Aarhus Universitet Procurement Office Fuglesangs Allé 26 8210 Aarhus V
INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDERERS December 2016
Open procedure
for
Purchase of small basic apparatus and accessories, including software, and service agreements for
research and educational purposes.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4
2. Contracting Authority .......................................................................................................... 4
3. Framework Agreements ........................................................................................................ 5
3.1. Background for the tender .................................................................................................... 5
3.2. Division of the Framework Agreements and the tender procedure ............................................. 5
4. Subsequent purchases under the Framework Agreements ......................................................... 6
4.1. Direct purchases .................................................................................................................. 6
4.2. Mini-tender procedures ........................................................................................................ 7
4.3. Purchase of service agreements and spare parts ....................................................................... 8
5. General requirements as to form and procedure ...................................................................... 9
5.1. Tenderer's contact person ..................................................................................................... 9
5.2. Deadline for submission ....................................................................................................... 9
5.3. Address for submission ........................................................................................................ 9
5.4. Submission of tenders .......................................................................................................... 9
5.5. Language .......................................................................................................................... 10
5.6. Fees ................................................................................................................................. 10
5.7. Ownership of tenders received ............................................................................................ 10
5.8. Validity period ................................................................................................................... 10
6. ESPD (European Standard Procurement Document) ............................................................. 10
7 Specifications for the layout of the tender ............................................................................. 13
7.13 Appendix 1 – Bid Schedule ................................................................................................. 13
7.14 Appendix 2 – Categories / lots ............................................................................................ 14
7.15 Appendix 3 – Price list including discounts ........................................................................... 14
7.16 Template A (Reservations) .................................................................................................. 15
8 Lots ................................................................................................................................. 15
9 Variants ............................................................................................................................ 15
10 Tender verification ............................................................................................................. 15
11 Award criterion ................................................................................................................. 16
11.13 Sub-criteria ....................................................................................................................... 16
11.14 100-point scale .................................................................................................................. 16
11.15 Service concept ................................................................................................................. 17
11.16 Support concept ................................................................................................................ 19
12 No negotiations ................................................................................................................. 20
13 Questions regarding the tender documents ............................................................................ 20
14 Practicalities ...................................................................................................................... 21
15 Timetable for the tender procedure ...................................................................................... 22
16 List of tender documentation .............................................................................................. 23
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Bid Schedule
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Appendix 2: List of the Categories and Lots
Appendix 3: Price list including discounts
Template A: Reservations
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1. Introduction
These instructions to tenderers apply to Aarhus University’s (the “Contracting
Authority”) invitation to tender for Framework Agreements on the supply of small basic
apparatus and instruments in accordance with the Tender Notice sent for publication on
XXXX, 2016 in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The procedure will be affected according to the rules for an open procedure subject to
the provisions of section 56 of the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven)
(Act No. 1564 of 15/12/2015), which means that any interested tenderer may submit a
tender.
The Contracting Authority is responsible for ensuring the tender procedure is in
accordance with the EU’s public procurement rules, including compliance with the basic
principles of transparency and equal treatment during the tender procedure. The
tenderers may therefore expect that the Contracting Authority will reject out of hand any
tender which contain errors or deficiencies. Ensuring a tender is submitted in
accordance with EU public procurement rules is at the risk of the tenderers.
2. Contracting Authority
The Contracting Authority for this tender procedure is Aarhus University, which
comprises all the faculties, departments, researchers and other staff connected to the
University.
All natural and legal persons/entities affiliated with the Contracting Authority may
therefore make purchases under the Framework Agreements.
Delivery must be made to an address specified by the Contracting Authority, which may
be to any of the Contracting Authority's addresses in Denmark.
The Contracting Authority's Procurement Office is responsible for the preparation and
completion of the tender procedure.
