Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2018-04-27
Buyer: Norges Bank Real Estate Management
Country: NO
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 72000000
Estimated value: 3000000 NOK
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: Υπηρεσίες τεχνολογίας των πληροφοριών: παροχή συμβουλών, ανάπτυξη λογισμικού, Διαδίκτυο και υποστήριξη
Norges Bank Real Estate Management (NBREM) is an entity of Norges Bank [the Central Bank of Norway]. NBREM is responsible for the fund’s unlisted property investments. NBREM was reorganised as a separate entity in 2014 and in 2016 was moved to a separate IT platform. To further develop and improve NBREM’s IT platform, NBREM needs vendor independent cooperating partner who can assist with research, analysis and guidance in the IT field. The tenderer shall assist with consultancy services and quality assurance.
NBREM is of the understanding that there is only one service provider, Gartner Norge AS, who can deliver the service in line with NBREM’s needs.
In order to ensure good and efficient execution of the development and solution selection, NBREM needs access to analysis, methodology, templates and tools within a number of specialist areas:
It is a prerequisite that the procurement is a combined procurement, in order to ensure consistent use of analysis, methodology and best practice, and that the tenderer can advise NBREM in strategic choices, within, for example, enterprise architecture, sourcing, IT security and on technical solutions, using the same material.
The value of the contract is estimated to be up to 3 000 000 NOK. NBREM draws attention to the fact that the need can vary significantly at times.
The exception for direct procurements is in the Public Procurement Regulations § 13-4 (b). The provision states that the contracting authority can make a procurement without a competition if the procurement is for services that only one specific supplier can provide as 'competition is impossible due to technical reasons'. Technical reasons mean that there is only one tenderer who can carry out the service or produce the product. KOFA and the EU lawcourt have, in several cases, decided that the term must be interpreted restrictively and that it is the contracting authority who must prove that the term is fulfilled. See KOFA 2008/56 premise 23, with a further referral to the EU lawcourt case C-337/05 (Augusta) premise 57-58. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and the Fisheries´guidelines state that 'It is not sufficient that the contracting authority believes that there is only one supplier who can fulfil the need, or that the contracting authority only knows of one supplier as he lacks knowledge of the market. It is the contracting authority who must show that the terms in the provision are fulfilled. There must be objective reasons, such as legal counters, as to why only one supplier can fulfil the service'. This means that the contracting authority has a requirement for due care and that comprehensive market surveys must be carried out in advance. Based on the contracting authority´s knowledge of the market, the chosen supplier is the only supplier who can meet the contracting authority´s need within the stated service area for the provision of services for supplier independent research, analysis and consultancy services.
A note from MB ICT Norges Bank states that, for this type of service, there are generally three suppliers. After a market survey, however, it was clear that only Gartner can deliver on the specifications set by Norges Bank, including requirements for necessary knowledge on local conditions, as well as a need for a local contact person. Searches for similar procurements announced in Doffin give a clear indicator that Gartner is the only supplier who, due to technical reasons, can provide the service. It appears, therefore, that Garner is the only supplier, and, due to technical reasons, a competition is not possible. NBREM believes, therefore, that a careful and attentive assessment has been made as to whether the exception in FOA § 13-4 b) is met and a contract can be signed after an intention notice, cf. FOA § 21-5.


Winner: Gartner Norge AS
Award value: 3000000
Number of bids: 1