Section 40: Award of procurement contracts

40. Award of procurement contracts (1) A procurement contract shall, subject to subsection (1A), be awarded by a public body to the bidder having submitted the lowest evaluated substantially responsive bid which meets the qualification criteria specified in the pre-qualification or bidding documents, following the steps outlined in subsections (3) and (4). (1A) The chief executive officer of a public body shall, before awarding a contract under subsection (1), certify and keep on record that all the procurement rules have been complied with in accordance with this Act. (2) There shall be no negotiation between a public body and a selected bidder or other bidders except in such special circumstances as may be prescribed. P56 – 21 [Issue 9] Public Procurement Act (2A) In the case of a major contract, the Board shall, where special circumstances provided in subsection (2) apply, initiate and oversee the negotiation between a public body and a selected bidder or other bidders in accordance with such instructions as may be issued by the Policy Office. (2B) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the specificity of the subject matter of a procurement requires recourse to more than one contractor to execute the procurement contract and the public body intends to award a procurement contract to more than one contractor based on rates, the public body may award the contracts after the determination of a common rate and the pre-qualification exercise of the contractors. (2C) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a public body may limit the award of the number of lots to suppliers provided that such limitations are based on non-discriminatory criteria for determining which lots shall be awarded to substantially responsive suppliers that shall be indicated in the bidding document. (3) A public body, in relation to a procurement contract, the value of which is above the prescribed threshold, shall notify the successful bidder in writing of the selection of its bid for award and a notice in writing shall be given to the other bidders, specifying the name and address of the proposed successful bidder and the price of the contract. (4) In the absence of a challenge by any other bidder within 7 days of the date of the notice referred to in subsection (3), the contract shall be awarded to the successful bidder. (5) A successful bidder may be asked to submit a performance security and sign a contract within the period specified in the bidding documents. (6) Where the bidder whose bid has been accepted fails to sign a contract, if required to do so, or fails to provide any required security for the performance of the contract within the prescribed time limit, the public body shall select another bidder from among the remaining valid bids, and subsections (3) to (5) shall apply to the new selection. (7) A public body shall promptly publish, in such manner as may be prescribed, notice of every procurement award. [S. 40 amended by s. 18 (h) of Act 1 of 2009 w.e.f. 16 April 2009; s. 22 (j) of Act 27 of 2012 w.e.f. 22 December 2012; s. 43 (k) of Act 9 of 2015 w.e.f. 15 August 2015; s. 42 (e) of Act 18 of 2016 w.e.f. 7 September 2016.]