Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2023-06-08
Buyer: Ålesund kommune
Country: NO
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 18140000 | 18424000 | 18424300 | 18930000 | 22000000
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: This framework agreement was previously announced as "19/7297: Procurement - Cleaning supplies, catering, light sources, batteries, paper and plastic (3)".
The contracting authority would like to use this procurement to enter into a framework agreement with one tenderer. The chosen tenderer must be able to deliver all the requested products in the price form, and must have a satisfactory assortment of other products that are included in this range of products.
- cleaning products and equipment - hand soap/disinfection - paper/plastic - catering - light sources - batteries - different types of disposable gloves
This framework agreement was previously announced as "19/7297: Procurement - Cleaning supplies, catering, light sources, batteries, paper and plastic (3)".
The contracting authority would like to use this procurement to enter into a framework agreement with one tenderer. The chosen tenderer must be able to deliver all the requested products in the price form, and must have a satisfactory assortment of other products that are included in this range of products.
- cleaning products and equipment - hand soap/disinfection - paper/plastic - catering - light sources - batteries - different types of disposable gloves
See the contest 'Procurement - consumables (including catering products)' (22/13663). The contest is now cancelled pursuant to the Public Procurement Regulations (PPR) § 25-4 (1).
Pursuant to PPR § 25-4 (1), the Contracting Authority can cancel the tender contest with immediate effect if there are justifiable reasons. It has been determined through practice that a contracting authority is obliged to cancel a contest if an error has been made that can have affected either participant interest or the outcome of the contest, and this error cannot be corrected in any other way than by cancelling the contest, see, amongst others, HR-2019-1801-A, section 85, and the EFA law court's statement in case E-16/16, section 106.
The contest included a text that refers to the award criterium 'service apparatus'. This award criterium was removed a short time before the notice. In an error, point 6.2.12 (on dispensers that are to be delivered in the contract period) has the following text: 'The system will be evaluated under service apparatus, including 'good total economy'. When the award criterium 'service apparatus' and the sub-criterium 'good total economy' have been removed without the evaluation of dispensers being moved to another award criterium, the contracting authority is left without a way to evaluate the mentioned dispensers.
When seen in the light of the basic principles in the PPA, it would not be responsible to continue the contest without a good way to evaluate the dispensers. The contracting authority that this gives us a justifiable reason to cancel the contest.
Before the tender deadline expires, the contracting authority can 'make corrections, supplements, and alterations to the tender documentation that are not significant' in accordance with the Public Procurement Regulations § 14-2 (1). A change to the award criteria (and at the same time to the requirements set for the products in the procurement) must, however, be deemed to be a significant change, as this can be important for which tenderers submit a tender and can be important for the outcome of the contest. In order to ensure equal treatment in the process, a new contest must be held with adjusted tender documentation.
An error of this nature can only be corrected responsibly be cancelling the tender documentation and holding a new contest. There is a justifiable basis to cancel the contest with immediate effect.
We hope that there is understanding for our decision. The contracting authority apologises for the inconvenience for interested parties. Changes will be made to the tender documentation, and the contest will be republished shortly.