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The Post Tender Clarification Process

This guidance is based on information provided by the ScottishGovernment and the Office of Government Commerce.

What is Post Tender Clarification?

Post Tender Clarification is a documented exchange with suppliers to clarifyaspects of PQQs / tenders and correct apparent errors so that a fullevaluation can take place. It helps ensure that all outstanding risks areaddressed and that est overall value for money is achieved in terms of!uality and cost.

When can Clarification take place?

"id Clarifications may ecome necessary during the evaluation of Pre#Qualification Questionnaires $PQQs% and tenders where there are aspects ofthe ids that are unclear or contain errors. It may e that there has een amisunderstanding of the specification on the part of the tenderer& that thereare outright errors in technical data& or that the style of presentation is such asto leave dout as to the precise meaning of the tenderer. Procuring 'fficersshould consider whether& where a certain aspect of the id seems irregular& itmight e sensile to re!uest a clarification. (or example& if a id appearsespecially low& or especially high on price& it may e that an arithmetical errorhas een made. Clarification may also e sought from tenderers on matters of!uality performance or particular terms and conditions of contracts.

Clarification should only take place where appropriate e.g. If clarification iseing undertaken with one tenderer it does not necessarily need to take placewith all tenderers& and the same points or clarification do not need to eraised with all tenderers if it is not appropriate to do so.

What constitutes Clarification and is it alloed?

The )uide to the Community *ules on Pulic Procurement of +ervices ,-irective /01/22C states that3http3//ec.europa.eu/internal4market/pulicprocurement/docs/guidelines/services4en.pdf

"in open and restricted procedures, all negotiation with candidates ortenderers on fundamental aspects of contracts, variations in which are likelyto distort competition, and in particular on prices, shall be ruled out; however,discussions with candidates or tenderers may be held but only for thepurpose of clarifying or supplementing the content of their tenders or therequirements of the contracting authorities and provided that this does notinvolve discrimination."

!ake Tenderers aare that Clarification may take place

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http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/guidelines/services_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/guidelines/services_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/guidelines/services_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/guidelines/services_en.pdf

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It is recommended that a clause relating to the possiility of clarification takingplace is included in the tender documentation. +uggested wording is asfollows3

Fife Council reserves the right to require the enderer to clarify its ender in

writing and!or provide additional information. equests for clarification will beissued via #insert$ the selected electronic application or email address%.enderers are required to respond to requests for clarification within #insert$number and hours ! day%. &f in the opinion of Fife Council the enderer fails toprovide an adequate response to one or more points of clarification, theenderer #insert$ will ! may% be e'cluded from progressing further in theprocess(

The Post Tender Clarification Process

5here clarification takes place the Procuring 'fficer must e very careful

aout how they conduct and document the process. 5hen conductingclarification& as throughout the procurement process& the Procuring 'fficermust ear in mind the rules and principles of the 26 *egulations i.e.transparency& e!ual treatment and non#discrimination. Proceedings must econducted in a manner which is not only fair& ut which is seen to e fair ythe relevant parties. It must not put other tenderers at a disadvantage& oradversely affect their trust or confidence in the competitive tendering processas this could increase the risk of a decision ecoming su7ect to a legalchallenge.

Clarifications hich result in changes to the prices submitted bytenderers" even if they appear insignificant" must be treated ith theutmost caution.Procuring Officers should double check the effect ofsuch clarifications against the rules and principles of #$ %egulationsand advise their line manager ho ill seek further advice from &egalServices as necessary.

It is vitally important that all post#tender communication is meticulouslyrecorded& particularly where the process has an impact on the score awarded.Clarification may have een sought ecause the 2valuation Team felt furtherinformation was re!uired efore a score could e awarded / finalised. It is

therefore acceptale to insert / amend a score as a result of the clarificationprocess ut full 7ustification should e provided for the audit trail.

8 reasonale time limit should e set for the sumission of clarificationinformation. The same time limit should e applied to all those from whomclarification is eing sought.

Information aout any clarification process undertaken should e included inthe Contract *eport. If no clarification was necessary& a statement to thiseffect should e included in the contract report.

If the clarification process results in significant changes to the re!uirement orindividual ids& to the extent that there is a sustantial change to the nature of

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the usiness to e awarded& the Procuring 'fficer should consider whether itis appropriate to re#tender the re!uirement.

The key point to e rememered when undertaking clarification is not to actin a manner that is likely to distort competition.

Clarification !eetings

If it is your intention to undertake clarification meetings3

+ummarise the purpose in the tender documentation i.e. 9 &t is the

intention of Fife Council to undertakeClarification )eetings whereappropriate. hese will serve as an opportunity for the ender*valuation eam to obtain a clearer and deeper understanding of theenderer+s esponse.(

2nsure details of if and how the clarification meetings will e

evaluated are included within the information aout the evaluationmethodology.

Clarification meetings may or may not e used to ad7ust tenderers

initial !ualitative scores. Tenderers should e made aware of themethodology to e used.

8 record of the clarification meetings should e made and saved on

file. It is preferale to have a person not on the evaluation panel take

the notes so that the panel can focus their attention on the meetingrather than on writing the record.

:ohn CosgroveProcurement ; +upplies th:une 1=1

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