T ECHNICAL E VALUATION

14.3.1 Preliminary Examination of Bids

The purpose of preliminary examination is to identify and reject bids that are incomplete, invalid or substantially non-responsive to the bidding documents and are therefore not to be considered further. To pass preliminary examination, bids must:

o be correctly submitted and completed in all general respects;

o be properly signed;

o meet the eligibility requirements specified in the bidding document;

o be accompanied by the required bid security; and

o be substantially responsive to the bidding documents.

If a bid contains major deviations from, or reservations to, the terms, conditions and specifications in the bidding documents, it is not substantially responsive. The bidder is not permitted to correct or withdraw any material deviations or reservations once the bids have been opened.

Action:

Examine the content of each bid to ensure that all required commercial and

technical data is submitted in the format and detail required by the bidding documents. This will include:

o All specified documentation such as valid trading licence, tax

certificate, annual accounts, evidence of previous experience, powers of attorney, manufacturer’s authorisations, or joint venture agreements;

o Physical and chemical characteristics of goods offered and conformity

of samples with the specification (where appropriate);

o Use the checklist table in Forms SPF 4 or SPF 5 to ensure that all criteria specified in the bidding documents are met.

o the completeness of the Bid Form and response to the specifications;

o offering all of the required items, unless the bidding documents

specifically allow partial bids permitting bidders to quote for only some items, lots, or for only partial quantities of a particular item;

o all erasures, interlineations, additions or other changes made have been

initialled by the bidder before bid submission;

o no missing pages in the original copy of the bid or contradictions in model numbers or other designations of critical items.

Confirm the eligibility of the bidder to bid and the eligibility of the goods,

works and/or services offered, based on the requirements specified in the bidding documents. This will require that:

o the bidder and all partners to a joint venture are nationals or juridical entities from an eligible source country;

o all goods and services originate from eligible source countries. For plant and equipment, this test is normally applied only to the finished product offered in the bid, and to its major and clearly identifiable components;

o the bidder is not disqualified due to conflict of interest through

affiliation with a firm that has provided related consulting services on the project by which the procurement is financed.

Confirm the presence and acceptability of the bid security (where required

by the bidding documents). If a bid security was requested but not submitted, the bid will be rejected. Determine the compliance of the bid security as follows:

o The security must conform to the requirements of the bidding

documents, and accompany the bid;

o If the security is in the form of a bank guarantee, it should follow the

wording of the bid security form provided in the bidding document;

o The security for a bid submitted by a joint venture should be in the name of all of the partners of the joint venture;

o Submission of a copy bid security is not acceptable unless expressly permitted in advance;

o Securities for an amount smaller, or for a period shorter, than that specified in the bidding documents are not acceptable.

Check if the bidder has placed any unacceptable reservations on delivery,

performance or the conditions of contract.

Check for major deviations to the commercial requirements. Major

deviations are those that, if accepted, would not fulfil the purposes for which the bid is requested, or would prevent a fair comparison with bids

that are fully compliant with the bidding documents. Examples of major deviations include:

o refusal to bear important responsibilities and liabilities specified in the

bidding documents, such as performance guarantees and insurance coverage;

o disagreement with critical provisions such as the applicable law, taxes

and duties, and dispute resolution procedures; and

o any other conditions that are specified in the bidding document which

may require rejection of the bid.

Note: Bids that offer deviations may be considered as substantially responsive if the deviations can be assigned a monetary value to be added as a penalty for comparison of bids, and if such deviations would be acceptable in the eventual contract.

Recommend rejection of any bid which is not responsive to the bidding

document. Minor deviations should be mentioned in the Evaluation Report but may usually be considered as immaterial. If the Evaluation Committee considers that more serious reservations in a bid could be removed by subsequent negotiation with the bidder, this shall be fully explained in the evaluation report.

14.3.2 Technical Evaluation:

Only bids that have passed the preliminary examination and are considered to be substantially responsive to the bidding documents will be considered for further evaluation.

Action:

Check for compliance with the technical specifications. Unacceptable

deviations are those that, if accepted, would not fulfil the purposes for which the bid is requested, or would prevent a fair comparison with bids that are fully compliant with the specifications. Examples may include:

o failure to respond to the specifications by offering a different design or

product that is inferior in performance or in other requirements;

o submission of samples which do not correspond to the specifications;

o phasing of contract start-up, delivery, installation or construction does

not conform to the required critical dates or progress markers;

o sub-contracting in a substantially different amount or manner than that

specified.

Record the results of any inspection of samples.

For least-cost selection procurements only: complete Table 2 of Form

SPF 4 to confirm compliance, or to record reasons for non-compliance, with the specifications. All bids passing the technical evaluation will

For merit point procurements: If a merit point system is specified in the

bidding documents, evaluation and scoring of each bid for the technical criteria stated in the bidding documents is undertaken:

o Each member of the Evaluation Committee will award technical point

scores individually to each bid using Table 2B of Form SPF 5.

o The scores given by each member for each bid will be discussed and consolidated into a summary on Table 2A of Form SPF 5.

o Table 2A will be used to determine the averaged technical score totals

for each bidder and to indicate which bidders have passed the minimum technical score required.

o Complete the Technical Evaluation Report section of Form SPF 5 and

submit to the Procurement Committee for approval.

Recommend rejection of any bid which is not technically responsive to the

bidding document, where the sample provided does not conform to the required specifications, or where the required technical score is not reached under a merit point system.