11.1.1 Managing Director / RITES has full powers to accept tenders and is authorised to frame rules relating to the calling for, acceptance of the tenders and the general procedures connected with the contracts. There are, however, certain general principles and guidelines laid down for acceptance of tenders which are required to be observed by subordinate authorities empowered to enter into contract as per Schedule of Powers issued from time to time.
11.1.2 No contract shall be made by a subordinate authority which has not been authorised to do so under Schedule of Powers. The Powers for signing of Contracts by officials of RITES have been given in SOP. The official executing the Agreement on behalf of RITES is designated as the Engineer in charge. 11.1.3 Terms of contract must be precise and definite and there must be no room for
ambiguity or misconstruction therein. In RITES, Standard Contract Forms have been made out to avoid this contingency. The alternative conditions, if any, given in the standard forms which are not applicable to a particular contract should be invariably scored out. In case where Standard Forms of Contracts are not convenient to be used, legal and financial advice should be taken in drafting the contracts before they are finally entered into. The Standard Contract Forms are generally based on CPWD Forms and are to be used in all cases of Works Contracts which are entered into by RITES as Agent for and on behalf of Client or under Power of Attorney executed by the Client in favour of RITES. The only exceptions will be where the Client specifically requests for adoption of any other type of Contract Forms such as those of Indian Railways, World Bank, MES etc. 11.1.4 No relaxation of specifications in a contract, or relaxation of the terms of an
agreement entered into by RITES should be made without proper examination of the financial and legal effects involved in consequence of such relaxation. Due care of the interest of the Client should be taken before agreeing to any relaxation in agreement or contract. Save in exceptional circumstances, no work of any kind should be commenced without prior execution of contract documents. Even in cases where a formal written agreement is not made, no order for supplies etc. should be placed without at least a written agreement as to the price and other terms of agreement.
11.1.5 The terms of the contract once entered into should not be materially varied without the previous consent of the authority competent to accept tender / offer for the contract as so varied in terms of SOP. No such variation involving payment to contractors by way of compensation or otherwise outside the strict terms of the contract or in excess of the contract rates, shall be authorised without the prior approval of the Client as provided for in the Agreement between RITES and the Client. A variation of the terms of contract which has been
approved by the Authority Competent to accept the tender shall be made by writing “executed for and on behalf of RITES” by an Officer who is authorised to execute the original contract under SOP.
11.1.6 No contract involving an uncertain or indefinite liability or any condition of an unusual character should be entered into without the previous consent of the Managing Director / RITES.
11.2 POWER TO SIGN AGREEMENTS
11.2.1 Competent Authority of RITES (with powers delegated under SOP) shall sign agreements for execution of works “for and on behalf of RITES” after the acceptance of tenders by the Competent Authority under SOP.
11.2.2 There should be no delay in executing the agreement as soon as tenders have been accepted. The Authority executing the Agreement should see that conditions not existing in the approved tenders are not in any case, allowed to be embodied in the agreements. A record of the agreements drawn up should be kept in the Office of SBU.
11.3 RECORDING OF DATE OF ACCEPTANCE OF TENDER IN THE AGREEMENT 11.3.1 The date of acceptance of tender as shown in the Letter of Acceptance of tender and award of work issued to the Contractor, which forms part of the Agreement, should be clearly mentioned in the formal Agreement since Letter of Acceptance binds the parties to the Contract even before execution of the Agreement.
11.3.2 Before signing any Agreement, it must be ensured that no conditions are inserted which were inadvertently omitted in the tender papers. Similarly, no errors, which might have inadvertently crept in NIT, should be corrected. In such cases reference should be made to the Contractor in writing and his acceptance taken in writing. These letters can be included in LOA by suitable reference to them. 11.4 SUPPLY OF COPIES OF CONTRACTS TO CONTRACTORS
Two sets of contract documents should be prepared and signed by both the parties on each page. One of the sets should be stamped ”Original” and the other “Duplicate”. The duplicate copy should be supplied to the contractor free of cost. For any additional copies required by the contractor the following prices shall be charged for each copy:-
i) Works costing upto Rs. One Lakh Rs. 500/- ii) Works costing between Rs.One lakh and Rs.1000/-
Rs. Fifty Lakhs
iii) Works costing more than Rs. Fifty Lakhs and Rs.2000/- upto Rs.Two Crores
iv) Works costing above Rs. Two Crores Rs.5000/- The additional copies should be certified as True Copy.
11.5 CERTIFICATION AND CUSTODY OF AGREEMENTS
11.5.1 The agreements should be properly checked and compared in the office of the Engineer in Charge or in the Office of SBU concerned, with the Tender Document as approved by the Competent Authority. The Accounts Section will be held responsible for any mistake which is found subsequently after the agreement has been formally signed by the Engineer in Charge. Also, the Engineer-in-charge should ensure that before copies of the accepted agreements are forwarded to the authorities concerned, they are complete in all respects. 11.5.2 The original contract documents should be kept in the personal custody of the
Engineer in Charge or the SBU Head till disposal as provided for in Section 27. 11.5.3 No payment for the work done should be made to the Contractor till the Contract
Agreement has been signed by the Contractor and the Performance Guarantee has been received.
11.6 CONTENTS OF AGREEMENTS
Adequate care should be taken to ensure that the agreement to be entered into between the Contractor and the Engineer in Charge for and on behalf of RITES is complete in all respects. A complete Agreement will include all items indicated in the Form at Annexure 8.3. Special care is required to be taken to see that all corrections, additions, alterations, or slips attached to the agreements are duly signed both by the Contractor and the Engineer in Charge.
11.7 SAFE CUSTODY OF CONTRACT AGREEMENT AND RELATED DOCUMENTS
Originals of all documents forming part of the Contract Agreement and all supporting details / calculations / data should be kept safely in the office of SBU as they may be required to defend RITES interests in case of Arbitration / Court case in future. The norms for disposal of old records have been given in Annexure 19.5. If there is any Arbitration or Court Case, the records will have to be maintained for a period longer than that stipulated in Annexure 19.5, as indicated in Note 1 of that Annexure.
SECTION 12
GENERAL GUIDANCE FOR OPERATION OF