All inquiries to the Contracting Authority prior to the submission of the tender must be
forwarded by email to:
Aarhus University
Procurement Office
Trøjborgvej 82-84
8000 Aarhus C
Bygn. 1918
Lokale 334
Attn.: Lasse Krongaard
Email: [email protected]
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All inquiries submitted must be marked "Tender of small apparatus and instruments”.
Further information about the Aarhus University may be obtained at www.au.dk.
3. Framework Agreements
3.1. Background for the tender
The Contracting Authority wants to consolidate all purchases of small basic apparatus
and instruments in a number of Framework Agreements.
The Framework Agreements concluded on the basis of this tender thus lay down the
overall conditions for the specific contracts subsequently entered into on the basis of the
Framework Agreements. Additional conditions may be laid down in connection with
conducting mini-invitations to tender as described below.
The Contracting Authority’s consolidation of these purchases is expected to generate a
volume of approx. DKK 5 million annually. The Contracting Authority is not obligated
to order a given quantity in the agreement period or achieve given revenues. All
information relating to consumption is for guidance only, and is not binding in any way.
The final quantity of purchases depends on a number of factors, including specific
needs, equipment that needs replacing and the allocations granted during the term of the
Framework Agreement.
It is an independent objective for the Contracting Authority to make it possible for the
individual researchers affiliated with the various departments at the Universities to make
quick and low-cost purchases of relevant products under the Framework Agreement.
The companies submitting tenders will be referred to as "tenderer" in these instructions.
3.2. Division of the Framework Agreements and the tender procedure
The Contracting Authority will conclude parallel Framework Agreements with the below
shown number of tenderers in each of the lots:
Lot Number of framework agreement
holders
1) Electrophoresis instruments 5-7
2) Laboratory scales 5-7
3) Small equipment for sample
preparation
5-7
4) Small basic laboratory equipment 5-7
5) Small measurement instruments 5-7
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6) Instruments for heat and cooling
technology
5-7
7) Electrochemical measurements 5-7
8) Basic microscopes for teaching 5-7
9) Cooling and freezing storage solutions 10
10) Pipettes 10
11) Pumps and compressors 5-7
The tenderer may submit tenders for one or more of the above lots.
Reference is made to Appendix 2 for a detailed description and exemplification of the
contents of the individual lots.
4. Subsequent purchases under the Framework Agreements
4.1. Direct purchases
In the term of the Framework Agreement all purchases with a volume of less than the
mini-tender limit per lot, shown below, will be made by direct award to the Framework
Agreement holder who has offered the lowest price of the equipment concerned.
The mini-tender limit for all 11 lots is 25,000 DKK.
For direct awards the award criterion is "lowest price". Lowest price will be identified
taking research into consideration so that the contract is awarded to the tenderer
offering the suitable equipment with the lowest price.
Where the Contracting Authority has a research related objective justification for doing
so the Contracting Authority may choose to require a specific brand (or its equivalent).
Where only one Framework Agreement holder is able to offer that brand the purchase
will be made directly with that Framework Agreement holder regardless of the price.
For example it will be a research related objective justification for choosing a specific
brand if the concerned apparatus or instrument must cooperate with some other
equipment with the same brand or if the research requires a specific brand to conduct an
experiment. The examples are not exhaustive; there may be several other justifications.
The prices are set out in Appendix 3.
If a product that must be purchased by direct award, proves to be more expensive than
the market price for a similar product, the Contracting Authority reserves the right to
obtain 2-3 tenders of the wanted product outside the Framework Agreement, according
to “delydelsesreglen” in § 8 in the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven) (Act
No. 1564 of 15/12/2015). The tenders may be obtained from the Framework
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Agreement holders as well as other suppliers - it is the Contracting Authority's decision
from purchase to purchase.
4.2. Mini-tender procedures
Where the Contracting Authority intends to make a purchase with an estimated value of
more than the above mentioned mini-tender limit of 25,000 DKK, the Contracting
Authority will conduct a mini-tender procedure in accordance with the rules set out in
the Framework Agreement.
