice_of_procedures\" title=\"Choice of procedures\">Choice of procedures<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Open_procedure\" title=\"\nOpen procedure\">\nOpen procedure<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Restricted_procedure\" title=\"Restricted procedure\">Restricted procedure<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Competitive_procedure_with_negotiation\" title=\"Competitive procedure with negotiation\">Competitive procedure with negotiation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Competitive_dialogue\" title=\"\nCompetitive dialogue\">\nCompetitive dialogue<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Innovation_partnership\" title=\"Innovation partnership\">Innovation partnership<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Negotiations\" title=\"Negotiations\">Negotiations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/public-contracts\/#Use_of_the_negotiated_procedure_without_prior_publication\" title=\"Use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication\">Use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Procedures\"><\/span>Procedures<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Conditions relating to the GPA and other international agreements<\/p>\n<p>In so far as they are covered by the Annexes to the Directive nd the General Notes to the European Union\u2019s Appendix to the GPA and by the other international agreements by which the Union is bound, contracting authorities shall accord to the works, supplies, services and economic operators of the signatories to those agreements treatment no less favourable than the treatment accorded to the works, supplies, services and economic operators of the Union.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Choice_of_procedures\"><\/span>Choice of procedures<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When awarding public contracts, contracting authorities shall apply the national procedures adjusted to be in conformity with the Directive, provided that, , a call for competition has been published in accordance with the Directive. Member States shall provide that contracting authorities may apply open or restricted procedures as regulated in the Directive.<\/p>\n<p>Member States shall provide that contracting authorities may apply innovation partnerships as regulated in the Directive.<\/p>\n<p>Member States shall provide that contracting authorities may apply a competitive procedure with negotiation or a competitive dialogue in the following situations:<\/p>\n<p>with regard to works, supplies or services fulfilling one or more of the following criteria:<br \/>\n* the needs of the contracting authority cannot be met without adaptation of readily available solutions;<br \/>\n* they include design or innovative solutions;<br \/>\n* the contract cannot be awarded without prior negotiations because of specific circumstances related to the nature, the complexity or the legal and financial make-up or because of the risks attaching to them;<br \/>\n* the technical specifications cannot be established with sufficient precision by the contracting authority with reference to a standard, European Technical Assessment, common technical specification or technical reference<\/p>\n<p>with regard to works, supplies or services where, in response to an open or a restricted procedure, only irregular or unacceptable tenders are submitted. In such situations contracting authorities shall not be required to publish a contract notice where they include in the procedure all of, and only, the tenderers which satisfy the criteria set out and which, during the prior open or restricted procedure, submitted tenders in accordance with the formal requirements of the procurement procedure.<\/p>\n<p>In particular, tenders which do not comply with the procurement documents, which were received late, where there is evidence of collusion or corruption, or which have been found by the contracting authority to be abnormally low, shall be considered as being irregular. In particular tenders submitted by tenderers that do not have the required qualifications, and tenders whose price exceeds the contracting authority\u2019s budget as determined and documented prior to the launching of the procurement procedure shall be considered as unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p>The call for competition shall be made by means of a contract notice. Where the contract is awarded by restricted procedure or competitive procedure with negotiation, Member States may provide, , that sub-central contracting authorities or specific categories thereof may make the call for competition by means of a prior information notice.<\/p>\n<p>Where the call for competition is made by means of a prior information notice economic operators having expressed their interest following the publication of the prior information notice shall subsequently be invited to confirm their interest in writing by means of an invitation to confirm interest.<\/p>\n<p>In the specific cases and circumstances referred to below, Member States may provide that contracting authorities may apply a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. Member States shall not allow the application of that procedure in any other cases than those referred to.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Open_procedure\"><\/span>\nOpen procedure<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In open procedures, any interested economic operator may submit a tender in response to a call for competition. The minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders shall be 35 days from the date on which the contract notice was sent. The tender shall be accompanied by the information for qualitative selection that is requested by the contracting authority.<\/p>\n<p>Where contracting authorities have published a prior information notice which was not itself used as a means of calling for competition, the minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders may be shortened to 15 days, provided that all of the following conditions are fulfilled:<\/p>\n<p>* the prior information notice included all the information required for the contract notice, in so far as that information was available at the time the prior information notice was published;<\/p>\n<p>* the prior information notice was sent for publication between 35 days and 12 months before the date on which the contract notice was sent.<\/p>\n<p>Where a state of urgency duly substantiated by the contracting authority renders impracticable the time limit laid down, it may fix a time limit which shall be not less than 15 days from the date on which the contract notice was sent.<\/p>\n<p>The contracting authority may reduce by five days the time limit for receipt of tenders set out where it accepts that tenders may be submitted by electronic means.