Topic: PROCUREMENT OF BERYLLIUM TILES FOR THE ITERBLANKET FIRST WALL SERIES PRODUCTION
PROCEDURE REFERENCE: F4E-OMF-961
Questions:
Section 6.1
Would like clarification on what are the reasons for rejection of a conflicting interest which may negatively affect the performance of the contract. (Ex. does this mean the company engaged in other large projects?)
Section 9
Will a company still have the ability to negotiate terms if approved from move from Step 1 within the selection criteria? The first bullet states that the economic operator accepts all requirements as stipulated in the procurement document so would like to ensure clear understanding.
Section 9.1
What is the explicit validity period ?
Section 10.3
Would Fusion for Energy consider entering into an NDA?
Involvement in other large projects does not constitute a conflict of interest per-se. Conflict of interest in this sense is simply any situation which could objectively hinder the ability of a company to either participate fairly in the tender or implement the contract properly. A classic example would be where a company had been closely involved in the preparation of the tender documents such that they had an unfair advantage during tendering which would negatively impact the fairness of the competition. Similarly, a situation where the output of a contract required independent validation or verification prior to acceptance would imply that a company could not be both the supplier of the output and the entity performing the verification.
Yes, step 2 is the part of the procedure where discussion and negotiation will take place. Examples of requirements in the procurement documents that are being accepted by the economic operator when they submit for the first step are: accepting to submit documentation in English, accepting that F4E has the right to cancel the procedure without any compensation being due, accepting the minimum validity of their submission. The draft model contract has been published as part of the procurement documents but the submission for the first step does not imply acceptance of all requirements in that draft since it will be subject to negotiation and discussion in step 2. At the end of step 2 (after discussion and negotiation), F4E will issue the “final contract” and at that point, when a tenderer submits their final tender, they will be required to accept the requirements contained in the final model contract, without qualification.
For the submission of the request to participate, the validity period does not need to be mentioned since no real commitment is being made (e.g. prices ,etc). At the end of step 2, when a tenderer will submit their final tender, they will be required to confirm in the cover letter attached to the final submission that their final tender will remain valid for a determined period of time (usually 6 months). This validity period is set in order to get a valid commitment of the tenderers on their submission until such time as the contract is awarded.
Fusion for Energy does not have the ability to enter into an NDA at this point of the procedure however we are bound by our own rules to maintain the strictest confidentiality of information received during the tender procedure. This is stated in section 10.3 of the specifications. The information submitted will only be made available to the members of the evaluation committee who are nominated by F4E’s Authorising Officer and each members signs a specific declaration of confidentiality and non-disclosure prior to receiving any information.
Normal