In any event, the Contracting Authority will draft technical specifications regarding the
equipment to be purchased and the tenderers are in turn invited to submit a tender prior
to a given deadline. As the equipment to be purchased cannot be specified beforehand
the Contracting Authority has defined the categories set out in Appendix 2. When
conducting the mini-tender the Contracting Authority will use the relevant lot and the
Framework Agreement holders on that lot, and only them, will be invited to submit a
tender.
The purchase is then in turn made on the conditions set out in the Framework
Agreement with the modifications published in the invitation to mini-tender. The
Contracting Authority may alter any clause in the Framework Agreement, provided
however, that the agreement as such is not significantly altered. Furthermore the
Contracting Authority will specify whether or not a service agreement and/or spare
parts are part of the mini-tender.
A mini-tender may be conducted by a single research group, an entire institute or several
institutes jointly.
When conducting mini-tenders the award criterion will be ”the economically most
advantageous tender” based on a best price-quality ratio. The following sub-criteria will
be used when assessing the tenders:
• Quality 30-40 %
• Price 60-70 %
In connection with each mini-tender, the Contracting Authority will determine the
weighting of each sub-criterion. The weighting will always be within the above intervals.
Where the Contracting Authority has a research related objective justification for doing
so the Contracting Authority may choose to require a specific brand (or its equivalent).
Where only one Framework Agreement holder is able to offer that brand the purchase
will be made directly with that Framework Agreement holder. For example it will be a
research related objective justification for choosing a specific brand if the concerned
apparatus or instrument must cooperate with some other equipment with the same
brand or if the research requires a specific brand to conduct an experiment. The
examples are not exhaustive; there may be several other justifications.
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Where two or more Framework Agreement holders are able to offer the brand required
(or its equivalent) the Contracting Authority will conduct a mini-tender procedure
among those Framework Agreement holders. As in such events the quality is not likely
to differ between the relevant products the award will take place based on the lowest
price only. In such events all requirements regarding the quality will be set out as
minimum requirements.
If only one Framework Agreement holder is able to provide a specific brand or product
to be used due to a research related reason, the Contracting Authority will award the
contract pursuant to the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven) (Act No.
1564 of 15/12/2015) exemptions, and the Contracting Authority consequently reserves
the right to negotiate the tender.
In mini-tender procedures the prices offered for the purpose of the award of the
Framework Agreement (ie. during this procedure) will serve as maximum prices with the
effect that the tenderers are not allowed to submit tenders during the mini-tender
procedure with prices that exceed the prices applicable for direct purchases. If the
Supplier nevertheless offers a higher price than the price applicable for direct award, it
will be the price offered for the purpose of the award of the Framework Agreement that
will be applicable.
The entire process will be electronic (by email or through an electronic procurement
platform.). The tenderers must expect that the deadline for submission in connection
with invitations to mini-tender may, according to the circumstances, be short. The
deadline will, however, normally not be shorter than 10 (ten) business days and the
Contracting Authority will only establish short deadlines if the Contracting Authority
believes there is an objective reason for doing so.
After the expiry of the deadline for submission, the Contracting Authority will identify
the best tender and the final order will be placed with that tenderer. All tenderers will be
notified of the outcome of the mini-tender. There is no stand-still period in connection
with mini-tenders.
4.3. Purchase of service agreements and spare parts
If the Contracting Authority does not choose to buy service agreements and/or spare
parts in relation to mini-tenders, but later assess the need for one or both, the
Contracting Authority will obtain two to three offers by the Framework Agreement
holders on a given lot, and the Framework Agreement holder with the lowest offer will
be awarded the order.
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5. General requirements as to form and procedure
5.1. Tenderer's contact person
The tenderer must indicate a contact person in Appendix 1, Section 1. The Contracting
Authority will direct all communication after the tender submission deadline by e-mail to
the person indicated in Appendix 1.
5.2. Deadline for submission
Tenders must be submitted by February 2, 2017 at 14:00.