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Restricted_procedure\"><\/span>Restricted procedure<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In restricted procedures, any economic operator may submit a request to participate in response to a call for competition containing the requisite information by providing the information for qualitative selection that is requested by the contracting authority.<\/p>\n<p>The minimum time limit for receipt of requests to participate shall be 30 days from the date on which the contract notice or, where a prior information notice is used as a means of calling for competition, the invitation to confirm interest was sent.<\/p>\n<p>Only those economic operators invited to do so by the contracting authority following its assessment of the information provided may submit a tender. Contracting authorities may limit the number of suitable candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure.<br \/>\nThe minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders shall be 30 days from the date on which the invitation to tender was sent.<\/p>\n<p>Where contracting authorities have published a prior information notice which was not itself used as a means of calling for competition, the minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders may be shortened to 10 days, provided that all of the following conditions are fulfilled:<\/p>\n<p>* the prior information notice included all the information required, in so far as that information was available at the time the prior information notice was published;<\/p>\n<p>* the prior information notice was sent for publication between 35 days and 12 months before the date on which the contract notice was sent.<\/p>\n<p>Member States may provide that all or specific categories of sub-central contracting authorities may set the time limit for the receipt of tenders by mutual agreement between the contracting authority and the selected candidates, provided that all selected candidates have the same time to prepare and submit their tenders. In the absence of agreement on the time limit for the receipt of tenders, the time limit shall be at least 10 days from the date on which the invitation to tender was sent.<\/p>\n<p>The time limit for receipt of tenders may be reduced by five days where the contracting authority accepts that tenders may be submitted by electronic means.<\/p>\n<p>Where a state of urgency duly substantiated by the contracting authorities renders impracticable the time limits laid down, they may fix:<\/p>\n<p>* a time limit for the receipt of requests to participate which shall not be less than 15 days from the date on which the contract notice was sent;<\/p>\n<p>* a time limit for the receipt of tenders which shall not be less than 10 days from the date on which the invitation to tender was sent.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Competitive_procedure_with_negotiation\"><\/span>Competitive procedure with negotiation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In competitive procedures with negotiation, any economic operator may submit a request to participate in response to a call for competition containing the required information by providing the information for qualitative selection that is requested by the contracting authority.<\/p>\n<p>In the procurement documents, contracting authorities shall identify the subject-matter of the procurement by providing a description of their needs and the characteristics required of the supplies, works or services to be procured and specify the contract award criteria. They shall also indicate which elements of the description define the minimum requirements to be met by all tenders.<\/p>\n<p>The information provided shall be sufficiently precise to enable economic operators to identify the nature and scope of the procurement and decide whether to request to participate in the procedure.<\/p>\n<p>The minimum time limit for receipt of requests to participate shall be 30 days from the date on which the contract notice or, where a prior information notice is used as a means of calling for competition, the invitation to confirm interest was sent. The minimum time limit for the receipt of initial tenders shall be 30 days from the date on which the invitation was sent.shall apply.<\/p>\n<p>Only those economic operators invited by the contracting authority following its assessment of the information provided may submit an initial tender which shall be the basis for the subsequent negotiations. Contracting authorities may limit the number of suitable candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure.<\/p>\n<p>Unless otherwise provided for above contracting authorities shall negotiate with tenderers the initial and all subsequent tenders submitted by them, except for the final tenders, to improve the content thereof.<\/p>\n<p>The minimum requirements and the award criteria shall not be subject to negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Contracting authorities may award contracts on the basis of the initial tenders without negotiation where they have indicated, in the contract notice or in the invitation to confirm interest, that they reserve the possibility of doing so. During the negotiations, contracting authorities shall ensure the equal treatment of all tenderers. To that end, they shall not provide information in a discriminatory manner which may give some tenderers an advantage over others. They shall inform all tenderers, whose tenders have not been eliminated pursuant to paragraph 6, in writing of any changes to the technical specifications or other procurement documents, other than those setting out the minimum requirements. Following these changes, contracting authorities shall provide sufficient time for tenderers to modify and re-submit amended tenders, as appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>Contracting authorities shall not reveal to the other participants confidential information communicated by a candidate or a tenderer participating in the negotiations without its agreement. Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.<\/p>\n<p>Competitive procedures with negotiation 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. In the contract notice, the invitation to confirm interest or in another procurement document, the contracting authority shall indicate whether it will use that option.<\/p>\n<p>Where the contracting authority intends to conclude the negotiations, it shall inform the remaining tenderers and set a common deadline to submit any new or revised tenders. It shall verify that the final tenders are in conformity with the minimum requirements and, assess the final tenders on the basis of the award criteria and award the contract in accordance with the relevant criteria.