Para 3.5.13 — WORKS_MANUAL

3.5.14 Award of works in stalled contracts: It is noted that in cases, where a contractor abandons or stops the work mid-way, either due to insolvency or a dispute or other reason, engagement of the new contractor takes considerable time and in the meanwhile public money is locked up in assets which cannot be utilized, apart from inconvenience and loss of amenities to the general public due to such half completed works.

Notwithstanding anything in the GFR or the Manual, procuring entities should devise methods (including limited/ single tenders) to deal with part completed contracts, wherever the work is abandoned by the contractor mid-way. However, for issuance of limited/single tenders in such cases, at least 20% of work should have been billed by the contractor who has abandoned the work. Procurement approval of such limited/single tender should be at the next higher level, or such level as may be prescribed.

3.5.15 Back to Back Tie Up by PSUs: Construction PSUs while awarding the work will take following points into consideration:

a) PSUs (when bag the contract from the client Department) as a contractor, has to execute the work by functioning like a contractor instead of sub-letting the 100% work on back to back basis.

3.5.13 Award of Work through Quotations i) Use of quotations up to Rs Five lakh in each instance shall be adopted for procurement of readily available goods that are not specially produced to the particular specifications and for which there is an established market. ii) Procurement entity shall not divide its procurement into separate contracts to bring the amount less than the amount set forth for such purpose. iii) Procurement entity shall request quotations from as many contractors as practicable but positively from at least three contractors. Each contractor from whom a quotation is requested, shall be informed whether any elements and other than the charges for the goods themselves, such as, transportation and insurance charges, duties and taxes are to be included in the price. iv) Each contractor or contractor is permitted to give only one price quotation and is not permitted to change its quotation. v) Award of work through quotations shall be resorted only in emergent cases and suitable reasons shall be recorded.

b) Open tenders to be invited for selection of sub-contractors/pre-tender associate

(s) as far as possible. c) In case, it is not possible to invite open tenders, selection should be carried out by inviting limited tenders from the panel approved in the following manner. Panel of contractors are to be prepared for different categories monetary limits, regions, in a transparent manner clearly publishing the eligibility criteria etc. The above panel is to be updated every year.

d) Tenders to be opened confidentially by a high level committee to maintain the secrecy of rates, if required. Tender opening register should be maintained in this regard duly signed by the officers opening the tender and kept confidentially. This should be available for perusal when required by audit/ vigilance.

e) The terms and conditions of the contract of the client especially those pertaining to subletting of works should be strictly adhered to by the PSUs.

f) Adequate staff to be deployed by the PSUs to ensure quality in construction etc. g) The record of enlistment/updation of contractor and tender opening register shall be produced to the CTEO as well as audit officials when demanded for scrutiny.

4.1.2 In case of a limited tender, instead of a full set of SBD, only a machine numbered simplified tender form is used as the tender document, after filling up the name of the bidder and details of requirements. It has the “terms and conditions of tender” printed on the obverse side. In any case, all enlisted bidders, who normally are invited to quote in such limited tenders, have already acknowledged acceptance of “general conditions of contract” as part of the enlistment application, which are applicable to such procurements, in additions to “terms and conditions of tender” on the obverse of tender form. If necessary, specifications and drawings or any other document may be enclosed with the limited tender form.

4.1.3 While SBDs would be complete in itself and may be slightly different for various categories of procurements, these must necessarily address the following essential aspects:

Chapter 4: Preparing Bid Documents, Publication, Receipt and Opening of Bids 4.1 Bid Documents 4.1.1 The text of the bid document should be self-contained and comprehensive without any ambiguity. All essential information, which a bidder needs for sending responsive bid, should be clearly spelt out in the bidding document in simple language. This will also enable the prospective bidders to formulate and send their competitive bids with confidence. A carefully prepared tender document avoids delays and complaints. Hence, it is worth spending time and effort on this even in cases of urgency.

i) Description of the subject matter of procurement, its specifications including the nature, quantity, time and location where the construction is to be effective, any incidental services to be performed.; ii) Limitation or preference for participation by bidders in terms of the government policies in accordance with Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India), Order 2017 dated 28.05.2018 issued by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion etc.); iii) The criteria for eligibility and qualification to be met by the bidder (the eligibility criteria should take care of the contractor’s eligibility to receive such a government contract). The qualification criteria should take care of the contractor’s past performance, experience, technical competence, financial strength to handle the contract successfully, compliance with environmental protection regulations/ Environment Management System and so on; iv) Requirements as to documentary evidence, which must be submitted by contractors or contractors to demonstrate their qualifications. v) The procedure for preparation and submission of tenders by the bidders including date, time and place for obtaining, submitting and opening of the bids; vi) Suitable provisions for enabling a bidder to seek clarification/ question the bidding conditions, bidding process and/ or rejection of its bid. Names and contact details of IEM in case of Integrity Pact; vii) Criteria for determining the responsiveness of bids, criteria as well as factors to be taken into account for evaluating the bids on a common platform and the criteria for awarding the contract to the responsive, most advantageous (lowest/ highest as the case may be) bidder should be clearly indicated in the bidding documents; viii)Suitable provision for settlement of disputes, if any, emanating from the resultant contract, should be kept in the bidding document; and ix) Essential terms of the procurement contract including a suitable clause mentioning that the resultant contract will be interpreted under Indian laws. x) The names, designations and addresses of one or more officers or employees of the procuring entity who are authorized to communicate directly with and to receive communications directly from contractors or contractors in connection with the procurement proceedings. xi) Any formalities that will be required once a tender has been accepted for procurement contract to enter into force.

