Any candidate or bidder who feels aggrieved in the public contract award procedure may file a petition, depending on the stage of the procedure, with the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner, or with the Petitions Review Committee.
For any petition to be admissible, it must specify a fact or a breach of the Public Contracts Code and the contract award regulations or the relevant bidding file.
Petitions may be filed:
– During the prequalification phase;
– Between the publication of the tender notice and the opening of bids;
– At the bid opening phase;
– At the end of the technical bid evaluation phase where bid opening comprises two phases;
– Between the publication of results and the notification of the contract.
During the prequalification phase, the petition may bear on requests for review of bidding conditions and prequalification or for review of the decisions or deeds of the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner during the prequalification procedure.
Candidates shall have five (5) working days prior to the date of submission of applications and five (5) working days after the publication of prequalification results to file their petitions with the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner, with copy to the Authority in charge of public contracts and the public contracts regulatory body.
Between the publication of the tender notice and the opening of bids:
(a) The petition should be sent to the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner, with copy to the Authority in charge of public contracts and the public contracts regulatory body;
(b) It should reach the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner no later than 14 (fourteen) working days before the bid opening date;
(c) The Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner shall have 5 (five) working days to respond. A copy of the response shall be forwarded to the Authority in charge of public contracts and the public contracts regulatory body;
(d) In case of disagreement between the petitioner and the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner, the petitioner shall refer the petition to the Petitions Review Committee.
(e) The petition shall not be suspensive.
At this stage, the petition may bear on:
(a) Compliance of bidding documents with regulations;
(b) The technical specifications adopted;
(c) Evaluation criteria;
(d) Conditions for publishing notices;
(e) Rules on the participation of candidates and the required capacity and guarantees;
(f) The contract award method and selection procedure adopted.
During the opening of bids, the petition shall relate only to the implementation of this stage, especially compliance with procedures and the regularity of the verified documents.
The petition shall be sent to the Petitions Review Committee with copy to the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner, the chairperson of the relevant tender’s board, the public contracts regulatory body and the Authority in charge of public contracts.
It shall be filed within three (3) working days prior to the tender opening date.
The petition shall not be suspensive.
At the end of the technical bid evaluation phase, where bid opening comprises two (2) stages, the Project Owner shall be required to inform bidders of the technical bid evaluation results prior to the opening of the financial bids.
At the end of technical bid evaluation, unsuccessful bidders may file a petition with the Petitions Review Committee with copy to the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner, the chairperson of the relevant tender’s board, and the Authority in charge of public contracts.
The petition shall be filed within 3 (three) working days after the financial bid opening session.
Between the publication of results and the notification of contract award, petitions may bear only on the award.
The petition shall be sent to the Petitions Review Committee with copy to the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner, the chairperson of the relevant tenders board, the public contracts regulatory body and the Authority in charge of public contracts.
It shall be filed within 5 (five) working days after the publication of results.
The petition may lead to the suspension of the procedure, subject to the opinion of the public contracts regulatory body.
The Authority in charge of public contracts shall lift suspension of the procedure after reviewing the findings of the Petitions Review Committee.
Except in the event of petition, contract award shall be notified within 15 (fifteen) calendar days after the publication of results.
For the petitions referred to in Articles 173, 174, 175 and 176 of the code, the Petitions Review Committee shall seek the opinion of the public contracts regulatory body which shall examine the petition and submit its findings to the Petitions Review Committee within 7 (seven) calendar days from the time of referral.
After validating the findings of the public contracts regulatory body, the Petitions Review Committee shall propose appropriate sanctions to the Authority in charge of public contracts.
The decision of the Authority in charge of public contracts shall be binding on both parties.
After the publication of bid evaluation results, each bidder shall be sent an excerpt of the bid evaluation report concerning him upon request addressed to the Project Owner or the Delegated Project Owner.
Under pain of foreclosure, petitions must be filed within the deadlines provided for in Articles 172, 173, 174, 175 and 176 of the code. The review of petitions may lead to the resumption or discon
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