What is the OJEU?

According to EU legislation, all contracts from the public sector which are valued above a certain threshold must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU, formerly the OJEC).

The legislation covers organisations and projects which receive public money. Local authorities, NHS trusts, Central Government Departments, Port Authorities are all covered by the legislation and must advertise in OJEU if their contract is covered. Some privately funded / managed contracts will also be covered - if a project is in receipt of more than 50% public funds, it would also be covered by the EU legislation (e.g. the Lowry Centre in Manchester and the Millennium Dome).

The term 'Journal' is misleading, as production of the hard copy version ceased in 1997. It can now be accessed on CD ROM or via intermediaries such as Tenders Direct.

Around 2500 new notices are advertised every week - invitations to tender, pre information notices, qualification systems and contract award notices from over 80 countries world - wide. Around 10% of these are from the UK and Ireland.

What Criteria are used to Evaluate Tenders?

Information used to appraise suppliers includes:

• Financial (accounts, prices, etc.)
• Quality systems (ISO 9000 etc)
• Environmental policy (becoming a major pre-requisite for many authorities)
• References
• Site visits may sometimes be used, though they are rare due to high costs and the time involved

Making Contact

Many local authorities use approved supplier lists for their smaller contracts and requests for quotes. Suppliers have to qualify to be on these lists. Being on a list does not guarantee you will be awarded a contract, but this will put you in a better position than someone not on the list - the buyer already knows you.

Many local authorities have Centralised Purchasing Units. While the unit may not be responsible for all contracts, they will be able to put you in touch with the right person in the organisation for you to talk to.

What process is followed?

Where possible, at the start of each financial year, an authority issues a PIN notice (pre information or periodic indicative notice) to indicate which contracts they plan to tender for in the next year.

As contracts are due, individual invitations to tender are advertised in OJEU.

Following the award of a contract, an award notice is placed in OJEU stating the details of the successful bidder(s).

Thresholds

The requirement to publish a notice is governed by the Public Procurement Thresholds and an Authority must publish a notice if their total annual expenditure for goods and services of a similar type exceed these thresholds.

What Procedures are followed?

The authority can elect, subject to the regulations, to follow one of three procedures when issuing a notice. These procedures are:

• Open - Any company may submit a tender in response to the notice.
• Restricted - Each company must prove suitability to the contracting authority before being invited to submit a tender
• Negotiated - The authority negotiates the terms of the contract with one or several companies. This procedure can only be used in certain circumstances.

Deadlines

The timescale from publishing a notice to deadline for tenders can be relatively short - for an open procedure, the authority must allow at least 52 days between sending the contract to OJEU and deadline for tenders. However it can take up to 12 days before the notice appears in OJEU, leaving the supplier only 40 days to respond. Restricted and negotiated procedures have shorter deadlines, which can be reduced further if the contract is urgent.