xii) Tender Documents a. The tender document is the fundamental document in the public procurement process as after award of the contract it becomes part of the contract agreement. All necessary provisions governing the contract should be clearly provided in the tender document. Examples are technical specifications, drawings, commercial terms and conditions including payment terms, obligations of the procuring entity and the contractor timeframe/milestones for execution of the project, tax implications, compliance framework for statutory and other norms, reporting on progress/ quality of the work, dispute resolution. Provisions/ clauses in the tender document should be clear to avoid differences in interpretation and possible time overrun, cost overrun and quality compromises. Comprehensive survey & solid investigation report, area grading & mapping of underground facilities, where project is to be executed, may be made available and made part of tender document. Model Tender Documents issued by the DoE may be used, with due customisation. b. In tenders containing General Conditions of Contract (GCC), additional/ special conditions to be incorporated in the tender document, shall be need based and specific. The GCCs should not be altered and changes, if any, in conditions of contract should only be made through the Special Conditions of Contract. c. Identification of milestones may be done in an optimal and sequential manner and the same may be stipulated in the tender document along with enabling provisions. d. Payment terms prescribed in the tender document should be such that the payment made to contractors at every stage is commensurate to quantum of work done, subject to any requirements for initial mobilisation. e. Procuring entities may issue instructions regarding appropriate delegation of authority for approval of deviations, variations and changes in the scope of the contract. f. Provision of price variation, wherever considered appropriate, as well as methodology for calculation of the same shall be clearly stipulated in the tender document.

4.2 Preparation of Bid Documents by Procuring Entity 4.2.1 The bid documents must be based on relevant Standard Bidding Documents for the Type of Contract (Lump Sum, Item Rate Etc); Estimated Value range, Bidding System (Single Envelope/ Two Envelope/ PQB) etc. SBD for e-procurement would be slightly different from the traditional SBD. To ensure uniformity, the standard provisions in most sections of the SBD are to be used unaltered. Any modification to suit a unique requirement of the specific procurement in these documents is to be done through variable sections such as Appendix to Instructions to Bidders or Special Conditions of Contract (these variable sections may have different nomenclatures in some organisations). Normally, if the organisation does not have its own SBD, it may follow those of other Public Works Organisation like CPWD. Before floating the tender the Bid Document should be got approved by the competent authority. The contents of Bid Documents would therefore vary, but will generally comprise the following (some of these sections may be named or organised differently in some organisations):

g. Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) may be incorporated in the tender document/ contract. Schedule of visit by various levels of officials should also form part of the QAP. h. Technical and Financial eligibility Criteria for the bidders are important in the public procurement process. They shall be clear and fair, having regard to the specific circumstances of the procurement. Appropriate parameters should be prescribed in the eligibility criteria for bidders, to enable selection of the right type of bidders in public interest, balancing considerations of quality, time and cost. i. Open online tendering should be the default method to ensure efficiency of procurement. Public authorities should also keep the experience criteria broad based so that bidders with experience in similar nature of works in various sectors can participate. j. Pre-bid conference may be conducted for large value tenders by Procuring Entities. The Place and time of pre-bid conferences should be mentioned in the tender document and/ or publicized through the website of the procuring entity and/ or through newspaper publication. )

4.2.3 Bid Validity A bid shall remain valid for the period mentioned in the ITB/ AITB [normally 90 (ninety) days for OTE and 120 (one hundred and twenty) days for GTE]. In exceptional circumstances, the consent of the bidder may be requested in writing for an extension to the period of bid validity. Such requests should preferably be made much before the expiry of the bid validity. The bid security provided shall also be suitably extended. A bidder accepting the request and granting extension shall not be permitted to modify his bid.

i) Notice Inviting Tenders (NIT) ii) Section I Instructions to Bidders (ITB) and Appendix to ITB (AITB) iii) Section II General Conditions of Contract (GCC) iv) Section III Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) i) Section IV Technical Specifications i) Section V Forms of Bid ii) Section VI Bill of Quantities iii) Section VII Standard Formats: Bid Security, Performance Security, Advance Payment Security, Form of Agreement iv) Section VIII Schedules for Supplementary Information v) Section IX Sample Forms for updating qualification information, and so on i) Section X Drawings i) Section XI Documents to be furnished by the bidder 4.2.2 Special Conditions of Contract (SCC): Any additions, deletions, or variations to the GCC felt necessary for a particular project shall be done by an appropriate entry in the SCC. Conditions of a special nature and project-specific conditions shall be rationally incorporated. Special conditions shall be approved by the authority competent to accept the tender. While drafting SCC, the circumstances warranting them shall be duly considered, including but not limited to the following:

a) Where the wording in GCC specifically requires that further information is to be included in SCC and the conditions would not be complete without that information; b) Where the wording in GCC indicates that supplementary information may be included in SCC, but the conditions would still be complete without that information; c) Where the type, circumstances or locality of the works requires additional clauses or sub-clauses; and d) Where the laws of the country, or exceptional circumstances, necessitate alterations in GCC. Such alterations are affected by stating in SCC that a particular clause, or part of a clause in GCC, is deleted and giving the substitute clause or part, as applicable.

Reasons for seeking extension of bid validity should be recorded by the procuring officers at the time of taking such decisions itself.