5.3. Address for submission
The tenders must be delivered to the following address:
Aarhus University
Purchasing Office
Denmark
Attn.: Lasse Krongaard
Email: [email protected]
All tender documentation submitted must be marked "Tender of small basic apparatus
and instruments - to be opened by Lasse Krongaard only".
5.4. Submission of tenders
Tenders must be submitted in electronic form on USB memory stick or via e-mail. The
electronic version must be in MS Office or PDF format.
A tender is considered on time provided that it is submitted prior to the deadline.
Requests for extension of the deadline will not be considered and it is the responsibility
of the tenderer to comply with the deadline. A failure by a third party currier or the like,
even if due to unexpectedly adverse weather or force majeure, will not be taken into
consideration.
The electronic version of the tender must contain a scanned version of Appendix 1
including the tenderer’s signature.
Appendix 3 must be submitted in Excel format (and should not be password protected
or otherwise restricted).
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5.5. Language
The language of the tender must be Danish or English, or a combination of both.
The Framework Agreement will be in English.
Questions prior to the deadline for submission of tenders must be in English.
5.6. Fees
Tenderers will not be entitled to any fees for participation in this tender procedure,
including any fees for the preparation of the tender.
5.7. Ownership of tenders received
All documents submitted will be deemed the property of the Contracting Authority.
5.8. Validity period
Tenders must be binding for 6 (six) months after expiry of the deadline for the
submission of a tender.
If the tenderer is informed that its tender is accepted, the Contracting Authority is
entitled, until expiry of the validity period, to extend the validity period by up to 6 (six)
months upon written notice to the tenderer's contact person.
A tenderer awarded a Framework Agreement is liable for any loss suffered by the
Contracting Authority if the tenderer refuses to sign or make sales under the Framework
Agreement.
If a tenderer is informed that the Contracting Authority intends to award agreements to
other tenderers this shall not be considered a refusal of the tenderer’s tender. Only when
all Framework Agreements are signed by all parties on all lots a non-winning tenderer
will be released from the validity period.
6. ESPD (European Standard Procurement Document)
According to the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven) (Act No. 1564 of
15/12/2015), the Contracting Authority shall require that the tenderers are using the
European Single Procurement Document (hereinafter referred to as ESPD) when
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participating in a public tender procedure. The ESPD shall act as preliminary evidence
for the tenderer meeting the criteria regarding exclusion, eligibility and selection. Only
the tenderer chosen to be awarded the Contract must submit full documentation prior to
the contract award. Costs related to the documentation, must be defrayed by the
tenderer.
5.9. How to fill in the eESPD
The tenderer must download the ESPD file from www.au.dk/udbud by right-clicking on
the mouse and select “save destination as…” and then save the ESPD on the desktop of
the computer.
Since the ESPD is a XML-file it only works with the eESPD and can only be opened via
the following website, by means of the functions in this:
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/espd/filter?lang=en.
If the tenderer tries to open the ESPD by double clicking on the file, it does not work.
Instead a default browser with a html-code opens.
When the ESPD is saved on the desktop the tenderer must follow this link to fill in the
eESPD: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/espd/filter?lang=en. On this
website the tenderer must choose “English” in order to fill in the eESPD in English.
Afterwards the tenderer must choose “I am an economic operator”, and then “Import
ESPD”. Hereinafter the tenderer must upload the ESPD file, which the tenderer has
downloaded from www.au.dk/udbud and saved on the desktop of the computer. Once
this is done, the tenderer will be ready to fill in the sections in the eESPD that the
Contracting Authority has chosen as relevant according to this tender, cf. section 6.2 and
section 7 below.
5.10. Parts of the ESPD
The ESPD is divided into the following Parts:
• Part I: Information concerning the procurement procedure and the contracting
authority.
• Part II: Information concerning the economic operator – Must be fulfilled
• Part III: Exclusion grounds – Must be fulfilled
• Part IV: Selection criteria – Not relevant in this tender, must not be fulfilled
• Part V: Reduction of the number of qualified candidates - Not relevant in this
tender, must not be fulfilled
• Part VI: Concluding statements – Must be fulfilled.
