PUBLIC SECTOR TENDERS The EU Public Procurement Directives require all public sector bodies to provide details of tenders and contract opportunities to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). All UK companies have an equal opportunity to tender when responding to an OJEU invitations to tender. National Govt bodies and institutions, Local Councils, Olympics, Utility Companies, NHS, Educational Bodies (schools, colleges, universities), Housing Associations, Museums & Art Galleries, Public Transport, Financial Institutions, Police, MOD, Prison Service, Fire Brigades etc are all required under EU legislation to advertise new business opportunities on OJEU.
OJEU Notice Types
Prior Information/Periodic Indicative Notice:
A PIN is an advance warning of a contract to be awarded at some time in the future; PIN stands for Prior Information Notice (Public Sector) or Periodic Indicative (Utilities) notice. The issuance of a PIN does not guarantee that a contract will be placed.
Contract Notice Opportunities:
These are formal calls for competition and are classified by Procedure type (see below for further explanation).
Award Notice:
This is published by the purchasing authority after the award of a contract. It provides the date the contract was awarded, the name of the successful supplier(s) and the value of the contract (unless omitted for reasons of confidentiality).
OJEU Procedure Types
Open procedure: A procedure where suppliers can apply without prior selection. The EU Directives lay down the type of criteria which can be used to eliminate unqualified or unsuitable suppliers.
Restricted procedure: A procedure where suppliers are selected by an open first-round invitation. All prospective suppliers can apply to be included in the restricted list for the contract. Those suppliers who then meet the required criteria will then be invited to tender.
Negotiated procedure: A procedure where only chosen suppliers are invited to negotiate contracts. May be used in limited circumstances - e.g. extreme urgency, failure of open/restricted procedures to yield valid tenders, repetition of similar work.
Accelerated restricted or negotiated procedure: A procedure where the length of time of the procurement response process may be shortened to accommodate unforeseen circumstances and/or emergency situations.
Information about contract opportunities at the UEA, within the OJEU criteria, will be posted here.
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