Pre Qualification Questionnaire
Under the restricted
procedure firms expressing an interest in applying for a contract
are required to provide information about their organisation in the
form of a Pre Qualification Questionnaire or PQQ. The Council then
uses this information to assess whether the applicant meets the
terms of the selection criteria as regards suitability and capacity
to fulfil the requirements of the contract.
This stage of the procurement process focuses on the applicant,
whilst the tendering stage focuses on the tender. The objective of
the PQQ is to obtain and interpret general information about the
applicant to assess their suitability for the Council’s
requirements.
The benefits of Pre-Qualification Questionnaires include:
- The provision of a greater level of detail about project
requirements than is possible in an OJEU Notice.
- A more detailed applicant response on capacity and
capability in direct relation to the requirement.
- All responses are ordered, structured and consistent, making
the process of selection more effective.
It is crucial to examine this information fully at this stage,
to ensure that only those applicants capable of meeting the
requirement will be carried forward. This helps to avoid wasting
time and money and enables candidates to be short listed quickly
down to a manageable number. The areas usually assessed can
be summarised as follows:
Financial Information
Suppliers must provide recent financial information which is
used to assess the capacity of the company in relation to the size
of the contract. Information re: tax registration and company
insurance are also required. A banker’s reference and/or credit
agency report is often requested.
Equal Opportunities and Diversity
Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to equality
of opportunity for the whole community and believes that the
diversity of the population is a major strength which contributes
to the social and economic prosperity of the area. The Council
commits to ensure that no resident of, or visitor to the area, job
applicant, employee or other person associated with the Council is
treated inequitably or in an unlawful or unjustifiably
discriminatory manner.
The Council will make sure that the purchase of goods, service
and facilities is undertaken in line with our Equality Commitment.
The Council will make sure that all contracts comply with the
Council’s equality guidelines and all relevant legislation; we
positively promote equality through the tendering process. Through
appropriate monitoring we shall ensure that individuals, voluntary
organisations, firms or institutions acting on behalf or as agents
of the Council do not practice unlawful acts of discrimination.
Sustainability
Bath & North East Somerset is committed to the protection
and enhancement of the local environment. In the context of
procurement this entails ‘the optimum combination of whole-life
cost and quality (or fitness for purpose) to meet the user’s
requirement’
Procurement in its widest sense entails obtaining goods, works
and services that best meet the needs of users and the local
community and as such must take into account sustainability as well
as cost and quality.
Health and Safety
Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to ensuring
the health, safety and welfare of its employees, suppliers and the
wider community. Contracts to supply goods, services or works will
only be awarded to contractors who can satisfy the Council that
they comply with current health and safety requirements.
This can be demonstrated by
- Up to date health and safety policies and procedures
- Established risk assessment procedures
- Accident, incident and ill health monitoring procedures
- Access to health and safety advice for employees.
All potential applicants will be required to submit a Health and
Safety declaration signed by a senior member of the
organisation.
Experience and Technical Ability
The questions in this section will be tailored to the specific
requirements of the contract. The Council will be seeking evidence
that the applicant has the relevant experience and technical
ability to carry out the works or supply the goods required.
A minimum of three references will be required.
Freedom of Information
Bath & North East Somerset Council is a ‘public authority’
for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Accordingly, certain of
the information submitted to the Council by potential suppliers may
need to be disclosed in response to a request made by a third party
under the Act. The Council may also decide to include certain
information in the publication scheme which it is required to
maintain under the Act.
Tendering for contracts
Potential applicants tendering will be
sent a number of documents, these will be available in both
electronic and paper form, to enable them to complete their tender
submission. Information regarding return addresses, contact names
and closing dates will be provided as part of this package.
The documents will typically consist of some or all of the
following:
Letter of invitation
This advises of the tender return date and the return
address.
Instructions to tenderers
Guidance for completing the tender documentation.
Conditions of Contract
The relationship between the Council and the service provider is
defined within Bath & North East Somerset Council’s standard
terms and conditions of contract. Suppliers who wish to do business
with the Council are encouraged to accept those conditions, but the
Council is prepared to discuss any variation to these terms and
conditions where appropriate.
Specification
The specification will provide details of the goods, works or
services the Council wishes to purchase. This may comprise
information re: quantities and values taken from a previous
contract which can be used to perform comparisons between suppliers
or for more complex contracts there might be details provided of
specific materials, construction methods or graphic
illustrations.
The specification will also set out what needs to be achieved
including policies, procedures or guidelines to be followed,
performance standards and the outcomes expected. The specification
will be included in the tender documents and will form part of the
formal contract between the Council and the successful
tenderer.
Pricing Schedule
This gives a list of the goods, works or services which are
required for the contract and allows suppliers to submit their
prices against the specification.
Quality requirements/method statement questions
In this section potential applicants will be expected to respond
to questions about how they intend to provide the goods, works or
service including supporting evidence demonstrating relevant
experience. Potential applicants’ submissions will then be used to
evaluate the quality of their bid.
Interviews/presentations
At any time during the tender process (e.g. short-listing,
tender evaluation), potential applicants may be invited to give a
presentation or attend an interview as part of their
submission.
Tender evaluation
The tender evaluation and contract award process will be
specified. A panel of officers will evaluate tender responses
against a pre determined list of factors and make an assessment of
both the quality and cost of the tendered response. The balance
between quality and price will depend on the particular service
area or product tendered for. Examples of award criteria include:
product quality and range, customer service standards, supplier
capacity to deliver the requirements, whole life cost of the
product, etc. Contracts will usually be awarded on the basis of
value for money (often referred to as Most Economically
Advantageous Tender or ‘MEAT’). This means that contracts will be
awarded to companies best able to meet the Council’s contract
specification.
Tenderers will be informed in writing of the outcome of their
submission. Unsuccessful tenderers are welcome to request feedback
about their bid and within the bounds of commercial confidentiality
the Responsible Officer will inform them of which areas of their
tender were strongest and where there is room for improvement and
development.
Tender return envelope/label
This will state the time and date by which tenders must be
received.
Tenders must be returned to the correct address by the closing
date and time specified. Late tenders are not considered under any
circumstances. In order to ensure a fair process all tenders are
opened at the same time and are evaluated by a panel of Council
officers.
Increasingly electronic processes will
be used to replace this paper based system of
tendering.
Contract Monitoring
Communication between the Council and
the supplier will usually be channelled through the Responsible
Officer. Dependent upon the requirements of the Council and the
nature of the goods or services supplied this may take the form of
regular review meetings and or written or e-mail contact.
All companies undertaking contracts let by Bath & North East
Somerset Council are monitored to ensure continued compliance with
the specifications, terms and conditions of the contract. The
Council’s drive to promote continuous improvement will often result
in a positive developing relationship with suppliers.
Under the terms of the contract explanations will be sought from
contractors or suppliers failing to meet the agreed levels of
performance and continuing poor performance will ultimately lead to
early termination of the contract.
For Further Information
Thank you for taking the time to browse
through this booklet. We hope that it has supplied the required
information. It is our aim to encourage suppliers to register their
interest in supplying Bath & North East Somerset Council.
If potential suppliers would like to submit some information
regarding the goods or services they would like to provide the
Council, please contact
us, so we can provide you with the relevant form. This
information will be held at a central point and will be available
to Council officers seeking advice on potential procurement.
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