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Competitive_dialogue\"><\/span>\nCompetitive dialogue<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In competitive dialogues, 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.The minimum time limit for receipt of requests to participate shall be 30 days from the date on which the contract notice was sent.<\/p>\n<p>Only those economic operators invited by the contracting authority following the assessment of the information provided may participate in the dialogue. Contracting authorities may limit the number of suitable candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure. The contract shall be awarded on the sole basis of the award criterion of the best price-quality ratio as provided.<\/p>\n<p>Contracting authorities shall set out their needs and requirements in the contract notice and they shall define these needs and requirements in that notice and\/or in a descriptive document. At the same time and in the same documents, they shall also set out and define the chosen award criteria and set out an indicative timeframe.<\/p>\n<p>3. Contracting authorities shall open, with the participants selected in accordance with the relevant provisions, a dialogue the aim of which shall be to identify and define the means best suited to satisfying their needs. They may discuss all aspects of the procurement with the chosen participants during this dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>During the dialogue, contracting authorities shall ensure equality of treatment among all participants. To that end, they shall not provide information in a discriminatory manner which may give some participants an advantage over others.<\/p>\n<p>Contracting authorities shall not reveal to the other participants solutions proposed or other confidential information communicated by a candidate or tenderer participating in the dialogue without its agreement. Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.<\/p>\n<p>Competitive dialogues may take place in successive stages in order to reduce the number of solutions to be discussed during the dialogue stage by applying the award criteria laid down in the contract notice or in the descriptive document. In the contract notice or the descriptive document, the contracting authority shall indicate whether it will use that option.<\/p>\n<p>The contracting authority shall continue the dialogue until it can identify the solution or solutions which are capable of meeting its needs.<\/p>\n<p>Having declared that the dialogue is concluded and having so informed the remaining participants, contracting authorities shall ask each of them to submit their final tenders on the basis of the solution or solutions presented and specified during the dialogue. Those tenders shall contain all the elements required and necessary for the performance of the project.<\/p>\n<p>Those tenders may be clarified, specified and optimised at the request of the contracting authority. However, such clarification, specification, optimisation or additional information may not involve changes to the essential aspects of the tender or of the public procurement, including the needs and requirements set out in the contract notice or in the descriptive document, where variations to those aspects, needs and requirements are likely to distort competition or have a discriminatory effect.<\/p>\n<p>Contracting authorities shall assess the tenders received on the basis of the award criteria laid down in the contract notice or in the descriptive document.At the request of the contracting authority, negotiations with the tenderer identified as having submitted the tender presenting the best price-quality ratio may be carried out to confirm financial commitments or other terms contained in the tender by finalising the terms of the contract provided this does not have the effect of materially modifying essential aspects of the tender or of the public procurement, including the needs and requirements set out in the contract notice or in the descriptive document and does not risk distorting competition or causing discrimination. Contracting authorities may specify prizes or payments to the participants in the dialogue.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Innovation_partnership\"><\/span>Innovation partnership<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>In the procurement documents, the contracting authority shall 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. It shall indicate which elements of this description define the minimum requirements to be met by all tenders. The information provided 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.<\/p>\n<p>The contracting authority may decide to set up the innovation partnership with one partner or with several partners conducting separate research and development activities.<\/p>\n<p>The minimum time limit for receipt of requests to participate shall be 30 days from the date on which the contract notice is sent. Only those economic operators invited by the contracting authority following the assessment of the information provided may participate in the procedure. Contracting authorities may limit the number of suitable candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure. The contracts shall be awarded on the sole basis of the award criterion of the best price-quality ratio.<\/p>\n<p>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 authorities and the participants.<\/p>\n<p>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. The innovation partnership shall set intermediate targets to be attained by the partners and provide for payment of the remuneration in appropriate instalments.<\/p>\n<p>Based on those targets, the contracting authority may decide after each phase to terminate the innovation partnership or, in the case of an innovation partnership with several partners, to 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.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Negotiations\"><\/span>Negotiations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Unless otherwise provided for, contracting authorities shall negotiate with tenderers the initial and all subsequent tenders submitted by them, except for the final tender, to improve the content thereof. The minimum requirements and the award criteria shall not be subject to negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>During the negotiations, contracting authorities shall ensure the equal treatment of all tenderers. To that end, they shall not provide information in a discriminatory manner which may give some tenderers an advantage over others. They shall inform all tenderers whose tenders have not been eliminated, in writing of any changes to the technical specifications or other procurement documents other than those setting out the minimum requirements. Following those changes, contracting authorities shall provide sufficient time for tenderers to modify and re-submit amended tenders, as appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>Contracting authorities shall not reveal to the other participants confidential information communicated by a candidate or tenderer participating in the negotiations without its agreement. Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.<\/p>\n<p>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 the procurement documents. In the contract notice, the invitation to confirm interest or in the procurement documents, the contracting authority shall indicate whether it will use that option.<\/p>\n<p>In selecting candidates, contracting authorities shall in particular apply criteria concerning the candidates\u2019 capacity in the field of research and development and of developing and implementing innovative solutions.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>In the procurement documents, the contracting authority shall define the arrangements applicable to intellectual property rights. In the case of an innovation partnership with several partners, the contracting authority shall not reveal to the other partners solutions proposed or other confidential information communicated by a partner in the framework of the partnership without that partner\u2019s agreement. Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.<\/p>\n<p>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. The estimated value of supplies, services or works shall not be disproportionate in relation to the investment required for their development.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Use_of_the_negotiated_procedure_without_prior_publication\"><\/span>Use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In the specific cases and circumstances laid down below , Member States may provide that contracting authorities may award public contracts by a negotiated procedure without prior publication.<\/p>\n<p>The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts in any of the following cases:<\/p>\n<p>* where no tenders or no suitable tenders or no requests to participate or no suitable requests to participate have been submitted in response to an open procedure or a restricted procedure, provided that the initial conditions of the contract are not substantially altered and that a report is sent to the Commission where it so requests.<\/p>\n<p>A tender shall be considered not to be suitable where it is irrelevant to the contract, being manifestly incapable, without substantial changes, of meeting the contracting authority\u2019s needs and requirements as specified in the procurement documents. A request for participation shall be considered not to be suitable where the economic operator concerned is to be or may be excluded pursuant to Article 57 or does not meet the selection criteria set out by the contracting authority pursuant to Article 58;<\/p>\n<p>where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons:<\/p>\n<p>* the aim of the procurement is the creation or acquisition of a unique work of art or artistic performance;<\/p>\n<p>* competition is absent for technical reasons;<\/p>\n<p>* the protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights;<\/p>\n<p>The exceptions set out in above shall only apply when no reasonable alternative or substitute exists and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement;<\/p>\n<p>in so far as is strictly necessary where, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with. The circumstances invoked to justify extreme urgency shall not in any event be attributable to the contracting authority.<\/p>\n<p>The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for public supply contracts:<\/p>\n<p>* where the products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experimentation, study or development; however, contracts awarded pursuant to this point shall not include quantity production to establish commercial viability or to recover research and development costs;<\/p>\n<p>* for additional deliveries by the original supplier which are intended either as a partial replacement of supplies or installations or as the extension of existing supplies or installations where a change of supplier would oblige the contracting authority to acquire supplies having different technical characteristics which would result in incompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance; the duration of such contracts as well as that of recurrent contracts shall not, as a general rule, exceed three years;<\/p>\n<p>* for supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market;<\/p>\n<p>* for the purchase of supplies or services on particularly advantageous terms, from either a supplier which is definitively winding up its business activities, or the liquidator in an insolvency procedure, an arrangement with creditors, or a similar procedure under national laws or regulations.<\/p>\n<p>The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for public service contracts, where the contract concerned follows a design contest organised in accordance with the Directive and is to be awarded, under the rules provided for in the design contest, to the winner or one of the winners of the design contest; in the latter case, all winners must be invited to participate in the negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for new works or services consisting in the repetition of similar works or services entrusted to the economic operator to which the same contracting authorities awarded an original contract, provided that such works or services are in conformity with a basic project for which the original contract was awarded pursuant to a procedure . The basic project shall indicate the extent of possible additional works or services and the conditions under which they will be awarded.<\/p>\n<p>As soon as the first project is put up for tender, the possible use of this procedure shall be disclosed and the total estimated cost of subsequent works or services shall be taken into consideration by the contracting authorities when they apply<\/p>\n<p>This procedure may be used only during the three years following the conclusion of the original contract.<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-896\" data-postid=\"896\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-896 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Procedures Conditions relating to the GPA and other international agreements In so far as they are covered by the Annexes to the Directive nd the General Notes to the European Union\u2019s Appendix to the GPA and by the other international agreements by which the Union is bound, contracting authorities shall accord to the works, supplies, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":897,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions\/897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}