Conditions of Tender Submission
1. General
1.1 Contents of the Invitation to Tender
The Tender is to be made strictly in accordance with the requirements of this Invitation to Tender which, together with any addenda that are issued, are together referred to as the Invitation to Tender.
1.2 Return if not Tendering
If, after acknowledging receipt of this package, the Tenderer decides not to submit a Tender, the Invitation to Tender package must be returned immediately.
1.3 Enquiries concerning the Tender
Any query in connection with the Tender or the Invitation to Tender shall be submitted in writing to:
[Insert the name, full postal address, fax number and e-mail of the person(s) best placed to take appropriate action in line with the next paragraph]
The response by the Institution as well as the nature of the query will be notified to all Tenderers, without disclosing the name of the Tenderer who initiated the query. On no account before the Tender Date is the Tenderer to contact or communicate with any other person involved in work concerning this Invitation to Tender unless the Institution redirects the enquiry.
1.4 Independent Tender
By submission of a Tender, the Tenderer warrants that:
(a) The prices in the Tender have been arrived at independently, without consultation, communication, agreement or understanding for the purpose of restricting competition, as to any matter relating to such prices, with any other Tenderer or with any competitor.
(b) Unless otherwise required by law, the prices which have been quoted in the Tender have not knowingly been disclosed by the Tenderer, directly or indirectly, to any other Tenderer or competitor, nor will they be so disclosed.
(c) No attempt has been made or will be made by the Tenderer to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a Tender for the purpose of restricting competition.
Note: the contents of is section are sometimes dealt with in a separate Bona Fide Declaration document that is explicitly signed by the tenderer.
1.5 Modification by the Institution
Any advice of a modification to the Invitation to Tender shall be issued at least six days before the Tender Submission Date. It shall be issued as an addendum to, and shall be deemed to constitute part of, the Invitation to Tender. If necessary, the Institution shall revise the Tender Submission Date in order to comply with the six-day requirement.
Except under exceptional circumstances no extension of time and date by which the Tender must be submitted will be granted.
2. Preparation of Tender
2.1 Cost of Tender
The Institution will not be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by the Tenderer in connection with the preparation or delivery or in the evaluation of the Tender.
2.2 Language of Tender
The Tender and all accompanying documents are to be in English.
2.3 Validity Period of Tender
All details of the Tender, including prices and rates, are to remain valid for acceptance until [insert date]
Note: The date to be inserted in paragraph 2.3 should make adequate allowance for slippage in the timing of the award of contract. For example, if the contract is expected to be awarded by, say, the 31 May you might ask that prices “remain valid for acceptance” until 31 July.
2.4 Currency of Tender
Tender prices shall be in sterling.
3. Delivery of Tender
3.1 Number of Copies – Hard Copy
Full details of the documents to be returned are given in this Invitation to Tender. These documents shall together comprise the "Tender". Please return the original (clearly marked ORIGINAL) plus [required number] of copies.
Note: It is important to ask for sufficient copies to enable you to give a copy to every member of the Tender Evaluation Team. However, there will be instances where you do not need multiple copies of all the sections/parts making up the tender documentation. If this is the case, then, state this clearly where a single copy of a section will be sufficient. Alternatively, the submission of one set of original tender documents supported by them on a CD-ROM would enable the submissions to the emailed to the adjudication panel.
3.2 Submission or Closing Date
The Tender must be packed for despatch in the manner described above [in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.3] and delivered no later than [time] on [date], this date being the TENDER DATE.
3.3 Delivery – Hard Copy Submission
The Tender must be parcelled, securely sealed and correctly addressed as follows:
[name and full postal address (including department and room number, if necessary) of person designated to receive the tenders and keep them safely and unopened]
The words “TENDER FOR CONTRACT No [tender reference number]” should be added above the name and address.
Failure to follow these instructions may render the Tender invalid.
If, within your institution, normal practice is that you do not wish to be able to identify tenderers until submissions have been formally opened, instructions to this effect and return labels or packaging requirements should be clearly stated in this section.
3.4 Delivery – Electronic Submission
Outline the specific instructions for the electronic submission process used within your institution. If your firewall and IT security set-ups place any limitations on the sizes or types of attachments that will be accepted by your electronic system, ensure that this is clearly stated in this set of instructions.
If your system does not automatically advise the sender of a delivery failure, it may be necessary to advise tenderers that they should check with you that a file has been received. Where there is a method of confirming receipt of an electronic submission, you should advise the tenderers accordingly so that they can check that their tender submission has been received.
4. Treatment of Tender
4.1 The Institution's discretion
The Institution does not undertake to accept the lowest Tender, or part, or all of any Tender, and the acknowledgement of receipt of any submitted Tender shall not constitute any actual or implied agreement between the Institution and the Tenderer.
The Institution reserves the right to accept any part, or all, of any Tender or Tenders at its sole discretion.
4.2 Tender not Returned
No part of the Tender submitted will be returned to the Tenderer.
4.3 Results of Tendering
An evaluation panel will consider all Tenders correctly submitted and will select one with a view to reaching a contractual agreement subject to clarification of any outstanding matters.
The evaluation panel may wish to interview Tenderers prior to making a final decision. If this is the decision of the evaluation panel, such interviews will be held on [insert date and general location ie name on institution] and tenderers will be advised as soon as reasonably possible. Full details regarding an interview will be forwarded to those concerned.
When the final decision on the results of the Invitation to Tender has been taken, all Tenderers will be informed in writing whether or not they have been successful and the reasons why their bid was unsuccessful.
5. Tender Evaluation Criteria
The contract will be awarded to the tenderer making the most economically advantageous tender taking account of [insert the list award criteria, giving their relative weightings as required under the EU legislation]
For more detailed Conditions of Contract, especially for procurements above EU thresholds, see the Generic Tender Documents section.