5.11. Grounds for exclusion
5.11.1. Tenderer's affairs
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To ensure that the tenderer will not be excluded from participation, the tenderer must
fill in all required information in the ESPD Part II, III and VI.
In Part II the tenderer must fill in some general information about the economic
operator. The tenderer must answer the questions in the following sections:
• Section A) Information about the economic operator
• Section B) Information about representatives of the economic operator
• Section C) Information about reliance on the capacities of other entities
In Part III the tenderer must fill in the following sections:
• Section a) Grounds relating to criminal convictions.
• Section b) Grounds relating to the payment of taxes or social security contribution.
• Section c) Grounds relating to insolvency, conflict of interest or professional
misconduct.
The tenderer is upon request obligated to provide further documentation that the
aforesaid grounds for exclusion do not exist.
In Part VI the tenderer must only fill in date and place. It is not necessary with a
signature.
A lacking or incorrect ESPD may cause that the tender will be deemed non-conforming
and rejected.
It is of high importance, that the tenderer in case of any question, especially regarding
the fulfilling of the ESPD, will not hesitate to make use of the right for questioning the
material, cf. clause 9.1.
5.11.2. Self-cleaning
Tenderers have the opportunity to prove that they are reliable even if they are covered
by one or more grounds for exclusion cf. ESPD part III. This option is called "self-
cleaning" and applies to both compulsory and optional grounds of exclusion.
If the Contracting Authority has found that a tenderer is subject to an exclusion ground
and the Tenderer has been informed, the Tenderer have the opportunity to "clean"
themselves. The Contracting Authority will establish a deadline for the Tenderer to
submit their proof of reliability. In determining what constitutes a reasonable period all
relevant factors associated with the Tenderers documentation of its reliability will be
taken into account. The Contracting Authority cannot exclude a tenderer until it has
been able to prove its reliability.
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Evidence of reliability can either be evidence demonstrating that the Tenderer is not
covered by the exclusion reason or evidence of measures which the Tenderer has taken
to avoid elimination.
5.11.3. Consortia
If the tenderer is a consortium, all the participating economic operators must provide
separate ESPD forms, cf. ESPD Part II, Section A.
Please note that if it is considered necessary in order to ensure competition or to respect
the principle of equal treatment, the Contracting Authority is entitled to decline a tender
from a consortium, where one or more of the participating companies also participate in
other consortia requesting to participate.
5.11.4. Sub-suppliers
The tenderer may use sub-suppliers without limitations. For that reason the tenderer is
not required to fill in the ESPD Part II, Section D.
5.11.5. Consequence of not providing documentation
Tenders which do not include documentation as set out in clauses 6.3 may be deemed
non-conforming.
7 Specifications for the layout of the tender
The tenderer is obliged to submit a separate tender per lot. Consequently if a tenderer
submits a tender for more than one lot, one e-mail, including all relevant documents,
must be submitted per lot. This applies even in events where the same document is
relevant under more lots.
7.13 Appendix 1 – Bid Schedule
The Bid Schedule is divided into the following sections:
Section 1: Details of the tenderer's name, address and contact person.
Section 2: Information on the lot for which a tender is submitted
Section 3: Service concept
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Section 4: Support concept
7.14 Appendix 2 – Categories / lots
This appendix contains the Contracting Authority’s description of the lots. This
document should not be submitted as part of the tender.
7.15 Appendix 3 – Price list including discounts
In Appendix 3 the tenderer must provide a price list with relevant discount reductions
based on the discounts offered under this tender procedure.
The price list must contain prices on the following items
•
• Apparatus and accessories below the mini-tender limit in each lot
• Apparatus and accessories above the mini-tender limit in each lot
The tenderer must offer its full range of products on a given lot. The tenderer is
not entitled to keep certain products out of the range offered to the Contracting
Authority.
