Establishment of a test system

The provisions concerning audit systems can be found in Article 48 of the Act on Public Procurement in the Field of Sectors, and in the Articles 20 and 40 of the Ordinance on Public Procurement in the Field of Sectors.
Contracting entities in the field of sectors may establish and operate a system of verification of the suitability of undertakings when awarding contracts. Contracting entities that establish or operate a verification system shall ensure that companies can undergo verification at any time. The companies that meet the suitability criteria set by the contracting authority shall be included in a list.

On the Simap Homepage, you can register to subsequently create your own notices online.

If the invitation to tender is made by publishing the existence of a qualification system, the offerors shall be selected in a restricted procedure or the participants in a negotiated procedure from among the candidates who have qualified under such a system.

The system, which may include various stages, shall be operated on the basis of objective rules and criteria established by the contracting authority. If these rules and criteria include technical specifications, Art. 30 of the Law on Public Procurement in the Field of Sectors shall apply. They shall be updated as necessary.

The rules and criteria for the audit shall be made available to interested entities upon request. The revision of these rules and criteria shall be communicated to interested entities. If, in the opinion of a contracting entity, the examination system of certain other contracting entities or bodies meets its requirements, the contracting entity shall notify interested companies of the names of such third party contracting entities or bodies.

If these rules and criteria contain requirements for the economic, financial, professional or technical capacity of the companies, the candidate or offeror  may rely on the capacity of subcontractors, regardless of the legal relationship he has with them. He must prove that he has these resources at his disposal throughout the validity of the qualification system, in particular by an undertaking from these companies that they will provide the applicant or tenderer with the necessary resources. Under the same conditions, working communities may rely on the capacities of the members of the communities or of other companies.

Commissioning authorities shall inform applicants of the decision they have made on the qualification of applicants within a period of six months. If the decision on qualification cannot be made within four months of receipt of the application for examination, the contracting authority shall notify the applicant of the reasons for a longer processing time no later than two months after receipt of the application and indicate when a decision will be made on the acceptance or rejection of its application.

In their decision on qualification and in revising the examination criteria and rules, contracting authorities may not

• impose administrative, technical, or financial obligations on certain entities that they would not have imposed on others, and
• require examinations and evidence that duplicate objective evidence already available.
  Negative decisions on qualifications shall be communicated to applicants within 15 days of the decision, stating the reasons. These reasons must relate to the mentioned review criteria.

Successful firms will be placed on a list, which may be broken down by the type of contract for which each supplier, contractor, or service provider is qualified.
Contracting authorities may deprive a company of its qualification only for reasons based on the mentioned criteria. The intended withdrawal shall be notified in writing to the company concerned at least 15 days prior to the date foreseen for the withdrawal of the qualification, stating the reasons.