The pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), which may also be called an Expression of Interest or a Vendor Questionnaire, is used to collect information to help decide which suppliers should be selected to participate in a tender exercise. The PQQ should address the grounds for exclusion and the selection criteria detailed in the EU procurement legislation. The information is aimed at determining the suitability, capability and financial stability of a supplier to be able to provide the goods or services required to meet your needs. Some criteria, for example involvement in criminal activity, non-payment of taxes etc, will result in the automatic exclusion of an applicant, while others, when scored and weighted, will be used to rank the applicants in order of their ability to meet your published requirements.
Within the PQQ there will be two types of questions
- Those designed to collect background information such as the applicant’s name, contact details, VAT registration number etc. These questions collect essential information but do not, normally, form part of the overall assessment process ie they are not scored.
- Those that are designed to collect the information necessary to make a judgement on the ability of the applicant to meet your needs ie to assess its suitability, technical capability and financial stability. These questions are weighted and scored and an overall weighted score calculated for each applicant. The final weighted scores are then used to rank the applicants in order and inform the selection process of which applicants will be invited to submit tenders.
It is important that the questions asked are relevant to the requirement and that the responses received can be assessed in a fair manner. Some questions will be very important, for example, those relating to the relevant experience and this will be reflected in the weightings given. If you are asking for copies of procedural manuals, you need to consider how you will demonstrate how you have assessed them should the applicant be unhappy with the outcome of their assessment if they do not get through to the next stage and invited to submit tenders.
The PQQ should be divided into sections that deal with the areas of assessment contained within the legislation ie
- General background information (not usually scored)
- Questions to explore the standing of the applicant or its directors or persons working for it in terms of criminality, taxes etc. There is a long list of grounds for excluding economic operators in the legislation
- Information on the applicant’s economic and financial standing
- Information on its technical and professional ability
- Supplementary information to help clarify the previous information
Sample PQQ’s are available in the Sample Documentation
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