The offered products should be classified into brands.
The tenderer must provide the following information for all products listed in Appendix
3:
• The tenderer’s article number
• Tenderer's product description
• The brand name of the product
• The size of the sales unit of the product
• The generally applicable price for the sales unit including all costs as set out in the
Framework Agreement, but exclusive of VAT
• The discounts offered for the product
• The price including the discount deduction
Each of the above points must be included in seven separate rows in the Appendix.
The discounts offered may differ for each product. The discounts shall apply during the
entire term of the Framework Agreement.
The offered prices must include all costs including costs incidental to shipment, handling
and customs, if any. Prices must be exclusive of VAT.
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The Contracting Authority will before the award conduct a control of the prices to
verify whether there is a general price increase compared to historical purchases of the
same products. If this is the case the Contracting Authority reserves the right to annul
the tender procedure.
7.16 Template A (Reservations)
Any reservations (provisos) to the tender must be specified by filling out Template A.
As the framwork agreements will be awarded based on other criteria than price it will
not be possible for the Contracting Authority to set a price to any reservations. This in
turn means that the Contracting Authority will be obliged to reject all tenders containing
reservations with any economic value even where such reservations would not normally
be considered reservations regarding basic elements of the tender.
In the event that any requirements or contractual terms are unacceptable to a tenderer it
is recommended that a question (or comment) to that end is submtited to the
Contracting Authority. The Contracting Authority will then consider whether to
maintain that requirement or term or to make appropriate changes.
Any tender including reservations regarding the contractual terms will almost certainly
be deemed unacceptable as the contractual terms (ie. the terms set out in the Framework
Agreement) are likely to be considered material parts of the tender or to have an
economic value.
8 Lots
Tenders for one or more lot(s) will be accepted.
9 Variants
Variants are not accepted.
10 Tender verification
Verification of conformity
The Contracting Authority will check that the tender is in conformity with the tender
conditions, i.e. that it complies with the following requirements:
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• That none of the grounds for exclusions exist and that all documentation has been
submitted with the tender.
• That the tender is submitted within the deadline, cf. clause 5.2.
• That the tender is forwarded to the right address, cf. clause 5-3.
• That the tender complies with all requirements as to form and procedure, cf. clause
5.
• That the tender does not contain reservations with an economic value.
• That the bid schedule (Appendix 1) is completed fully and correctly.
11 Award criterion
The tenders will be evaluated separately for each lot.
It is noted that the tenderers are only entitled to deliver products to the Contracting
Authority under the lot(s) where the tenderer has been awarded a Framework
Agreement.
Tenders will be evaluated on the basis of the award criterion "the most economically
advantageous tender", based on a best price-quality ratio.
Tenders received will be evaluated against the sub-criteria set out below. All tenders will
be awarded a number of points according to the degree of fulfilment of each sub-
criterion.
The sub-criteria of the award criterion and the sub-criteria are identical for all lots.
11.13 Sub-criteria
The 5-10 most economically advantageous tenders will be identified on the basis of the
sub-criterias below:
Sub-criteria Weighting
Service concept 60 %
Support concept 40 %
11.14 100-point scale
All tenders will be awarded a number of points for all of the above sub-criteria on a scale
from 0-100, where 0 is the lowest possible score and 100 is the maximum.
The criteria will be evaluated as set out below:
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Grading - degree of wish fulfillment
Degree of wish fulfillment Grading Elaboration
Very high degree
100
The proposed solution fulfills
our wishes in extremely high
degree
90
The proposed solution fulfills
to our wishes a very high
degree, although certain
weaknesses identified
High degree
80 The proposed solution fulfills
to our wishes a very high
degree, but identified several
weaknesses
70 The proposed solution fulfills
our wishes largely /
reasonable degree, but
identified a number of
weaknesses
Neutral
60 There are positive elements
but also several weaknesses in
the proposed solution,
including an inadequate /
unclear description hereof
50 There are positive elements
but also several weaknesses in
the proposed solution,
including an inadequate /
unclear description hereof.
The weaknesses are most
pertinent
Low degree
40 The proposed solution fulfills
our wishes in a low degree
30 The proposed solution fulfills
our wishes in very low degree
Not at all
20 The proposed solution does
not meet our wishes
10 The proposed solution fulfills
not at all our wishes
11.15 Service concept
The evaluation of this criterion will consist of an evaluation of the following elements
listed in order of priority:
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• The tenderers webpage
• Service offered within the product price
• The tenderers return policy
The tenderers webpage:
The tenderers must give a detailed description of their webpage. The Contracting
Authority will take the layout and ease of use of the tenderers webpage into
consideration. Furthermore the possibility of finding manuals and user guides will be
taken into consideration, as well as whether expected delivery date and stock (number of
items in stock) appear on the site.
The tenderer must provide a link to the webpage and include any necessary passwords in
order for the Contracting Authority to test the webpage and its functions online.
If a password is needed in order for the Contracting Authority to test the webpage, and
the tenderer has not provided the Contracting Authority with such, the tenderer will be
awarded 0 points in the evaluation of the criteria “the tenderers webpage”.
Service offered within the product price:
The tenderers must give a detailed description and, to the extent possible, document the
degree of service offered within the product price. Supplementary service offered against
separate payment will thus not be taken into consideration in connection with the
evaluation of this sub-criterion.
The tenderers return policy:
The tenderer must describe their return policy. The general return conditions, the time
aspects of return and the costs of return (who bears the cost) will be taken into
consideration when evaluating this criterion.
*****
A tender that fully complies with what the Contracting Authority (beforehand) has
defined as an optimal tender will receive 100 points. All other tenders will receive
between 0 and 100 points assessed in relation to this optimum. This means that two
tenders, although not equal, may in theory receive the same number of points.
Furthermore it means that it is possible that no tender will receive 100 points.
The description of what is offered under this sub-criterion must be given in Appendix 1
section 3 and cannot exceed a maximum of 5 pages. Only the text in Appendix 1 will be
taken into consideration when evaluating the tender.
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11.16 Support concept
The evaluation of this criterion will consist of an evaluation of the following elements
listed in order of priority:
• Competence profile on key account manager
• Telephone support
• E-mail support
Competence profile on key account manager:
The tenderer must provide information on the key account manager that will assist the
Contracting Authority after purchase of a product. The key account manager mentioned
should be the Contracting Authority’s permanent contact person. The tenderer must
include the competence profile of one key account manager per lot. The experience
(business and number of years), the competences and the educational background of the
key account manager within the lot in question will be taken into consideration.
Key account manager/solid contact - must be able to speak Danish or English. He/she
must be able to resolve all problems during the contract.
Telephone support:
The tenderer should provide information on whether telephone support is offered,
including the response times warranted by or averagely applicable to the relevant
tenderer along with the opening hours of the tenderer's telephone support department,
if any.
E-mail support:
The tenderer should provide information on whether e-mail support is offered,
including the response times warranted by or averagely applicable to the relevant
tenderer.
*****
A tender that fully complies with what the Contracting Authority (beforehand) has
defined as an optimal tender will receive 100 points. All other tenders will receive
between 0 and 100 points assessed in relation to this optimum. This means that two
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tenders, although not equal, may in theory receive the same number of points.
Furthermore it means that it is possible that no tender will receive 100 points.
The description of what is offered under this sub-criterion must be given in Appendix 1
section 4 and cannot exceed a maximum of 2 pages (excl. the competence profile of the
key account manager). Only the text in Appendix 1 will be taken into consideration when
evaluating the tender.
12 No negotiations
It is emphasised that negotiations between the Contracting Authority and tenderers
concerning the tenders submitted are not permitted.
However, in exceptional cases, the technical contents of a tender may be clarified.
If the Contracting Authority requests for clarification or supplementary information, the
individual tenderer will be contacted for the purpose of providing such supplementary
information, in which case the Contracting Authority will ensure that the principles of
transparency and equal treatment are complied with.
13 Questions regarding the tender documents
Questions and replies
Questions concerning this invitation to tender must be submitted no later than on
January 20, 2017, cf. however, below.
Questions must be sent to the following e-mail address:
Aarhus University
Attn.: Lasse Krongaard
Email: [email protected]
All questions submitted must be marked "Tender of small basic apparatus and
instruments”.
All questions must be in English. Replies will be made in English.
All questions must start with a clear reference to the sections of the tender
documentation referred to.
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All questions and replies will be available to all tenderers in anonymous form at:
www.au.dk/udbud.
Replies to any questions raised will be published on January 25, 2017 at the latest.
The Contracting Authority has set the deadline for questions to January 20, 2017, as it
may be expected that the process of replying may involve a certain amount of work. If,
after expiry of the deadline, but before January 25, 2017 at 14 am, questions are received
which the Contracting Authority is capable of answering by January 25, 2017 these
questions will be replied to and published on the Contracting Authority's website.
Tenderers can only be sure to receive a reply if the deadline for questions of January 20,
2017 is complied with.
Information meeting
It is not the intention of the Contracting Authority to hold any information meeting.
Should this be changed information will be published on www.au.dk/udbud.
Additional information to the tender documentation
If relevant, additional information to the tender documentation will be published up to 6
(six) days before the deadline for submission of the tender.
In the event of changes to the original tender documentation, the changed documents
will also be made available at www.au.dk/udbud.
The tenderers should check the Contracting Authority's website regularly.
14 Practicalities
Opening of tenders
Tenders will not be opened until after expiry of the deadline for submission. Tenderers
are not entitled to attend the opening of the tenders or otherwise to receive information
about the content.
Notification of the result
All tenderers will be advised concurrently and in writing of the result of the tender
procedure.
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Notification to the winning tenderer that the tender has been successful will not
necessarily mean awarding of the Framework Agreement. No binding Framework
Agreement or promise on this matter will apply until the Framework Agreement has
been signed by the Contracting Authority.
Notification of the result of the tender procedure will be published in the Official
Journal of the European Union in accordance with the applicable rules.
Confidentiality
The Contracting Authority undertakes to observe confidentiality with respect to any
information supplied by tenderers involving business secrets.
This confidentiality undertaking will not apply where the Contracting Authority is
required by law or ordered by a competent authority to disclose information to a third
party.
Any information submitted which the tenderer deems to be particularly competition
sensitive should be clearly marked to this effect in the tender. The Contracting Authority
will then seek to prevent the disclosure of such information.
The Contracting Auhority reserves the right to inform all tenderers of the characteristics
of each tender including the quality score and product range of the winning tenderers on
each lot.
Strict confidentiality for the tenderer
The tenderer as well as the tenderer's staff, sub-suppliers and advisors must observe
strict confidentiality with respect to any information about the Contracting Authority
which they may receive in connection with the submission of a tender.
15 Timetable for the tender procedure
The following timetable shows the most important milestones in the tender procedure:
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Timetable for the tender procedure
Date Milestones
19, December, 2016 Publication of the Contract Notice
January 20, 2017 Final deadline for receipt of written questions to the tender
documents
January 25, 2017 Replies to written questions
February 2, 2017 Final deadline for receipt of tender
February 2017 Expected announcement of winners of the invitation to
tender and commencement of stand-still period
February 2017 Expected signing of Framework Agreement
Marts 15, 2017 Expected commencement of deliveries and mini-tenders
16 List of tender documentation
The following lists the tender documents to be included in the tender:
• Appendix 1, Bid Schedule, must be enclosed in signed completed form with all
relevant documentation.
• Appendix 2, Contents of the lots.
• Appendix 3, Price list including the discounts offered under this tender.
• Template A, Statement regarding provisos, must be enclosed in completed form if
relevant.